Queen Mary 2 in mid-Atlantic mercy mission

Posted on 27 September, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Queen Mary 2 in mid-Atlantic mercy mission

By Phil Davies

Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2 stopped in mid-Atlantic yesterday to provide assistance to a lone woman rowing across the ocean.

The ship, sailing from New York to Southampton, received a request to assist after Canadian solo rower Mylène Paquette lost her anchor and a satellite phone in a storm.

She received four watertight canisters containing the requested items including a new satellite phone after 83 days at sea and two months to go.

QM2 slowly circled the boat at 10 knots to calm the water before the provisions, including food, bottled water, tea and coffee, were dropped into the sea and collected by Paquette.

The ship also supplied a scraper to remove the barnacles underneath the rowing boat, duct tape, soap, shampoo and body lotion.

Captain Kevin Oprey, master of QM2, said: “We are happy to have given assistance to Mylène and help her recover from the damage inflicted by the storm. We wish her the very best of luck with her solo Atlantic rowing adventure.”

Paquette said: “This is a dream come true! For me to see the Queen Mary 2 in the middle of the Atlantic is something I would have never hoped for. I want to thank all of the members of the crew for making this encounter happen.”

She is aiming to become the first North American woman to row solo across the Atlantic, a total of 2,700 nautical miles, having set out from Halifax, Canada on July 6 for Lorient in France.

Norwegian Dawn overnights in Bermuda due to storm

Posted on 12 September, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Norwegian Dawn overnights in Bermuda due to storm

By Gay Nagle Myers

The Norwegian Dawn spent the night on Tuesday in Bermuda due to Tropical Storm Gabrielle. The ship departed mid-morning Wednesday and is expected to arrive on schedule in Boston on Friday morning.

The Norwegian Breakaway is scheduled to arrive at King’s Wharf in Bermuda on Wednesday evening for a two-night stay as scheduled.

JetBlue and US Airways waived change fees for flights to/from Bermuda on Wednesday.

Rain and wind buffeted Bermuda during the storm, but no major damage was reported.
Gabrielle was well out to sea by Wednesday afternoon.

Humberto in the far eastern Atlantic became the eighth named storm of the year and the first hurricane of the season on Wednesday morning.

Humberto poses no threat to land at this stage, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Paddlewheeling in the Pacific Northwest

Posted on 6 September, 2013 by Spacejunkie2

Paddlewheeling in the Pacific Northwest

By Michelle Baran

When you think of paddlewheeling, most likely it’s Mississippi that comes to mind, not the Pacific Northwest. But when the 223-passenger American Empress relaunches on the Columbia and Snake rivers in April, it will bring to at least two the number of paddlewheelers sailing along the scenic western routes, paddlewheelers with a somewhat storied and related history in the region.

For U.S. river cruising enthusiasts, the relaunch of the American Empress, which has been dormant since 2008, is likely an exciting offering. The paddlewheeler is undergoing a complete renovation and interior overhaul so that it can once again sail along the rivers it originally plied when it first launched 10 years ago. MichelleBaran

The American West Steamboat Co. introduced the American Empress — then a 235-passenger vessel called the Empress of the North — in Alaska on Aug. 10, 2003, as a reproduction of a 1800s-era paddlewheeler. The vessel’s inaugural 11-day Inside Passage cruise from Seattle to Juneau marked the first overnight sternwheeler cruise in Alaska in more than a century.

In October 2003, the Empress began sailing along the Columbia and Snake rivers out of Portland, Ore., alternating itineraries between Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. In 2006, Ambassadors acquired American West, and the Empress of the North became a part of Ambassadors’ Majestic America Line fleet.

On May 14, 2007, the Empress ran aground en route to Glacier Bay from Juneau. There were no injuries, but the vessel incurred damage to the hull and took on water, causing it to list. After repairs, the vessel returned to service that summer and sailed until the collapse of Majestic America Line in late 2008.

When the Empress relaunches in April, it will join one other paddlewheeler on the Columbia and Snake rivers: the 120-passenger Queen of the West, a fellow Majestic America alum, which American Cruise Lines acquired from Majestic as it was unloading its assets in 2008.

The Queen of the West was originally launched in 1995, also by the American West Steamboat Co., which was founded that same year. Also in 1995, the American Queen launched too, which is now owned by the American Queen Steamboat Co.

So, it would appear, what goes around comes around. Just like a paddlewheel.