Crossing the Atlantic by ship

Posted by Sue Bryant Apr 22, 2007

You can fly across the Atlantic in six hours but crossing it by sea takes six days. This is a chance to contemplate the vastness of the ocean as Queen Mary 2 steams along what's called a Great Circle track, sailing east-northeast from south of Cape Race, Newfoundland to the Bishop Rock lighthouse at Land's End, the entrance to the English Channel.

April is early in the season for transatlantic crossings and there's not a lot to see out here as the swell is very high and the wind strong. When the sea is flatter, passengers on a transatlantic crossing can expect to spot blue whales and sperm whales and closer to New York, humpback whales which migrate from the Caribbean along the east coast to Greenland in early summer and back again in autumn. There's also a good chance of seeing dolphins riding the bow wave of the ship, although Queen Mary 2 is so fast that is usually outruns them. Tomorrow we can expect seabirds for company as we approach the Irish coast.

We've passed a few container ships but apart from those, we're alone. Commodore Bernard Warner nevertheless regales the passengers with stories and fascinating facts. Two days out of New York, we sailed close to the Grand Banks, where the seabed suddenly shallows from tens of thousands of feet to just 120 feet and a persistent sea fog hangs in the air. The following day, we sailed just 40 nautical miles north of the wreck of the Titanic, which is slightly alarming, given that Titanic sank on April 14, this very time of year, after colliding with an iceberg. Commodore Warner told us that this is indeed still the ice season, but nowadays, the US Coast Guard puts out regular ice reports and the nearest iceberg is 200 nautical miles to the north.

When he tells us the ship's position on a daily basis, it gives some perspective to the sheer size of the North Atlantic. This morning, we were 720 nautical miles off the coast of Ireland whereas yesterday, the Azores archipelago was the nearest land, some 500 nautical miles away. Tonight, we will pass within 150 nautical miles of Queen Elizabeth 2, which is headed westbound for New York, in the opposite direction to us, and trying to dodge a bad storm. We're sailing through gale force winds ourselves, but the ship is so stable it's hardly noticeable. "This is the best ocean liner in the world for withstanding weather," says Commodore Warner reassuringly.

Queen Mary 2 has a viewing gallery behind the navigation bridge where passengers can watch the action but to be truthful, there isn't much, as we are sailing on autopilot and the radar is completely clear. The officers of the watch still manage to look busy, though. Do they get bored? "No. I never get tired of the sea," says Commodore Warner. "It has tremendous force and wonderful moods."