Aurora in Stormy Seas

[twotravellersLondon]

The Aurora left Haugesund, Norway' a little time ago and is due to cross the North Sea tonight and tomorrow at be at the Pilot Station in Southampton at 3.30 am on December 29. 

 

While the weather at the moment is a strong breeze with winds of about 14 m/s and moderate seas of about 1.5m, the forecast for the next few hours is for a violent storm.

 

Estimated wind speed may reach over 52 knots, average wave height is expected at about 9 m. with an expected max of 12.5 m and sea state 8... that's very high.

 

It looks as if it's going to be a bit of a bumpy to begin with this night. Hope everyone has an early night and stays safe and secure in the comfort of their beds... certainly would be our plan.

[jeanlyon]

Yes we had the same on her all the way from Gib to Southampton.  She handled it really well, although there were some accidents with glasses and crockery"

[davecttr]

Now seems to be heading toward Stavanger.

[crompton21]

Have a look at the Ms Maud thread on the Hurtigruten board.  Surprised this hasn’t made the U.K. news as the ship was heading to the U.K. with British passengers when it became disabled on Friday.  Everyone is apparently ok.

[Goosebear Mum]

We were in a force 12 in her, Christmas cruise 2015 and she handled it with ease, never felt scared once (and I could have done having been in a boat explosion 40 years ago) I know the cruise year, as it was my husband’s first time on a ship/cruise, and we were unsure how he’d be. We woke with him yelping ‘what was that’ as he leapt out of bed as the ship ‘hit a pothole’ as the captain likes saying. Husband promptly flew across the cabin hitting the table. Once I’d checked he was okay (husband, not table!) we both burst out laughing. He soon learnt to always have one hand for holding onto something.  Husband then spent time by the balcony (inside!) fascinated by the waves coming ABOVE our B deck balcony.  We have moved house twice since, so not sure where the captain’s notes are for wave height, but it was reported as storm force 12. I knew, after that, that my husband would never need sea sickness tablets (unlike me!)

 

p.s. edit, I am sure if P&O think it wouldn’t be safe, they’d divert. They have always seemed (rightly) risk averse to me

Edited December 27, 2023 by Goosebear Mum

[Goosebear Mum]

20 minutes ago, crompton21 said:

Have a look at the Ms Maud thread on the Hurtigruten board.  Surprised this hasn’t made the U.K. news as the ship was heading to the U.K. with British passengers when it became disabled on Friday.  Everyone is apparently ok.

Yes, Maud was very unlucky to get hit by a very short wave length (what the news reported as a rogue wave) which broke the Bridge window glass.   Not sure it was a true rogue wave, but a short wave length in a severe storm.  It was on the BBC and Daily Mail, as I sent the video to my husband, that a passenger happened to record, from the cabin TV. Obv it goes ‘blank’ as the ship lost power.  Everyone thankfully was okay. 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Goosebear Mum

[Goosebear Mum]

1 hour ago, twotravellersLondon said:

It looks as if it's going to be a bit of a bumpy to begin with this night. Hope everyone has an early night and stays safe and secure in the comfort of their beds... certainly would be our plan.

I've just realised you may be on board, not just reporting that Aurora is going into a storm. Honestly you’ll be okay, Aurora is built for oceans and storms. She’s tough and I’d feel safe in anything the Captain and coastguard feel safe she can go out into. Pack everything away in your cabin that’s loose. Start your sea sickness tablets now, if you think you’ll need them. Don’t wait till you start feeling ill.  And if you can, enjoy the ride, and you’ll have a story later. (Hug) 

[pete14]

45 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Now seems to be heading toward Stavanger.

Cruisemapper shows she has passed Stavanger and is sailing in a South Westerly direction into the North Sea. Wind is 18 m/s, sailing at 17 knots in rough 2.7 metre seas. Not too bad at the moment, hopefully it won’t deteriorate.

[jeanlyon]

Yep it's windy!!  https://www.windy.com/-Menu/tools?57.041,0.205,5,m:fdWaf7o

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, Goosebear Mum said:

We were in a force 12 in her, Christmas cruise 2015 and she handled it with ease, never felt scared once (and I could have done having been in a boat explosion 40 years ago) I know the cruise year, as it was my husband’s first time on a ship/cruise, and we were unsure how he’d be. We woke with him yelping ‘what was that’ as he leapt out of bed as the ship ‘hit a pothole’ as the captain likes saying. Husband promptly flew across the cabin hitting the table. Once I’d checked he was okay (husband, not table!) we both burst out laughing. He soon learnt to always have one hand for holding onto something.  Husband then spent time by the balcony (inside!) fascinated by the waves coming ABOVE our B deck balcony.  We have moved house twice since, so not sure where the captain’s notes are for wave height, but it was reported as storm force 12. I knew, after that, that my husband would never need sea sickness tablets (unlike me!)

 

p.s. edit, I am sure if P&O think it wouldn’t be safe, they’d divert. They have always seemed (rightly) risk averse to me

Yes, force 8 is nothing for Aurora. We were on her in a force 11 and felt completely safe, unlike when we experienced the same on Azura and felt that the ship was going to be torn apart 😱

[otbc]

Quite an eventful night! We had Force 12 winds (captain said over 100 knots, so 110mph+) and the ship was getting thrown about left right and centre at times! I'm not usually scared by this sort of stuff but it was a scary experience!

