Voyage on the MV North Star

[tpbrady]

I left the CD-22 at home this week and flew with Caroline to Seattle. On Wednesday afternoon, we boarded the MV North Star, a rollon-rolloff cargo carrier operated by Totem Ocean Trailer Express between Tacoma and Anchorage. We were in a stateroom just below the bridge, 2 decks above the galley, and had free access to the bridge any time we felt like it. The bridge had slightly more square footage than my house, 3 radars, a half a dozen GPS's and computer running Nobeltec (Yes I need one of those).

We left Seattle about 0230 on Thursday morning and I stayed on the bridge until 0330 watching the Puget Sound pilot navigate the ship out to the open ocean. The next morning we out in the Pacific off Vancouver Island, dodging sport fishermen. It happened to be an almost dead calm day and the boats were thick. This was the most intense seamanship of the trip. Being goog visibility, most navigation was visual with some reference to radar. The Captain mentioned in the fog with any kind of sea, his detection range on small boats is something less than 3 miles. I quickly learned that George (pilot's term for autopilot) does the driving even with the harbor pilot on board. You turn the dial to the heading you want and George goes to that heading. Set the turns on the propellers and it goes so fast. For the next 3 days, we motored (no steam on this ship, it's all electric) pretty much straight to the Kennedy Entrance to Cook Inlet. A four hour watch consisted of log entries every hour, making a few 1 or 2 degree heading changes, and making coffee. But then again seas were 4 feet or less, winds were 15 knots or less, and ship movement was hardly noticeable. You know things are not always like that, when every stateroom, passageway, and even the shower has hand railings on both sides.

After we got north of the Dixon Entrance we didn't see another ship for two days. There's not much traffic on the route between Tacoma and Anchorage. However, I saw whales each day ( I spent a lot of time on the bridge just watching), and one afternoon, I saw what had to be about 200 or more porpoises feeding about 1/2 mile off. About 30 of them broke off and joined with us but didn't stay long (I think 21 knots may be a little fast for them).

We were hoping for sunny skies when we got to the Cook Inlet, but the fog rolled in until it got dark. We did get some shots of the Barren Islands, and we could see Kachemak Bay on the way by. The Captain was on the bridge the whole time (until the Cook Inlet pilot took over) since there was a high probability of a small boat encounter. We only encountered one late evening hailbut fisherman in the fog. We detected him right at 5 miles (the seas were 2 feet or less) and it was a 26 foot aluminum boat when we finally saw it. The North Star was sounding it's fog horn, and the Captain altered course to the west to provide clearance.

Here are some comparisons between my CD-22 and the North Star:

CD-22 North Star
Length: 22 feet 839 feet
Beam 7.7 feet 108 feet
Displacement 1.5 tons 45,000 tons
Propulsion 90HP (9.9 AUX) 60,000HP
Generator 150 watt inverter 50MW
Range 200 miles 3000 miles
Fuel Cap 50 gals 8000 barrels
Economy 4 mpg 2 barrels/mile

I posted some photos in my album.

Tom

[TyBoo]

That is neat! How did you get yourselves invited on this ride?

[tpbrady]

Caroline works for TOTE in Anchorage. I take her for cruises on my boat and she took me for cruise on hers.

Tom

[SeaSpray]

Hi Tom,

Cool trip! That bridge is huge. How many crew for a ship like that?

I saw in your pics that you have carried a kayak on top of your dingy on the cabin top. How well did that work? Did you have any concern about wear to the dingy?

I am going to be taking both my dingy and a kayak and I don't really want to fold up the dingy every time we move.

Thanks,
Steve

[tpbrady]

Steve,

If my count is correct, there were 22 officers and men. The typical bridge watch was one officer (Chief Mate, 1st Mate, 2nd Mate, or 3rd Mate) and one Seaman. The officer got to pick the XM radio channel for the watch. The choices ranged from NPR to Fox News to Oldies.

The dinghy is pretty durable and there really aren't any sharp edges on the kayak. I haven't had any problems to date.

[hardee]

Tom,
What a cool trip. Next to doing an Alaska cruise in the C-Dory, this is my idea fo a cruise ship ride. (On the other hand, Deena is saying she wants to go on Norweigen.) She wants more pampering. On the CD she doesn't get to just go along for the ride. She also drives MUCH of the time. We both like that.

Great photos. The Northstar and the rest of the albums. You have some beautiful shots.

Really like the Kayak rack idea. Will have to do some thinking and work on that one. I have a radar on a roof mount, and don't have a radar arch. That's the way she came, and no changes to that yet.
Harvey
Sleepy C

[tpbrady]

Harvey

They offered to let me drive the NorthStar but since that amounted to spinning the dial on the auto pilot and no radical turns I declined.

I have journeyed to Alaska on the Alaska Ferry (2), on the Alaska Highway (4), by small plane (1), and now cargo ship. My next trip is by my own boat (CD-25 or CR-25 just not sure which). I'm not sure if I will ever do a regular cruise ship.

Tom

[hardee]

Hi Tom,
If you need a crew on either of the 25's, let me know, ( I did a furnature delivery trip to Homer from Utah on a statement like this once.) Loved it. I have to get over this work thing before I can do that again though . Fraid if they would have offerd me a chance to drive on the North Star, they would still be trying to pry my hands of that joystick
Harvey
Sleepy C