Queen Mary 2
The Week of October 7 to 14, 2022
A crossing is simply that. Cross the Atlantic Ocean from New York City to Southampton, England, with no ‘cruise’ stops.
Site while sitting in Port
Getting Under Way
Going under the Verazzano Narrows Bridge
The longest suspension bridge in the United States, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge links Staten Island with Brooklyn. Robert Moses, head of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority in the 1950s and 1960s, challenged project engineer O.H. Ammann and architect Aymar Embury to make this bridge the tallest, longest, and widest to date. Completed in 1964 with a span of 4,260 feet, the Verazzano passed the Golden Gate by 6o feet.
On the ship, every day there are programs from 6:00 am until the wee hours of the night, but as I am not one to partake in group events, I am content with walking deck 7 round and round and round, then sitting somewhere quiet and consuming books.
The trip is slow and where you are in the world is hard to ascertain. Day two saw us heading towards the Grand Banks, passing between the edge of the continental shelf of the US to the North and within 50 Nautical Miles of the wreck of the Titanic to the South but I only knew that because the captain told us.
Time is difficult to access as well; there are no landmarks and phones don’t auto set when aboard. If it weren’t for the official bell ringing at noon and an announcement by the captain, one would never know exactly when the time zones had changed. Not really a problem unless you have a dinner reservation and want to make sure you are on time.
It was not until day three that we reached the Grand Banks, part of the continental shelf that extends from Newfoundland into the Atlantic and an area known for its abundance of marine life. I had been in Newfoundland just a few months before and had arrived there far quicker on that trip.
It is truly beautiful to look forever and see nothing but what Mother Nature has given us.
On day 4, the ship passed the Laborador Basin and then crossed the Mid-Atlantic ridge towards the Maxwell Fracture Zone. The ridge is around 10,000 miles long and 1,000 miles wide and follows a curved path between the Arctic Ocean and the South of Africa. The ridge generally runs equidistant between the continents on either side of the Atlantic. Interestingly it is still growing by about 1 to 2 inches per year in an east-west direction.
Imbibing in daily High Tea can be a daily ritual if one so chooses, it is a British Ship afterall
Day 6 the ship headed towards the Porcupine Abyssal Plain and then proceeded to a point South of Bishops Rock which traditionally marks the end of an eastbound crossing. Bishop’s Rock is a small rock ledge, four miles to the West of Sicily.
On day 6 it was raining heavily although the seas were very calm, I looked out my window and saw the first thing I have seen – other than water – in 5 days.
Coming into Southampton is not quite as exciting as leaving New York, as it is a shipping port but I did have this behemoth pass my room in the early dawn.
Now to the UK!