MINERVA 14th May 2016 Part 9 at sea

Sunday 22nd May 2016
Today is a sea day, sailing up to Rotterdam, so there was a Church Service at 8.30 a.m. I noted that the hymns were played at a good speed so that we could all get down to breakfast before the restaurants closed; in fact I met the pianist from Opera del Mare in the Veranda and mentioned that, and he confided that he had been hungry too.

Walking from my cabin through Reception, I met the ex-Union-Castle Engineer Tim so we went for a chat in Wheelers Bar. That became a gossipy and fun hour, deciding we might have met whilst working on the cruise ship REINA DEL MAR way back when. It is his and his wife's 40th wedding anniversary today so I had time to write a card to give them later. I noticed from the daily programme that I have missed Napkin Folding and a talk about Tulip History. I sat on the outside Veranda deck in warm clothes to write my diary, peering through the gloom, although all I could see was a Grimaldi ship in the distance heading north.

A Grimaldi ship


After lunch there was a 2.30 p.m. lecture from Rosalind Whyte entitled 'From Tudors to Tars: A History of Greenwich', which was very well attended and enjoyed. She has such a relaxed and knowledgeable style of public speaking.

At 4 p.m. there was a Choir workshop, practising choruses of 'Feed the Birds' and 'Rule Britannia' ready for our London concert participation. After a cup of tea I went on the top deck and walked around for a mile, but I did see the Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic over on our port side as we went through the Straits of Dover. This is not manned but maintained by Trinity House, and also has an automatic weather station on board. The Sandettie Banks pose a significant threat to the major shipping lanes in these Straits, so it is comforting to know about the Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic; many hundreds of thousands of us know about her simply from hearing the daily Shipping Forecast for UK waters from the BBC, which is updated four times a day by the Met Office.

Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic


Then it was party time again, this time for first-time Swans, so I was amongst several new friends. The Captain made a welcoming speech and announced that the Rotterdam Pilot would come on board on Monday (tomorrow) at 5 a.m. to take us into port for 8 a.m. arrival. The Captain also announced that instead of berthing in Greenwich on Tuesday, it had been arranged that Tower Bridge would open for us on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and we will then tie up beside HMS Belfast near the Tower of London. Well, that raised big cheers amongst us of course: Greenwich would have been good, but Tower Bridge was even better.

I met Engineer Tim and his wife again at the party, and had already been invited to join them and other friends for dinner, so we could celebrate their Ruby Wedding Anniversary.

After dinner many of us headed back to the Darwin Lounge for the 'Minerva Crew Show' at 9.45 p.m. which was fascinating and enjoyable and performed by so many talented members of the crew.

Ships seen: a Grimaldi vessel, Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic

To be continued...

SANDETTIE Lightvessel Automatic 29th September 2014

On 29th September 2014 I was sailing through the English Channel/Dover Straits on board OASIS OF THE SEAS, heading for the port of Rotterdam on the next day. The seas had been calm all through the Bay of Biscay, and it was delightful to be at sea in those conditions. It was slightly hazy by late afternoon but suddenly I could see what looked like a Lightvessel, raised my camera and discovered I was looking at a vessel whose name I knew - it was Sandettie!

Sandettie Lightvessel Automatic, Sandettie Bank, English Channel


This is a name I know from hearing it on the BBC’s Shipping Forecast, issued by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, for waters around the coast of the British Isles. The vessel is named after her location on the Sandettie Bank, to the north of Calais in France.

Trinity House (www.trinityhouse.co.uk) website told me that she is in this position:

SANDETTIE LIGHT VESSEL (ALL Vol A 0994, ALRS 52300).
Latitude 51° 09.355’N., Longitude 001° 47.122’E

For the second time this year I have been fortunate enough to be able to see another of Trinity House’s Lightvessels, and this time one whose name is unforgettable - lucky me.

VARNE Lightvessel 16th May 2014

VARNE Lightvessel No. 21

On 16th May 2014 I was on board BLACK WATCH, sailing south west through the English Channel and heading for the port of Southampton on the following day. I was out on deck on the port side after sunset, watching a calm sea in the twilight.


Watching from here (21.03 British Summer Time)

I then went inside to check our position on a nearby screen.

I could see we were in the Dover Straits, with France on the port side and England on our starboard side and

I went out on deck again, and then I saw VARNE.

Varne and a container ship in the background (21.13 BST)

Trinity House (www.trinityhouse.co.uk) gave me the following information:

Varne Lightvessel

Lat 51° 01.286 N Long 001° 23.897 E (not for navigation purposes)

The Varne Lightvessel marks the dangerous Varne bank, a five and three quarter mile long sand bank in the Dover Strait, lying nine miles southwest of Dover in Kent. Lying almost in the middle of the international traffic separation scheme of the English Channel, the bank is a constant concern for shipping.

In addition, our Operations and Planning Centre (OPC) in Harwich can monitor / control the lights, fog signals, racons, AIS (when operational), engine (where applicable), position monitoring, collision / bilge indications and battery voltages.

All Lightvessels report into OPC every 12 hours or whenever there is a change of state at the station. OPC can also request an update from the station.
Range (NM) Character Fog Signal
15 Fl (R) 5s (1)30s

I also found out that she was commissioned in 1962 and built for Trinity House in 1963 by Philip & Son, of Dartmouth, England. She is of riveted steel and is 40.54 metres (133 feet) long.

I often hear on BBC Radio 4 the Shipping Forecast, broadcast on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, giving details of the weather and sea conditions for waters around the coasts of the British Isles, so it was good to see VARNE, which is in the Dover area, and a unique experience for me.

Close-up picture of VARNE