Week 6 was an interesting one! Last week we were sailing out of Kolding 🇩🇰 to Kaliningrad 🇷🇺.

I have been only once in Russia. Last year with this vessel. We had 10 days in the dry dock then loading the soja bean meal in the same place as where we are heading now ( Svetlyy). I was a bit nervous about all the documents and paperwork the Russians ask us to prepare. But apparently, as they have had a lot of trouble with shipping companies boycotting their harbour because of that, they have smoothened up procedures a little. They still need a lot of declarations from the vessel and still do face-checks upon arrival… 👮 and ask you very seriously: “Sophie?” Looking at the picture on your seaman’s book with a doubting eye…. “Yes…. That is me…?!”. Probably my picture doesn’t look like me: Pretty Sophie with combed hair and a little make-up vs Sleepy Sophie just after a long night watch and called out of bed by the captain in the middle of her long sleep…

This time, no dogs, just the agent and one immigration officer. It went surprisingly fast and smooth.

With Russian, you often need to do a draft survey before you start loading. A draft survey is basically taking the fore and aft drafts 🚢 , the middle drafts (portside and starboard side) and the water density💧. You will need to know exactly how much ballast you have in and also the density of the water that is in your ballast tanks ( for the same volume, freshwater is lighter than saltwater). You date the data before loading and after loading which will enable you -after a few calculations- to calculate the exact amount of cargo we carry in the hold. This amount should of course be the same (or as close as possible) to the shore scale; and will be written on the Bill of Lading 📝 signed by the captain. Pre and post-loading surveys are done with an external surveyor (usually belonging to the loading party) and are calculated on both sides. When there is a big difference this is when a discussion starts… Basically, a couple of tons difference is nothing but if you have 20 or 50 then… or there is a wrong figure with a ballast tank that we think is full for example and is not in reality, or it is simply that the cargo is not in the hold… despite what the shore scale says. You can double-check by retaking the drafts, and comparing them to the stability calculation program for example. But “drafts never lie”, as would tell me, Captain H.

Kaliningrad started very smoothly: loading speed 150 tons/ hour which is quite slow. In case of good weather, it is great because we can just open up the hatches and follow the loading process while doing maintenance on deck for example or preparing voyage plannings 🛠 etc. There is more time for emptying the ballast tanks and for drinking coffee ;-). We had nice weather and as our next port of call would be Uusikaupunki in Finland and we were expecting strong northerly winds, I was afraid being on deck wouldn’t be so nice. So I decided to anticipate a little the deck maintenance and to be ahead of schedule. 12°C with no wind is always nicer than 0°C in wind. Besides with a slow loading process, it is less stressful and you can easily keep an eye doing small jobs on deck and be fully available by the end when it is more critical.

This time, the shore scale was wrong for over 50tons…. Which made us miss the convoy to exit Kaliningrad the night after completion. We shifted berth late that evening and departed the next morning just before lunchtime, after the visit of our friendly immigration officers 👮‍♂️ . Upon departure, they came in three: one was face-checking and stamping seaman’s books; the other two were… doing nothing, just standing there probably to impress us. But we are not. We laugh discreetly 🤭

The disadvantage of leaving Russia 12 hours later was that we headed into strong northerly winds💨: a good 7 But directly in the nose which didn’t make the voyage so nice ( but could be worse with wind on the beam, or stern which can make us rolling sometimes depending on the swell). This time we had short high waves till we reached the Bothnia Sea.

There were quite some impressive waves 🌊 smashing on the foredeck. Of course, even with my phone close by it is always difficult to catch a good impressive picture: it is known that the biggest wave will always come the moment you put the camera down and it is too late to take another shot, right?

I always have in mind that Finland 🇫🇮 has mountains. I haven’t been many times here but I am always surprised by the thousands of little islands all around: soft round rocks ( probably used by rough winters…) and lots of trees. I find it beautiful and I am always hoping I will have the chance to go ashore and have a nice long walk to explore further. I do not think small harbours such as Uusikaupunki have a lot to offer. I think by 22:00(LT) everything should be closed. Unlike the other Scandinavian harbours, they work all day long (07:00 till 23:30 LT). It makes again a long day for me, but I do not mind: this is the fun part of my job: the cargo operations! Especially when it goes smoothly and if the weather is great: a big blue sky, a big sunny day, fresh temperatures (8°C during the day, 2°C at night) but not “ cold”. Remember temperature is just a piece of information: you can (and should!) train your body to cold temperatures without having too many layers on 🥶 ! There is no need to always put on the heating…. That is a funny point: our deckhands are Indonesian and our engineer from Bonaire….. well trust me, when walking around the accommodation and different workspaces you also walk through the different Earth climates! Haha

Discharging went as planned and very smoothly. We then started cleaning the cargo and had to move a bit the bulkheads to clean the cargo that was spilt behind (leakage in the timber installed in the aft hold entrance). Such things happen sometimes but it makes the bulkheads difficult to move and it takes longer to prepare from the cleaning and sweeping ( see my previous post for the sweeping! 😉 ). And then off we went to Kotka. Good winds in our favour this time and Sunday at anchor! We will be expecting in harbour Monday 19th! My BIRTHDAY! 🎉 🎉 🎉 depending on the weather forecast!

We shall see! Till then…

See you next week! Xxx Sophie 😘 ♥️

PS: The nice thing with sailing more north and heading into colder days is that the water gets also colder and therefore my showers too! It is over one year now that I take daily cold showers and that my warm showers become more and more seldom! I am almost addicted to it. Followed with a nice black coffee, it is the perfect start of the day! Have you tried?

Cookie’s vegetables a growing slowly! 🌱 🌱