This was way harder than I intially thought it would be, even more so when nobody reminds me which day of the week it is. LOL. Anyhow, last week was week 34 of 2018 and as I reached into the now infamous box of all those un-scanned, never-before-seen photographs, I grabbed the first one at hand.
The image which I this time first picked was an image of the cruiseship “Leeward” of Norwegian Cruise Line.
From my own memory, which is faulty to say at least, this appears to have been taken at Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, Norwegian Cruise Line’s own private island. The likely time and date of this photo must have been some time in the early, second half of 1998, when I served on this ship as her Safety Officer. Perhaps around July or August 1998. I don’t remember the exact cruise-schedule of the “Leeward” at that time, but I’m thinking Cozumel (Mexico) and perhaps even Key West (Florida).
“Leeward” was a rather peculiar ship to serve at, she had some strange behaviours. I seem to remember she achieving the best speed and economy, at 1,05 meters forward trim. The ship was so dense that her lifeboats were actually hanging quite a bit over the sides, she had a very rich history prior to NCL charter, including some time in the Baltic Sea. But I also remember her as a “good ship” to work on, I remember my cabin being on the starboard side about midships and I remember a stressful night with an arsonist on board. The crew was wonderful too.
I also remember sailing the ship to a very derelict pier up Potomac River, to Alexandria, almost all the way up to Washington. We scrubbed the muddy bottom at the pier, and the mooring lines almost pulled the pier a-part. I believe that was a charter-cruise.
I only served on “Leeward” for a short time, before being transferred onwards to "Norwegian Star” - the intention was that I should gain experience on ALL ships of the fleet. I was still shattered to be transferred from the “SS Norway” to “Seaward” / “Norwegian Sea”… back then, it was a destructive feeling being transferred from the ship I loved, but today, I see it completely different: a way to gain a lot more experience. Age does that to you, I think.
