Hurricane Otis and HAL ships .........

[sail7seas]

I've just heard there is a Category One Hurricane named Otis blowing toward Baja Penninsula and is currently about 125 miles west of Cabo San Lucas. With all the ships leaving Alaska and headed for that region en route to Panama Canal (and for Veendam going to South America)........Not Good! I think Veendam already cancelled her stop in Cabo and headed more out to sea.

 

Being on the East Coast, either I'm oblivious or there has been little conversation about this storm. This is the first I've heard the West Coast is also getting Hurricanes this year.

 

Wishing safety to all who are sailing on all those ships.

[VegasF1]

Here's a link to a map that shows the ships in that area. Ryndam and Zaandam both a bit close for comfort.

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocations.phtml?lat=21.6&lon=-107.8&radius=300

Tracking Ryndam's course at this site, it looks like she made a major alteration to course to stay out of harm's way.

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=PHFV

[avalon1025]

My parents are currently on the Veendam and the captain is going to try to skirt around the storm.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Here's a link to a map that shows the ships in that area. Ryndam and Zaandam both a bit close for comfort.

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocations.phtml?lat=21.6&lon=-107.8&radius=300

Tracking Ryndam's course at this site, it looks like she made a major alteration to course to stay out of harm's way.

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=PHFV

 

 

Thanks for the info, I had no idea either Sail. I have friends from work flying down to Cabo on Sunday and of course we board the Oosterdam a week from tomorrow and certainly hope for good weather. Hope all goes well for Zanndam and Ryndam:)

[Mollynme]

Oh dear. We're scheduled to sail on the Volendam south out of San Fran. in 16 hours. :(

[gizmo]

Being on the East Coast, either I'm oblivious or there has been little conversation about this storm. This is the first I've heard the West Coast is also getting Hurricanes this year.

There are always hurricanes in the Eastern Pacific during hurricane season. Otis is 15 storm.

Many news TV stations in the US do not mention them much since they are not a threat to the US. The weather station does mention them but the focus is on the Atlantic/Caribbean storms. If you look on noaa, all storms are reported, not just the Atlantic/Caribbean storms.

[sghetrick]

Hurricane Otis Update - Friday, Sept. 30, 2005, 12:00 noon PDT

 

Hurricane watch and tropical storm warnings are now in effect for the Pacific Coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula from Bahia Magdalena southward to Cabo San Lucas. Hurricane Otis has strengthened to category one with wind forecasts of 80-100 knots within the next 24 hours and is expected to make landfall early next week.

 

 

 

Five Holland America Line ships are scheduled in the region in the next week. Itinerary updates are as follows:

• ms Zaandam: This morning's port call to Cabo San Lucas was canceled. The ship is proceeding to Puerto Vallarta and is scheduled to arrive on time for its Saturday, Oct. 1 port call.
  
• ms Veendam: Tomorrow afternoon's port call to Cabo San Lucas is canceled. The ship is proceeding to Acapulco for its Monday, Oct. 3 port call.
  
• ms Ryndam: Itinerary is unchanged. The ship is enroute to Puerto Vallarta and is scheduled to arrive on time for its Saturday, Oct. 1 port call.
  
• ms Oosterdam: The itinerary for the next cruise departing San Diego tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 1 is unchanged at this time. Plans are to arrive at Cabo San Lucas as scheduled on Monday, Oct. 3.
  
• ms Volendam: The itinerary for the next cruise departing San Francisco tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 1 is unchanged at this time. Plans are to arrive at Cabo San Lucas as scheduled on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
  

 

At Holland America Line, the safety and comfort of our guests are our top priorities. We are closely monitoring the progress of this storm. Any additional changes in itineraries will be posted here as necessary.

[Classynfun1]

If you're sailing in this area and get seasick, remember to bring Bonine and take it before boarding. I'm hearing that the storm is causing rough seas...

 

Bon Voyage!

[RedmondCruiser]

They always seem to skirt hurricanes this time of year. A few years ago we arrived in Puerto Vallarta the day after it was hit ( though not direct ) with a class five hurricane. It was a mess but the sea was calm and it was hot and muggy. In 2003 we were going to stop in cabo and from the national hurricane center it looked like a TS and a cat 1 hurricane were going to converge on Cabo, the day we were to arrive. Told my DW that there was no way we would be in Cabo the next day. The next day I woke up to find us anchored at Cabo and the weather was perfect. --- go figure -- All the lines do a good job of staying clear of hurricanes.

[bruceh4]

All the lines do a good job of staying clear of hurricanes.

Not always!!!! In 1999 we were on the old Westerdam on a Panama Canal reposistion cruise. 2 days before the end of the cruise we saw on CNN that there was a Hurricane (Elaine) in the gulf. The next day we were suppose to visit Nassau but could not get into the port which has a very narrow entrance due to high winds. So the Captain said we would head for Ft. Lauderdale. The speculation on board was that we might have to stay at sea an extra day because the hurricane was crossing south Florida. That night was the roughest night I have ever spent on a cruise ship. In fact my wife and I had to turn around in bed and try to sleep with our heads at the foot of the bed because the ship was listing so much. It turned out that we sailed right thru the hurricane. The next morning we were in Ft. Lauderdale and disembarked.

[RuthC]

It was the final voyage of the ss Rotterdam in '97. We were sailing from Vancouver to Ft. Lauderdale via the Panama Canal. After we left San Francisco, we had a couple of nice sea days. Then the fun started. As we headed south along Mexico we had to avoid not one, not two, but three (count 'em! three!) hurricanes coming north up the coast. :eek:

We missed several ports---entertainers couldn't change in Cabo. My husband was supposed to catch up with the ship in Acapulco. We missed that port, too. :( We had eight consecutive sea days before we touched land again in Costa Rica. Rumor on the ship was we almost made it to Hawaii! (not true.)

The "Pacific" can be anything but.