Captain's Log

August 1, 2006

CAPTAIN’S LOG

Greetings from Valparaiso Chile. I relieved Captain Keever in this port and will be the Captain to bring the ship back to Vallejo at the end of August. It is nice to be back onboard, even though getting here proved to be a challenge.

Once again, the training ship was hosted by the Chilean Navy and we were berthed at the Navy’s pier located contiguous to the inside and at the extreme end of the harbor’s breakwater.  The first thing I took notice of when I arrived in Valparaiso was the weather conditions. It is the dead of winter here, and normal winter storms can bring rough seas that often break right over the lowest part of the breakwater where the GOLDEN BEAR was docked. This can make mooring perilous as we could be slammed by exposure to high winds and residual seas coming over the breakwater face. Fortunately, the weather when we were here could not have been more benign and pleasant. We had sun for the most part every day, light breezes with the temperature in the 50s and 60s. We were here at the same berth three years ago in August and this is the second time we have been blessed with spectacular weather. Perhaps the third time we come back (three years hence) we will not be so lucky. 

Valparaiso, and its resort suburb called Vina del Mar, are beautiful cosmopolitan seaside cities. There are a great many things to do and see here. The architecture style on many of the old buildings has a European flavor and is very intricate. . Valparaiso is the actual port city and its beginnings go back not just decades, but centuries. It is also a major port facility for cargo movements of all kinds and the port city for Santiago. Berthed directly across from us was a modern container vessel .

The cadets and crew enjoyed the city immensely and participated in many different tours, including horseback riding in the Andes.

 A visit to the photo gallery pages will show a number of other tours enjoyed by the crew as well.

We left port early Tuesday morning – it was still dark at 0630. We needed to vacate the dock to facilitate U.S. and Chilean naval vessels that were scheduled to make port after joint naval maneuvers (UNATAS). So, we made an early departure.

In an attempt to take some “getting underway” pictures from the water perspective, we launched the fast rescue boat just before we let go our mooring hawsers. . Unfortunately, in spite of valiant efforts, the pictures did not come out.

Nevertheless, the departure maneuver could not have been easier. It was a simple matter of letting go all of the lines at once, pull off the pier a bit, and kick her ahead on a hard left rudder and pivot around the end of the breakwater. From there, you have the entire Pacific Ocean in front of you and are “free to navigate”, as they say.

We have a 10-day passage back up to our end of the world (northern hemisphere) and to Cocos Island and Golfito, Costa Rica. We will send more logs and pictures of the training ship goings-on as we transit. I apologize for the late start in writing the Captain’s Log portions of the Follow-The-Voyage chronicle. It has taken me a bit of time to get my feet firmly affixed to the deck plates. I look forward to sharing our adventures with you in the upcoming days.

I wish to acknowledge our new Follow-The-Voyage assistant, Sandy Handel. She has joined the ship here in Valparaiso and is assisting me with the preparation of these pages. She has just joined the Academy from the admissions office and what a better way to discover the very cool way in which we here at CMA offer educational opportunities.

Adios For Now,

Captain Leyda