7th term, week 0 🤩

20^th of May to 22^nd of May 2022

Dear Friends, I am back onboard!

I guess you are now thinking «Wait what already? » Indeed it has not even been 8 weeks yet since I was called to come back onboard earlier than I planned! It happens. It just needs a little organization on my side as I had planned quite a few things – of course- for my last weeks before going back on board. Especially during my Navy days. I guess I will need to catch up on them as soon as I am back home and after the summer holidays! I feel Like I am going to be really busy till the autumn!
Did I tell you I am buying a house? Yes! That is my big project these days, and you understand probably better why I have been a little …. « overdue » with posting my articles on the website right?

I have been full on since last December: finding a house, meeting with the banks, going to visit the house for work to be done, surfing on the net to estimate prices, thinking of what I would love to have done, and what type of house I would like to have. Anyways, a very exciting project, even though it takes quite some time!
So I was called to join the vessel a little earlier. No big problem, no worries, just usual last-minute timings that sometimes just are. I had to make a few calls and of course, postpone buying my house which made me quite sad, but seafarers life, right?

So there I am on the plane to Paris then Amsterdam. The ship will arrive in Delfzijl and will load salt for Sweden!

I had one night in the hotel in Amsterdam because of flights I could not arrive later. And I was picked up by Captain H. who was also signing on that day. We still had a 4 hours drive to the north of the Netherlands. It was nice to be in good company and not do the trip alone.

It was the first time I was loading salt in Delfzijl. It was salt from the Akzo company. It was an easy loading as I like: 4 piles of salt in the hold and direct communication with the crane who was manoeuvring the belt. The cargo was not sensitive to rain so all hatches were open and I could just go go go. easy.

My reliever had started the loading and I finished it of course…. in the rain… nice. not even unpacked that I was already outside, soaking wet checking drafts to be slightly on the stern.
We were going to shift quay directly after loading for the waiting berth where we would get provisions and fresh water and directly sail out afterwards. So a long day. as usual when I sign on!

12 hours later we were in the Kiel channel: in the early morning. So when I arrived on watch we still had the second part of the channel to go through and I was really glad that Captain H handed me over the manoeuvre of the vessel inside and out of the locks. Of course, I go the funny jokes again to get more fenders out and immersion suits. usually, Pilots onboard find it a bit strange. they are not sure if they can laugh or not but we find this joke funny. Me too by the way. I do not mind. Manoeuving is not always as smooth as I would like it to be but I just need to do it more and more. like when learning how to park a car, isn’t it?

Getting back onboard always takes me a little bit of time: unpacking, getting used to the watches and rhythms onboard, the food, the sounds…. I need a couple of days to adjust before I am shipshape!

On the other hand, seeing everyone again was really nice! We had a maritime officer for a replacement for a couple of weeks already onboard; just stepping in to adjust between two schedules. Coming from another vessel from the Company. It was very refreshing to have a new crew from another vessel with us!

I find it great that the step-in crew is always so happy and cheerful and ready to help anywhere they can. I have done that in the past stepping in on my great tall ships. For a month or more like 3-4 months honestly, I felt like I was full of energy and ready to enjoy and help where ever I could. I was taking that time as the greatest chance and opportunity to have fun and enjoy as much as possible. And you know what? It is very rewarding!

A fun fact is that we had fun « repairing » the washing machine together. Haha. When I came on board, apparently the crew washing machine for normal clothes was not spinning anymore (we separate the normal clothes from the working clothes and keep separate washing machines for those). I sometimes find it interesting that when some household equipment is not working that nobody does or says anything about it. During my student years, I had that once when my washing machine was not spinning anymore. I googled -after calling my parents living more than 400km away from me- and found great videos on youtube on how to analyse the problem. And it was the belt. bought a new one for 10 euros and replaced it in 15 minutes. literally. I was quite proud of myself and thought about those who would pay a lot of money for a technician/repair person or even those that would just replace the washing machine entirely!

This time as the board washing machine was not spinning either, my first check was the belt, which was still intact and in place. Youtube was my best friend again. I opened up the washing machine and found out it was not the belt … oh oh. Hello, youtube! found a 3-minute video, applied it to my washing machine and the engineer assisted me. We found out it was the carbon brushes. It was the first time I was doing this. Him too. well cleaned them a bit and put everything back in place and the washing machine was working again. perfect! we did a high five of course as we were proud to solve a problem. new brushes on the shopping list and off we go. I like to be efficient like that. It is not rocket science, and I know that this could also happen at home so I will then know how to do right?

Ok. So yes this was the highlight of my week: coming back onboard, and repairing the washing machine!
Tomorrow is a new week! Enjoy your evening!
xxxx
Sophietje