28th of March till 2nd of April 2022

There we are again for my last week onboard. It has been confirmed: after Rauma, we will sail to Hamina, also in Finland and we will load timber for Bremerhaven. I will not be part of the timber crew this time as I will disembark just after. Do not tell anybody, but I am quite relieved about it! These past days have been quite tiring preparing everything for the new crew member relieving me and I am a bit tired and I know the deck lashing is exhausting. I do know it is part of the job, but, I will only have to make sure that it is already on deck and then I am not even sure I will still be on board when they start loading! we will see, but it is also the way it is. If I had to stay longer of course it would have not been a problem, and I would have happily done it.

The thing is that sailing from Rauma to Bremerhaven is a short trip. And it is always the same thing: so much work for such a short trip is never so nice! 

On the other hand, I have to point out that this term was the first term in which for two months I did not have one bulk cargo! We only had packed cargo! It is the first time it has ever happened to me! this is crazy! usually, we always have so bulk cargo; or let’s say half-half.

We are now still sailing to Finland. As usual, we passed through the Kiel channel; and as usual, it was during the night; but we are used to that now, right? 😉

During this voyage I tried to take time to enjoy the sailing a bit: as I had the whole month of march the challenge of going on deck daily; I tried to do that with mindfulness and breathing in and out the fresh air on the foredeck and get my hair in the wind. I enjoy that which is a good thing, but it does remind me of my sailing days … It is crazy that after so many years of what becomes my normality, I miss simple things that were granted on tall ships.

I also miss the winters in the Caribbean: being outside, wearing shorts and no socks all year round. But I accept the cold and enjoy it as well; as long as the days are not all rainy and grey all the time. In the baltic, it is crazy: I can still enjoy beautiful sunsets onboard which is nice and then the next day, the weather is the opposite when I wake up for my watch: grey, humid and overcast. Yes. where are my white sandy beaches in south America??

Well, the hot beaches are not here. But it is fine, after a few years, I got used to it now…

Do you want to know the worst? It was not even rain or drizzle that was dropping out from the sky later that day but snow! yes! End of March, snow! I thought I could store away my winter overall and warm working clothes and start packing a bit, but that did not happen as I thought it would… snow! Is that very surprising for Finland? I do not know… Probably not if you consider that there was still a bit of ice in the harbour upon arrival. And that we also had spray on deck during our sailing …. and had to hammer a bit the coaming to make sure it was all clear in the morning to open hatches to discharge! That was a long time since we had ice on deck right? Always enjoyed some hammering as a good workout to do late at night or in the early morning! Hopefully, when sailing to hamina next, we will not have to do that anymore. hammering and shovelling ice plus the deck timber lashing…. yep. you got the idea. this job can be exhausting at times! but most of the time it is quite okay you know! Otherwise, I would not be doing it, right?

Sometimes captain H. has to remind me that it is not a factory here and that we are normal people working and living together. But that can only happen when you put the ship first on the list right?

The following days were actually nice blue-sky weather again! I was making the most things ready for my reliever so taking the time to do all sorts of safety jobs onboard, even if a little anticipated according to the maintenance schedule. One of the jobs I like the most but tend to postpone is checking the magnetic compass on the monkey deck! I miss steering on the compass as you do on tall ships! standing outside on the wheel and having a beautiful compass in which the sails are reflected on the glass! Beautiful!

here, no sails and no steering outside. Ok; well fair enough if it is icy icy weather and snowing right?

We arrived in Hamina and from that moment it all went crazy fast. My reliever arrived in the morning and all my stuff was ready: my bag was made, the cabin cleaned, and the handover was written. I was just waiting for the grand tour of the vessel and showing/ explaining the main safety parts and the areas of work. When your reliever is fixed and knows the vessel, it is not necessary to go over all that again, but when it is not the case, it is a lot of information to share. but we managed!

In the late evening, I could get a taxi to the hotel where I had a short night’s sleep before my flight the next morning.

The day before we had shifted and started loading timber, they would continue today and probably have some overtime to finish up and head towards Germany. I was just hoping that all my explanations were enough and curious if we would manage to have all the timber we hoped for in the hold. the more in the hold, the more on deck…..

But it was out of my hands anyways and I had to start thinking about home and what I would do back home!

Luckily I did not have such a bit temperature change as I landed and there was still a coat of snow everywhere.

Have a nice time off and see you for my next term in 2 months!

XXXX

Sophietje