Lady S

02.11.2017 - 02.12.2017
04.11.2016 - 05.01.2017

Captain
m/y Lady S

Lady S (courtesy by Burgess)

Having been in the cold for months looking for work I finally got one through my network via colleagues, it was a temp relief gig to carry out a pre-winter season refit in UK and then head to the Caribbean to start the season with a holiday cruise to tide over the full time Captain's annual leave. This was also my first Burgess managed yacht.

I joined in London autumn 2016 where she was moored at buoys in the Thames, transfer was by local boats and coxswains only. It didn't take long when we had made introductions and soon were on the way with pilot onboard going dowstream. Passed the Canary Wharf, then Cutty Sark and the impressive Thames barrier. As we sailed past Tilbury the horizon widened and a forest of windmills were spread in front of the bow. We dropped off the pilot and continued towards Southampton and next morning we were tying up at a jetty next to the Cunard docks.

Lady S (courtesy by Boat International)

As we had tied up and cleared formalities we had several contractors visiting us for the upcoming works, the C/E went on leave and the show was left to the Danish 2/E to carry on with. Lot of crew went home to visit their families over the weekend but work carried on as planned. Southampton was a funny time and small place in the world as I met old colleagues from my time in Indian and UAE, they were there for work, courses and whatnot, just happened to be at the same time. Had some nice dinners and catching up since the the old days we'd worked together.

Maintenance works went on pretty smoothly except one contractor that had the song and dance to get our custom suddenly had gaslighted us and was nowhere to be seen. As they were supposed to be importer and installing party of 2 pieces of new MKN steamer ovens (like the Rolls Royce of ovens) we needed them and the ovens changed as they old ones were knackered and needed changing before departing UK. Meanwhile our Purser/ PA also employed crew that had departed after the summer.

The Danish 2/E alerted me on this development and we tried calling the chaps to no avail. The next step was to contact MKN Germany from where the ovens came from, luckily we had a German electrician onboard who could communicate with them easily, they told us to contact the importers, we told them we've tried that but they've disappeared. Ok, they said, we'll check the warehouse and luckily they had the ovens we needed in stock, so quickly I got management to issue payment and express shipping over the English Channel, luckily it was EU so didn't need no customs clearance. 

The ovens arrived just in time, we had them installed and temporarily fixed the stainless steel for fitting the ovens in the galley (the old one's had different fastenings). Never heard from the local oven guys and to this day I have no idea what happened to them. Soon enough we had all our ticks in the boxes of the to-do list and we made off and sailed towards Canary Islands for bunkers and final destination St Maarten.

Departure was in day time and enjoyed the pilotage through the Solent with some hardened sailboats still plying the waterway in a sunny clear autumn day. Soon sighted the rocks before entering the English channel, I dropped pilot off and then we continued west along the traffic separation passing between Land's End and Brest entering the Bay of Biscay where we altered course towards La Coruna.

Managed to cross the Bay of Biscay pretty effortlessly but at the northern corner of Spain and Portugal the luck ended and we caught some bad weather on our bow whilst passing La Coruna southwards. In the weehours one night had to slow down a bit as we had started slamming but as the day dawned the seas had died down slightly and we increased speed again. Arrived Las Palmas in Canary Islands in good fashion. We moored in the commercial port between two finger jetties side to so it was easy to bunker. It was my first maneuver and found out she had plenty of power and maneuvering was child's play, I was alongside in no time and the deckies were taken by surprise so much so that they had to scramble getting the ropes ashore and tied up.

Bunkering happened same day, we didn't tarry but carried on into the night, now with a westerly course towards the Caribbean. Weather was pretty good, it blew a nice breeze but the seas were not high. The days went on and we were on the same heading, weather forecasts were good so on we went. Then when we were in about the middle of the ocean I was alerted late in evening that our new housekeeper was ill. She was pale and sweaty in her bed and after asking few questions it turned out she had been pregnant when signing off but she had taken a morning after pill and by the looks of it hadn't aborted so she was having complications.

