A Question For Copper 10-8

[Koshlong]

Please, Copper, do you know who the people will be on the Noordam after her drydock. I'm organizing a M&G and would love to have names!:)

[Copper10-8]

Please, Copper, do you know who the people will be on the Noordam after her drydock. I'm organizing a M&G and would love to have names!:)

 

All 810 of them?:eek:

[Koshlong]

:o Sorry! I meant the captain, hotel manager and cruise director...and bar manager if you happen to know.:)

[caribbean girl]

Did you have a happy birthday?:D

[Copper10-8]

Did you have a happy birthday?:D

 

Very much so Alcirita, thanks very much!:) Hope all is well in Amish Country!

[Copper10-8]

:o Sorry! I meant the captain, hotel manager and cruise director...and bar manager if you happen to know.:)

 

Scheduled are:

Capt. John Scott

H/M: Rene Tuinman

C/D: Corey Moore

B/M: unk.

Always subject to change!

[serendipity1499]

Hi Granny!;) Capt. Mercer (yet another Brit;)) is scheduled. Great guy, will always remain our hero for taking Veendam out of Acapulco, twelve years ago, against the Mexican authorities' orders but to escape a hurricane headed straight for town.

John...I love sea stories..:)

Would you be willing to share the whole story with us..Never knew that Mexican Authorities, or any Authority for that matter, could order a Capt. to stay in Port..

Also thanks for the lesson on the on the rivalry between the Kingdom of Belgium & the Kingdom of the Netherlands... There is also a big rivalry in Belgium between the Dutch & the French speaking people..

I worked for a Belgian Company & years ago if one of our staff sent a telex in Dutch & a French speaking person retrieved it, it often disappeared..;) By the same token, if one sent a telex in French & a Dutch speaking person retrieved it, it could just as often dissappear..;)Finally, an edict from Headquarters was issued stating that, all communications in our Company must be in English..:)LOL

Thanks..Betty

[Copper10-8]

 

John...I love sea stories..:)

 

Would you be willing to share the whole story with us..Never knew that Mexican Authorities, or any Authority for that matter, could order a Capt. to stay in Port..

 

.............................

 

We were on a Panama Canal repo cruise that originated in Vancouver back in OCT 1997. We flew to, and boarded Veendam, in Puerto Vallarta and our next stop, after a sea day, was Acapulco. Veendam docked there and, per standard SOP, the ship pretty much emptied on shore excursions and folks doing their 'own thing'. It was a pretty nice morning in Acapulco with blue skies and the sun shining. If you had followed CNN, you'd know that Hurricane Pauline had formed to the south off the coast of the state of Oaxaca which happened to be right smack in the direction Veendam would be heading after leaving Acapulco. The forecasts initially showed Pauline to turn to the north-east, so away from Veendam's path so there were no immediate worries.

Pauline had a mind of her own however, and made an unexpected turn to the north-west and started heading straight for the state of Guerrero and Acapulco and you could soon see she was coming that day. Around 12:00 noon, clouds moved in, the skies turned increasinly gray and the winds started to pick up. As the afternoon moved on, sustained wind gusts became common. Veendam's crew started scrambling to get her passengers back onboard. In late afternoon, Capt. Mercer came on the P/A system to announce that the Mexican authourities had closed the port of Acapulco to all outgoing and incoming traffic (except those seeking shelter) - Yes, they can do that!;). He added that he had talked the port authorities into allowing him to move Veendam into the Bay of Acapulco where she would anchor and be away from her shore berth to prevent damage by her being slammed into the shore.

Once he got Veendam going however, instead of anchoring into the bay, he just kept on trucking and ignored the authorities' orders by moving back into the Pacific. That night, he basically outran Pauline by heading west and ultimately south, around her outer bands as she struck Acapulco head-on, unfortunately causing massive flooding, mud slides, loss of power and 123 deaths. It got a little bumpy that night and because of the course deviation, we wound up missing our next port of call, Santa Cruz Huatulco, but everyone you talked to very much appreciated the decision made by Capt. Mercer and thought the world of him.

This story did not end here, however. Apparently not being real happy with Capt. Mercer's decision to disobey their orders, the Mexican authorities had a warrant for his arrest issued. Seattle apparently took care of that warrant a short time later. But, upon conclusion of that Panama Canal cruise in Ft. Lauderdale, Capt. Mercer's next cruise on Veendam would take him to, you guessed it,................Cozumel, Mexico!

We learned years later that a pretty good prank was pulled on the captain. Upon reaching Cozumel, HAL's port agent came onboard but he was accompanied by....................two local oficiales de Policia, not looking real happy:eek: The story has it that the captain got just a tad anxious when he saw this and, sure enough, when that boarding party reached the bridge, one of the coppers produced a set of shiny silver bracelets and proceeded to handcuff the captain right then and there in front of everyone and their brother saying something about having a warrant for his arrest. It wasn't until the port agent and some others who were 'in on' this scheme had a hard time suppressing their laughter that the captain realized he'd been had.

[serendipity1499]

John...What an exciting & neat story...Thanks so much for sharing it with us..:)

And by the way:

:):) Happy Belated Birthday!:):)

Cheers...:)Betty

[Copper10-8]

John...What an exciting & neat story...Thanks so much for sharing it with us..:)

 

And by the way:

 

:):) Happy Belated Birthday!:)

 

Cheers...:)Betty

 

Thank you Ma'am!:)

[obriendan]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOO, Copper10-8

 

And when are you going to join one (or more, there are three!) of the Roll Call boards for the Oosterdam 10/5 cruise? Are you on the 12 day cruise or the 28 day transatlantic? We just booked the 28 transatlantic and are looking forward to meeting you!

 

Dan

[RuthC]

We just booked the 28 transatlantic

I take it this means you've changed your mind about the October Rotterdam trans-At? :(

Maybe I'll catch up with you and Barbara some other cruise.

[Copper10-8]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOO, Copper10-8

 

And when are you going to join one (or more, there are three!) of the Roll Call boards for the Oosterdam 10/5 cruise? Are you on the 12 day cruise or the 28 day transatlantic? We just booked the 28 transatlantic and are looking forward to meeting you!

 

Dan

 

Hi Dan and thanks! And also thanks for the Roll Call reminder; I just signed up for Oosterdam's 05 OCT 09 roll-call. We'll be on the 12-day Venice to Barca! Looking forward to it and to meeting you! See ya!;)

[obriendan]

I take it this means you've changed your mind about the October Rotterdam trans-At? :(

Maybe I'll catch up with you and Barbara some other cruise.

 

 

I'm afraid so, Ruth. I kept watching the prices, and the price difference between the two cruises remains very significant. Also, I have a cousin who will be visiting close by in Dallas in early November and the Oosterdam cruise doesn't interfer. Hope we'll cruise with you again sometime in the future.

 

Dan