2nd till 6th of February 2022

Hello there my dear friends! It has been a while indeed! 2 month! And trust me it has been so busy at home! 

I first arrived and took time to stitch so many sailcloth bags to send before Christmas. Then I went to Brest for the Navy for two weeks, then Christmas and New Year with friends and family visit; another week in Brest, painting rooms in the house and all of a sudden it was time to fly to the ship again!

Of course, I was looking forward but you know how it is… I get busy at home and saying goodbye is always hard… I somehow always have the feeling that I have never finished what I needed to do. So I tidy everything up and start again when I come back home. Is it the same when you go back to the ship or leave your home for a while?

So there I am flying to Schiphol airport where the consigning captain (H.) will pick me up and we will drive to Delfzijl where the ship is waiting for us.

They have been loading plasterboards and I learned in the car that the plans had changed to sail out directly upon arrival and not the next day. Indeed they had completed the loading as they came with two cranes in the afternoon to load the ship so… no quiet first night for us to get used to the ship again and unpack nicely. I guess it is the ship’s life right? We were sailing to Inkoo in Finland and it was a good 12 hours sailing before we would reach Brunsbüttel and the Kiel Channel. As you know I have the midnight to 4 watch so after my handover, I went to bed to try and get some rest before I would be on the bridge during the night. Luckily the weather was not too bad as the strong winds were from our stern so basically surfing the waves. Besides, that area of the German Bight is easy: vessels mainly sail in the same direction and very few come in and out from German rivers and through the islands…. 

I was a bit sad to not be there for the loading because plasterboards are an easy cargo: only a few hatches open and with one or two forklifts in the hold, the stevedores manage everything; as long as you keep the vessel trimmed well and that when discharging double bottoms water ballast you make sure the ship will not roll because it could become dangerous.

It was really good to be back onboard: new cook, new AB, and of course two crew members I know already. Our trainee S. Would only join a couple of weeks later. 

Whenever I join the ship, I like to look in depth at all the things that have -or not have- been done. I like to see with my eyes the state of things and to refamiliarise myself on deck. Well, when leaving directly the harbor upon arrival makes it more difficult so I have to make time for it while getting back into the ship routine. I must say it did take me a couple of days to sort out my mess in the cabin: a suitcase and working clothes I leave onboard. We were sailing to the ice area so I needed to get my warm clothes out….

Last year it was -17°C in Hamina, this year it was only averaging the 0°C…. So not soo bad, but you know. When you are not covered enough, you get cold way faster too. In my cabin, I have assigned myself two benches in which I store my belongings when I am not on board. Working gear. So it is very easy for me to open that bench and grab my overall boots, and helmet. In this case winter overall and woollen jumpers… I am always a bit nervous about not being on time or ready for such things but I do not know why as I am never late for work. It does not always seem so with the suitcase «explosion » haha but everything is packed by items so I am always fast in finding what I need. 😉 I guess those are the perks of living on sailing vessels for so long with other crew mates sharing your same cabin and not being in the same watches as you! You learn how to be silent and efficient!

The sailing in the Baltic Sea was actually nice too! We had beautiful sunny weather and blue skies. We arrived on Sunday morning in Inkoo after a short sail in Ice. I would have expected way more ice underway but at least the harbour was still full! And of course, because there was no cargo operation on Sunday we made it a great relaxing day: an ice swim in the morning where I managed to stay for 3 minutes! And then a nice long 2 hours walk in the countryside. It is very nice that some countries have taken out the Covid restrictions so we are allowed to go ashore. As you know I very much enjoy long walks, especially in the snow. We dive a bit more than 10km and almost made it to the city of Inkoo from the harbour but decided to turn around before it got too dark.

Do you know what the best was? That Sunday was the nicest day of our stay in that Harbour: the following days were a bit more grey and snowy.

Anyways. My first week was not too bad on board and I was very happy to be back. I have the feeling that this term will also go very fast!

See you next week!