[Angel57]

4 minutes ago, otbc said:

Quite an eventful night! We had Force 12 winds (captain said over 100 knots, so 110mph+) and the ship was getting thrown about left right and centre at times! I'm not usually scared by this sort of stuff but it was a scary experience!

Oh my goodness. I hope everyone is ok.

[otbc]

2 hours ago, Angel57 said:

Oh my goodness. I hope everyone is ok.

Maximum recorded gust of 155mph last night according to the captain!

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, otbc said:

Maximum recorded gust of 155mph last night according to the captain!

😱

[pete14]

5 hours ago, otbc said:

Quite an eventful night! We had Force 12 winds (captain said over 100 knots, so 110mph+) and the ship was getting thrown about left right and centre at times! I'm not usually scared by this sort of stuff but it was a scary experience!

Clearly it did deteriorate from earlier in the evening. I hope everyone is OK and grateful they were on Aurora because I suspect some other ships may have been even less comfortable (if that seems possible).

[charlie7]

On Aurora now and yes it was very rough last night, the worst I have ever experienced in twenty years of cruising. Hurricane force 12 and captain reported 155mph winds. Vast amounts of water washed in on prom deck and I understand many cabins flooded. We are on F deck outside and at 12:30 am felt and heard  an almighty crash and bang and thought our window had come through. It was quite unsettling. Witnessed a lady being thrown off her chair at late dinner, fortunately she was unhurt. The emergency response team were called out to beach house at a similar time. I feel very thankful we were on aurora and no other ship. All in all an excellent cruise

[Presto2]

I am not criticising at all but if it was predicted to be a bad storm was there no way to avoid it?

Again, not a criticism but I thought they tried to avoid serious storms if possible.

[Mollag]

25 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

I am not criticising at all but if it was predicted to be a bad storm was there no way to avoid it?

Again, not a criticism but I thought they tried to avoid serious storms if possible.

I think P&O need to recalibrate their anemometers they always over exaggerate the wind by a fair amount we were on Aurora in August and supposedly had a hurricane when in reality it was a gale, severe gale 9 at worst, don’t know why they do it as it’ll frighten nervous passengers more than reassure them

[otbc]

49 minutes ago, Mollag said:

I think P&O need to recalibrate their anemometers they always over exaggerate the wind by a fair amount we were on Aurora in August and supposedly had a hurricane when in reality it was a gale, severe gale 9 at worst, don’t know why they do it as it’ll frighten nervous passengers more than reassure them

This was pretty much accurate - spoken to a few people who have been through Force 12 winds before and said yesterday was way worse than any of those!

[otbc]

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

I am not criticising at all but if it was predicted to be a bad storm was there no way to avoid it?

Again, not a criticism but I thought they tried to avoid serious storms if possible.

Agreed. They could quite easily have delayed leaving Haugesund to let the storm pass through, or even skipping Haugesund completely and missing the storm entirely. I'm quite disappointed in P&O as this extreme storm was forecast for several days prior to it 

[Mollag]

22 minutes ago, otbc said:

This was pretty much accurate - spoken to a few people who have been through Force 12 winds before and said yesterday was way worse than any of those!

Everybody you talk to on P&O has been through at least a hurricane you need to look up how wind speed is accurately measured then you’ll see how inaccurate these readings are

[twotravellersLondon]

45 minutes ago, Mollag said:

Everybody you talk to on P&O has been through at least a hurricane you need to look up how wind speed is accurately measured then you’ll see how inaccurate these readings are

 

We've no doubt that different folk who have reported what they experiences and what they were informed by the Captain was true. 

 

We're very experienced sailors in 21 m. yacht, have completed well over 30 ocean cruises over for decades . My father was in the fishing industry, my grandfather was a skipper and a life-boat coxswain and all of my ancestors and rellies over five generations have been seamen and suchlike. The sea is in my DNA! We have every confidence that these folk are honestly reporting what they experienced and heard.

 

The cruise industry is one of the most regulated on earth. The equipment is some of the most regulated on earth. We have every confidence that what was reported by the captain was correct.

[Fionboard]

I grew up on a sailing ship. Dad at the wheel, up to his knees in water (self draining cockpit) and me being sick down in my bunk. Not much phases me after that! 

[Educator69]

Just travelling back from this cruise. The captain did report these wind speeds. When we left Haugesund he reported the weather was predicted 70mph winds so bumpy but to hold on to the railings. He later came back on and said he had been reported a ‘Michael Fish moment’ and that the wind was now reported 100mph when we were 3 hours out of the port. We were lucky and kept a dry cabin but were in the crows nest when the waves were breaking on the windows. I’m not sure if they managed to dry out all of the cabins and sail with everyone who was hoping for a New Year aboard but we had a safe a lovely time. Always an adventure.

[zap99]

17 hours ago, Mollag said:

Everybody you talk to on P&O has been through at least a hurricane you need to look up how wind speed is accurately measured then you’ll see how inaccurate these readings are

Do you listen the ' I remember the time.......' Chap in the Crows Nest bar, or the Captain with his clever instruments and crew ?.