21st – 27th of June 2021

I am writing this week and I honestly cannot remember what has happened in a few days only! How crazy is that! Am I getting too old to keep up with my memory? Or was the week that busy that Monday seems like an eternity ago? Hopefully option be. For sure.

We were in Hamburg, shifting from the waiting berth to ADM quay to load Soya bean meal. This time it was really raining so much I was wondering where the sunny weather from the past days disappeared so suddenly! Because of the heavy rain we did not load for the first 3-4 hours. We had a rain letter, but honestly rain letters are only worth when there is a bit of drizzle or light rain. The famous question with rain is « how big is a drop? » to start closing hatches…. This time Captain H. Said we would not load and ruin the entire cargo with such heavy rain – even with a rain letter – so we had to wait patiently.

The problem with ADM quay is that it is a berth subject to tide. With low tide, there is not enough water for the vessel to be loading so if we didn’t complete in time, we would have to shit back to the waiting berth for 6 hours and then come back to finish. Ship’s life. You know it by now. To be honest , I did not mind to much, it only meant that we could go back to sleep for a few hours and then I would be busy again with the captain to finish loading and sailing away. Which we did.

It was actually fun because that night, he came to me and said: «  hey Sopietje! Shall we do something fun tonight? » mhmhmh what did he mean by « fun »??

« Shall we just let the guys sleep and we sail away just with the two of us? » ooohhh that he meant! Haha well yes that is fun, and actually what we used to do on the sailing vessels. It is not that it requires so much knowledge to take in lines right? I looked at him and told him yes…. At one condition: that he would not leave me on purpose on the quay side to get rid of me…. That would not be so fun , right? Haha….

The ADM quay is a short loading quay in Hamburg. We have to enter that small area backwards as it is quite narrow and there are always bigger vessels loading ahead. Quite often when we arrive there are river ships still loading so we have to wait till there are gone before we can moor. I personally do not find that quite handy as they are not restricted in loading times because of their drafts they should get out of our way before we arrive and we should not be waiting for them to move when we are planned at a certain time. The loading crane cannot reach the entire length of the hold so we usually have to ship when we are there and position the maximum forward loading position in the middle of our hatch three, where we usually start loading. And then finish totally forward after the aft if full.

This time because of the tide, we had to plan slightly differently, and shift twice more to be able to sail out and back in in a « normal » trim. Arriving at 22:00 we had still probably 3hours of loading left, maybe 900t. It would be a short night again for Captain. I do not know where he finds that super power to stay fit and awake from…. Probably from the magical captain hat….

So 20 minutes before shifting I woke him up and again on completion. I closed the hatches while he started the engine and took off our stern lines. Then went forward on the quay and once he was in our spring I took of our head line, climbed back onboard and heaved it up with the winch. Then jumped back on the quay to take the spring off – with me fingers crossed…. Remember? He could still leave me on the quay there alone… haha but I am tough I’d find a way to come back on time in the locks no worries!- hehe. Spring off, I jumped back onboard and heaved it up by hand. I made ready the foredeck while he was sailing out. In two to three hours we would be by the locks in Brunsbüttel and then he would wake the AB’s and the other officer to get the pilot onboard, sail through the locks and the first part of the channel. If all went as planned I would probably wake up and take over half way through the Kiel Channel…. Which is what happened (spoiler alert!).

I went to bed that morning tired but happy of what I had accomplished with the loading of the ship and sailing out with just Captain H. And myself. I like a bit of action and to do things myself. I forget sometimes how on the tall ships we would do a bit more « ourselves »…. Or maybe as women. I do not know if it makes such a difference on cargo vessels. But of course we are way fewer here in the merchant vessels than on the sailing vessels so… – no offense of course- men tend to come and « take over » faster some jobs that we could easily do too. I am not talking about heavy jobs; but mooring operations, throwing a heaving line or other. I must say that I can be easily frustrated by such things. People who know me will probably directly recognize my face in such situation. I am a doer, and if I do not do anymore, I know I become more lazy and I do not like that feeling.

Anyways, up in the bridge, I stayed 15 minutes with the captain to make sure he had all he needed and prepared him a cup of coffee and went to bed. I didn’t here anything till my alarm rang. Perfect. Just what was needed: a deep sleep.

