Aurora part 1 - Southampton to Zeebrugge

While I was on Oriana last summer my friend Patricia Dempsey asked if I'd be interested in doing a short trip on Aurora so I said 'Why not' and we booked it there and then. 24th April 2013 came around very quickly and we joined the ship for a short four-night cruise to Zeebrugge and Amsterdam.
I am not going to put a lot of text into the next couple of posts as there are tons of photos and this one will cover Southampton to Zeebrugge.

Aurora was waiting for us at berth 106.

The ro-ro ship Eddystone was on the move, from the container terminal to Marchwood and made an excellent photo from Mayflower Park

Car carriers Asian Vision and Hoegh Trader were also in Southampton...

...While refrigerated cargo ship Frio Mogami was on her way out, accompanied by the almost obligatory WAFI; the bugger ruined what would have been the best shot by getting in the way. I don't mind yachts being in the picture if they're not in the way but they're a pain in the arse when they get right between you and the ship, as this fellow had half a minute earlier.

Mein Schiff 1 was on berth 101 in the City Cruise Terminal.

We departed at 1700, passing Mein Schiff 1 and there was a frank exchange of views via the ships' sirens as we passed.

Tankers at Fawley oil terminal

My aunt drove to East Cowes to see us pass and took a few photos with an old compact camera of mine. The conditions were pretty awkward, with murk and mist and far from ideal for photography but the photos have not turned out badly, despite the fact it was a cheap old compact. We were standing under the aft lifeboat, not that we can be seen in the photo at this resolution.

We arrived at Zeebrugge early the following morning, although a bit delayed by dense fog which slowed us down and caused the ships' horns to be sounded at intervals throughout the night.
I woke up in the semi darkness of the cabin and I could hear an engine outside and, forgetting where I was, I was thinking 'Bloody car outside, left with the engine running' (which is one of my pet hates) when I realised it was actually a ship, so I went out on the balcony (we'd been upgraded) and took some photos of Cobelfret's Yasmine arriving and reversing into her berth...the first time I've taken ship photos while in my pyjamas!

Balcony cabins are ideal for ship photography and are perfect for the lazy photographer. Indeed, photos can probably be taken while lying in bed if you're really bone idle...

I spent the day taking photos of the comings and goings and generally not doing much else.

Bore Song arriving...

 Norsky arriving

Opal Leader and Schieborg also arriving

...as was Victorine

While Sea Cruiser 1, Toronto and Independence II departed during the afternoon.

The small container ship Hercules J leaves as Opal Leader arrives.

MSC Gaia was at the container terminal, but the light was awkward for photography as we left, which was the only time I could get an unobstructed shot.

Stena Carrier

Clifford Maersk

Local charter boat SC Lynx

Lysbris and Trans Pine

Trans Pine

Local tug Union Coral

We sailed at 1800 as Norstream arrived

Chem Nicholas

Gas Cerberus was on a parallel course as we headed towards the Wandelaar Pilot Station

As was Ionian Trader

It was very misty again as we headed out into the North Sea. The small container ship Elvira is met by the pilot vessel Weilingen

NYK Arcadia partly obscured by mist

Ships in the mist

The pilot boat, a Swath catamaran named Weilingen, comes by to pick up the pilot from Aurora.

We made our way along to coast over night as we headed towards IJmuiden, the North Sea Canal and Amsterdam, where we were due to arrive early the following morning.

Big Mary - Part 3

We arrived at Zeebrugge in thick fog early on Monday morning, although the sun did make a tantalising and very brief appearance at one point before the murk closed in again. We got off the ship to get some photos of her from the dock, while keeping an eye out for a blonde G4S security guard who Patsy has had several run-ins with in the past - this guy harasses passengers who attempt to walk along the dock side and doesn't allow them to take photos of their ship, while the other guards are not bothered. People must have complained, as he left us alone, which was just as well as I had a hangover and wasn't in the mood to take crap from a jobsworth.

Brief glimpse of blue skies. What a tease.
The sign is there, just in case you were in doubt as to which ship this was ;)

Going through the security back aboard the ship was interesting, as a pack of A4 batteries in my camera bag caused consternation. Heaven knows what they looked like on the scanner's monitor but I had to open my bag and pull things out for a visual inspection.

Despite the murk, I decided to photograph what few ships were visible.

Artevelde, built 2009, 5005 GT, IMO 9501954, Belgian flag

Catherine, built 2002, 21287 GT, IMO 9209453, Belgian flag

L'audace, built 1999, 15224 GT, IMO 9187318, Spanish flag

Pauline, built 2006, 49166 GT, IMO 9324473, Luxembourg flag

It was cold as we left Zeebrugge - but at least the fog had cleared - but we went up to the top deck and a small platform in front of the funnel, hoping for the full effect of Mary's 'War of the Worlds' horns as we left the port.

I made a short video of the horns

An hour later, we dropped off the pilot at De Wandelaar pilot station. The pilot vessel, a Swath catamaran, came up alongside us at speed and we got a good view from the Golden Lion, where we were on eye level with the boat. As the pilot vessel came alongside us, she hit us with a loud clang causing people to look away from the football on the telly: 'Shit! They hit us!', but no harm was done.

It was time for an early night, as we planned to get up early for our arrival at Southampton. The wind and sea were getting up and the upper outside decks were closed although the Promenade Deck was open. This was like a wind tunnel and you wouldn't have been able to stand up on the top decks.
In the early hours, Mary rolled beautifully in the seas generated by Force 7 winds but things had calmed down somewhat by the time we reached the Solent, although it was raining.

We docked in the Ocean Terminal, with the assistance of a tug, by 0630 and were off the ship by 0915. Our colour was Gold and number 3, and our disembarkation time was 0930 but they were a bit early, so I was able to catch the 0945 Red Jet home. We caught a taxi round to Town Quay, as it was raining and we were disinclined to get wet! I don't know if the driver was a failed racing driver or fancied himself at Silverstone or something but he stuck his foot down and we had a speedy ride round the corner to TQ.

That was a great trip and an ambition - to sail on a Cunard liner - realised. I still want to do a trans-Atlantic trip and, at the prices they were going for (£269 one way - tempting, but I would have to get home!), that will probably happen sometime in the next few years. Queen Mary 2 is a superb ship and the grandest ocean liner ever built; I didn't get to see as much as I would have liked but that's another reason to go back. She is huge, but not too huge and is my favourite cruise ship currently in service, just edging out Oriana.
There were very few bad points, but here they are: it was far too hot throughout the ship, the coffee was as weak as it could be, drinks were stupidly expensive, the currency is in US$ and some of the spellings were American, which grated more than a little considering Cunard are (were) a British company, and I hate seeing 'Hamilton' instead of 'Southampton' on the life-rings, life boats and on the stern. But she had more good points than bad ones and I loved being aboard her.

I have taken some interior photos, which I will put in a separate post.