Thoughts on arrival in Southampton

I thought I would share with you some details of our arrival in Southampton, England last Monday. It was quite a moment for all onboard, but especially for me. I know this may sound corny, but one thing I’ve learned is that of my lineal ancestors, except for my mother, virtually all of them voyaged transatlantic at some point in their lives.

Our captain had projected arrival in Southampton at 6:00am last Monday from the time we departed New York six days earlier. Sunrise was scheduled for 5:15am. I wanted to watch and experience it all, so I got up at 4:00am and made my way to the top (12th) deck where I found two other souls in the pitch black.

Previously during the night, we had passed Land’s End to port (think left), the southwestern most point of England and entered the English Channel on a due east heading. As I arrived on deck, we were passing the Isle of Wight to port. It might be helpful to look at a map, but this island blocks or protects the river that leads north to Southampton. We swung around the eastern side of the Isle of Wight, steamed across the northern side of the isle on a westerly heading and then turned north again to enter the massive river. This is near the coastal city of Portsmouth, which you would see on a map.

An amazing scene of lights began to emerge during the process – lighted channel markers, lighthouses, other ships, etc, the first real signs of marine civilization I’d seen in 6 days. Dawn began to break and we could begin to see land as QM slowly steamed northward. An experienced local pilot had previously been delivered to the ship, and he began to maneuver the ship sharply in order to properly navigate the river channel. Being on top of a 1000’ ship as she is turning from port to starboard is a magnificent moment that is really hard to describe.

The sun began to rise and daylight broke. We began to pass small seaside villages, marinas and anchorages as we continued northward. All the local mariners were perched to watch Queen Mary cruise by. More and more of our passengers began to make their way onto the outside decks to watch.

Southampton eventually came into view, the pilot maneuvered her to the dock and the dock lines were fastened at 6:30am – 30 minutes later than the captain had projected 3200 nms previously. An amazing feat of piloting and navigating.