The next morning I surprisingly had a nice chat with the captain who simply, out of the blue said he was proud of me. I didn’t really understand why in the beginning, but then he explained: I had loaded the ship just like he wanted and by myself, I had prepared the bridge, the paperwork, all small things but it was ready for him. I guess he was just telling me in his own way that it was appreciated. And. It. Felt. Good.

It had been a long time that I hadn’t felt like this I guess. I like being in charge and compared to my previous jobs, I feel like I have way less responsibilities here as chief officer than on the tall ships. Probably because the job is very different too. Anyways.

It was a beautiful day in the locks when I woke up. We were just half way so I had the second part of the Kiel Channel. For once it wasn’t in the middle of the night and I could enjoy the green view and the people enjoying a finally sunny day. We had a big 12 hour sail from kiel to Aarhus.

I have been there a few times with sailing events in the past. They hosted the world sailing championships, did you know? But this tie I wouldn’t have time to go in town either.

Actually, when I woke up again for my watch, the discharging had already well started.

Apparently I had missed our sistership the HEYN in the morning. The two captains are very good friends and in the beginning of the year I had the chance to meet them in Brake ( Germany). They came for a cup of coffee but I was still sleeping and when I woke up they had sailed out already. I miss meeting othersailors I know in harbours. That is the thing with sailors, you never know when you will meet again and it is somehow quite magical to meet in a totally different harbour every time.

After discharging we had to prepare the ship for Fredericia, a 6 hours sail south. We were really happy that the discharging did not take so long that we had to finish in the middle of the night but also that we didn’t have to position bulkheads like we thought we would have to like often with grain cargo. We were indeed really lucky arriving at 22:00 in Fredericia and that the weather was calm and clear that the tank top in the hold dried very fast: we were ready in no time.

I must say that summer times are way better indeed for hold washing: by the time you have finished cleaning and squeegeeing, there are only a couple of paddles left that you can mop but it is mainly dry?. In the winter, no ways you would get the hold dry in two hours. I think you xwould have to count more of a 2 days with the air dryer on!

Anyways: Frederica: a short real night – remember I always start with the early early mornings for the cargo operations and opening of the hatches…- but a nice wake up.

We were loading barley to Dordrecht in The Netherlands!

And guess what the barley was for?! Making beer!!

I tasted that cargo. The barley was a bit hard and dry. I expected it a bit more chewy. I wonder if we can make our own home beer from barley too? I have no idea. Should I just take a bucket, fill with a bit of water and close it and leave it for a few month? Mhm probably not. I guess making beer is not that easy. I have no idea!

Agin, the loading went well: always as high as possible till the coaming with grain cargo. It is important. And off we were again through the Kiel Channel and to The Netherlands.

Easy sailing. Nice sailing.

In Dordrecht captain H will go home and we will get a new captain onboard for 3 weeks till dry dock. I am not so sure I like it when new captains come onboard. Routines are a bit broken and it all seems a bit quiet and off. I never really like when the « main » captain leaves. I guess if there were a regular relieve captain it wouldn’t be so difficult always. I sometimes have the feeling that I do not like changes. I like the comfort of my known areas and routines. But on the other hand I do find myself flexible and open to changes.

I have thought of it: probably it is because although I am staying only 2 month onboard, my watches are not the easiest watches and after 6-7 weeks I tend to be lacking sleep because the nights of 7+ hours are very seldom, and lets be honest. Regular 8hours sleep in a row are absolutely not the same as two times 3-4 hours sleep right? So basically when I am tired my patience is limited and I do not like to modify systems that work for captains that come only for a few weeks and who want to make it all « their way » by changing the ship’s routine; just because the « captain » title allows it for them. The end result is that I am often making things twice or that there are some grey areas resulting in standing by for a captain who doesn’t really know the ship well and who expects the crew to do it all. Well, just as a reminder. On such a small vessel, if the captain doesn’t play his part the the two officers are running a bit behind to take over shifts and duties that other captains would do. If you come on such vessel, do not play the big titles and go back to why you started sailing and go back on deck to get the vibes again on why you started sailing. Your job is to be everywhere; not only in the bridge….

But of course, I have strong opinions.

And I am only a Sophie. I should learn to be more respectful probably. And more patient too.

We arrived that weekend Sunday morning early at the mooring buoys.

Captain H. Went ashore to pick up some orders and came back with Duschi his dog! She was really happy to spend the day with him. And it honestly feels like she was also happy to see all of us too.

It was a busy but nice week.

Take care and see you next week!

Sophie xxx