Subsequently contacted radio medical of what to do and all advice we got was to keep her in bed and check vitals twice a day and then report to them. She seemed to become stable and we carried on like that until we arrived St Maarten, arrived anchorage in evening so were scheduled to come alongside only the next morning with the bridge opening. She was getting bad after anchoring so booked her for hospital straight upon arrival. 

Next day had the exciting navigation experience through the dog legged canal leading in to Simpson Bay where we were going to berth. I had about 1m clearance on both sides passing the bridge, the bar was full of onlookers waiting for accidents to happen. As it happens I grazed the port bearing list on the portcullis as I was told by Ch Mate to go to port when I thought starboard but believed him and did a push thinking there was something else. There was, I felt the thud but had to keep going until alongside, we tied up port side to and soon enough, after lowering the gangway the local paint and filler guy was there to quote for repairs.

Sent the housekeeper to hospital and started the make-up job on the port bearing list, needed to sand down the cracked filler and paint, then fill it up, cure and paint it over. The guys doing the job were very talented in their tasks so it was obvious that the bridge canal brought them a lot of work to do. Meanwhile our Chef provisioned, the Chief stewardess starting unpacking the boat and preparing the yacht for charter, the boys were doing wash-downs and maintenance & engineers did what they needed to do in their mechanical garden. Engine room was in good shape, nothing had broken during the passage.

In evenings crew went out on town to enjoy the bars and restaurants, it was all quite quaint albeit very commercial. Most places all drinks were served in plastic mugs and cheap cutlery, even single use, so it was not very environmentally friendly but maybe it was bringing in profits for the establishments. Eventually I saw yet again how small the world is and I caught up with 2 of my ex stewardesses for ice cream one evening.

One afternoon went with the Chief mate to see the end of the airport where people were hanging on to the fence or trying to match the power of the huge jets taking off from the island. I didn't see it as my cup of tea but one could have a beer watching these people at times rolling in the sand like ragdolls.

The calendar went onwards and soon enough it was time to get the game face on and receive guests. We got more or less full house of one family that had chartered us and enjoyed a good time onboard. We cruised mostly around St Maarten, St Kitts & Nevis and new year was spent at anchor off St Barth's. I was impressed they still had the Swedish road names left in town there.

The charter went fast and it seemed such a short time when you work, even spent some evenings washing dishes (with the boys) after dinners to let the girls concentrate on entertainment and service. Quite lucky with the weather but at times had big waves rolling in from the Atlantic as I guess low pressure systems trundled north of us towards Europe.

As we cleaned up the boat for yet another guest visit my time was up and I had to prepare for my handover and doing it for the incoming Captain. Still as the last cheeky thing he asked me to take the vessel out to anchorage so he could avoid doing the maneuver. By this time I had gone in and out the canal 4 times so was getting the hang of it, one scratch was enough. Then it was time to shake hands and I took my flight home. It had been a really nice experience.

The next time I was back on Lady S was after I had resigned from Moonlight II. It was time for them to finish their refit in Vilanova in autumn 2017 and deliver her to Bahamas for the duration of the Captain's vacation. It was pretty much a repeat of the last year, stopped in Las Palmas again for bunkers and thundered on west, a bit further than last time, all the way to Bahamas. 

Had an uneventful transit, no sick crew this time and we arrived in good fashion in Nassau to clear in. The full time skipper embarked and we motored her south into the marina at Albany resort, the channel in there was pretty tight with cross currents but as the skipper did the maneuver I got to use my drone and filmed the approach. 

Once alongside it was time to say goodbye and I flew to Florida for some R&R before returning to Europe. It was a pity I didn't have time to look around Bahamas a bit. Also it was the last time I saw Lady S as she as sold and named Lady E.

Specifiations of Lady S as per the Superyacht fan:

Length: 74m (245ft)
Guests: 12
Crew: 22
Builder: Amels
Designer: Walter Franchini Architetto
Build year: 2006
Speed: 17
Engines: Caterpillar
GT: 1547
IMO: 1008217