By Bob Van Leer

  (AT SEA IN THE BALTIC, Aug. 11, 1993) - The next two days are being spent at sea as we sail from Warnemunde, Germany, to St. Petersburg, Russia, a voyage of 724 nautical miles.

  Capt. Emmanuel Tzanis, master of the Crown Odyssey, is more visible now as we are at open sea. In transit through the Kiel Canal he appeared to stick to the bridge. Tzanis said we are traveling at 15 knots and will arrive at St. Petersburg Friday morning.  This morning we passed between the Swedish mainland and the Swedish island of Bornholm.  The weather is clear,bright and cool with choppy waters and a six foot swell.

   This ship is very well stabilized and there is little apparent motion. It is quieter than any other ship I've been on. The ship has a small gambling casino with slot machines, a dice table and blackjack tables. The gambling casino is only open when the ship is underway.

  This is a busy shipping lane - there is almost always one or more other ships visible. The sea appears to be quite shallow. The water is green and, even out of sight of land, the shipping lane is marked with buoys. This changed as we continued northeast.

65 Tons a Day

  We took a tour of the bridge and were filled in with facts on the ship and its operation. The ship was built in 1988-89 in Germany and is 615 feet long and displaces 37,000 gross tons. The ship draws 23.9 feet of water. At 15 knots speed it burns 65 tons of fuel per day and can carry 1625 tons (there are 280 gallons to a ton). The ship consumes 350 tons of fresh water per day at an average cost of $8.00 per ton. Fresh water is purchased in ports. The ship can desalinate water but at a cost of $18.00 per ton.

  Sewage is treated and released. The ship at full capacity has about 1500 people aboard and has it own sewage treatment plant. Some garbage is ground and treated as sewage. There is an on-board incinerator for burnable products and the rest of solid waste is held on shipboard and discharged in port.

  The Crown Odyssey has bow thrusters for maneuvering and can turn in its own circle without the aid of tugs. It has stabilizers for a smooth ride. This is not a steamship. It has four diesel engines that generate a maximum of 28,563 horsepower. The two main engines are four stroke with a bore of 580 mm., stroke of 600 mm. and 400 r.p.m. It has two main propellers with a radius of 5000 mm. The two main anchors weight 8.3 tons each.

  There are 526 passenger cabins, two pools and four whirlpools. The ship is a modern technical marvel but sailors change slowly. Sailors have always been superstitious. On the control console was a large bulb of garlic wrapped in foil and tied with a blue ribbon. This was to keep off the "evil eye". Also on the wall was an icon of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors.

  Three senior navigating officers rotate in commanding the bridge. Each is a captain in his own right. I mentioned to our guide, Nigel Clayton, cruise director, this was rather high caliber talent to be standing deck watch. He said the shipping business has been getting smaller leaving a lot of experienced officers available.

  Comedian Dick Lord entertained tonight in the Odyssey show lounge. The quality of the entertainment on this ship is quite good. Tomorrow we will continue on our sail to St. Petersburg, Russia.