05 April 2012

Seabourn Spirit

On the past 2 of April, we received in Funchal the Seabourn Spirit. Coming from Fort Lauderdale and heading to Gibraltar, the Seabourn Spirit is a luxury small cruise ship where the passengers can certainly have a more relaxed experience of a voyage by sea. As in shore tourism, the cruise tourist is divided in two main categories: the ones that enjoy the crowds and the ones that hate it. My feeling is that the passenger that searches for a cruise in the Seabourn Spirit belongs to the later one. On my short walk from the Pilot ladder to the bridge, you could almost hear a pine needle hit the deck. All was quiet and peaceful and I'm almost certain that you have as much crew members as passengers on board. And that fact, normally, in this industry, is a statement of quality.
Anyway, we seamen are a big family worldwide and after a few years in the Pilotage service, particularly in a such a cosmopolitan port as Funchal, we get to know the ships and the crews quite well. So it was a pleasure to meet once again Captain David Bathgate and his crew on this short transit call, while heading to the Mediterranean.
Our new Pilot boat "Ilhéu do Lido" approaching the Seabourn Spirit by her Starboard side, for Pilot boarding, on her arrival to Funchal, in a calm April noon.

Pilot Card:
Ships name: Seabourn Spirit
IMO number: 8807997
Type: Cruise vessel
LOA: 133.40 mts
Beam: 19.00 mts
Summer displacement: 6820 t
Max draft on manoeuvre: 5.42 mts
Propulsion: Two engines - two variable pitch propellers - 10000 HP total
Pitch: N/A
Rudder: 2 - Schilling Semi-balanced
Bow thruster: 588 Kw
Stern Thruster: N/A

The Seabourn Spirit mascot, here over the gyro repeater, standing on watch on the ships bridge, while the vessel is in port.

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