Most people were happy to sleep in on this ‘at sea’ day. We had the Mariners Brunch at 11 am so did not even have breakfast. I did go to the session about the next 2 ports before this though.

The Brunch was really lunch and included free wine and coasters. I went to the America’s Test Kitchen display on steak meals after this, not feeling hungry at all.

The highlight of the main part of the day was the Captains Talk. He used a mock-up of the bridge to explain the major pieces of equipment, and also had a video showing the stabilisers, the bow thrusters and the arizport (sp) which pulls rather than pushes the ship through the sea. He mentioned the various top ranks and that 4 people were always on the bridge at any time. If the sea conditions are poor, there is fog or a lot of traffic, the level increase and the number of people on the bridge does as well.

The best part was his answer to the questions from the floor.

He said he sometimes gets a cadet to lower and raise the flag when passing a naval vessel and then watches the fun. The protocol if you are greeted like this is to return the greeting so the passing ship has to scurry to do so.  He was asked about pilots and why they are needed and said often they are mandatory but often useless. In these cases, the pilot is given a coffee and the crew do all the work. But he said in many places (like NZ) they can give useful information about recent tidal changes that make a slight alteration to the approach very worthwhile.

Various questions were asked about food waste and water. The ship can process waste to a potable standard and this can be discharged outside the 12-mile limit.

He told us that when we left Copenhagen the tide was such that we could go through the Drogen Channel but with .7m clearance (which was why we slowed to 5 knots). This saved 254 nautical miles of sailing and was the reason we were so early into Tallinn.

The Captain had worked on cargo ships and had interesting stories from that time. In pirate prone waters they would go fast and, illegally, turn off all lights at night. HAL ships have been accompanied by Dutch frigates. His most scary moment had been on the Tasman sea, taking huge tyres etc. from Australia to NZ. In high seas the lashings had broken and he was part of the crew trying to relash them so they were not rolling around. The Captain was drunk and refused to lower speed or change course. He added that an hour later the Captain passed out and he and others could take charge of the bridge and lower speed. He did say the Captain was dismissed soon after this

He was asked if there were any women Captains in the fleet and said no. He added however, that a NZ woman had reached Staff Captain level (one below) but had moved to another job, and that there was a woman in the ranks who was likely to be a Captain in a few years.

The final question caused a laugh as did his reply. A woman asked what happens if people are not back on board when the ship departs. His reply was that we should ask the family that would be re-joining us tomorrow. He then elaborated and I was surprised at the flexibility that they might have. If the ship knows how far away a group are they may be able to wait, if it is not far. It also depends on tides etc. as the Captain may just have to go to get the right tides. Finally, he said that the sail away scheduled was also a factor as he had over 1000 passengers waiting for the views and commentary (that got a round of applause), His final comment was that the family concerned arrived at the port 45 minutes late, to be greeted by the agent who helped ensure they could get accommodation for the unexpected stay and transport to Rostock – at their own expense we assumed.

We met Alex and Warwick by the pool at one stage and then later over our Gala Dinner. We all ordered the surf and turf which was very tender. Warwick had had a win at cards (500 euros) so was celebrating that as well. Then I went to the show which was fine, but not wonderful, before we called it a night.