An here I am again onboard Ruyter 🚢 . Started on Monday the 7th. I like when weeks start on Mondays 😆 it is easier to keep track of how long I have been staying on board! And also to keep track of this weekly short blog I like so much 😉 and… of course week 1 is already halfway through week 2. 😥 I must admit I first didn’t have that much time, then I didn’t take the time and then… I have been procrastinating. Do you know that feeling?

It was nice to join again. I have been pretty busy during my leave and coming back feels also like coming back home. I hate leaving a place (home as much as the ship!) but I love arriving back to familiar and kind people with whom I will share my daily routine for the next 2 months.🚢

I joined in Hamburg, Germany 🇩🇪 . Luckily the trip went fine besides some Covid tests to be done and quarantine arriving with a flight via Paris ~ they almost didn’t let me board 😐; I was able to skip all that as relieve crew – thus in transit. This is the short version of course.

I was really looking forward to some fun sailing again, even though I was quite sad to let go behind me my family, the work that still needs to be done home and knowing it it is much for my parents alone and also the dogs 🐕 , my long morning walks with them and all the cuddles and love💙 I get from them. It is like a hole in the heart. But I know they are not far and that I will be always looking forward to meeting them again. 🚢

Fun fact: the ship was also arriving from France when I joined them! They had been in Bayonne, same as my previous term: loaded with corn 🌽.

The discharge was almost over when I stepped on board and because a bridge in Hamburg was in maintenance we would only shift to the next berth the following evening. It was nice to catch up on some sleep and time with the crew on the Bridge 🍺 before getting straight to work with cleaning the hold and moving bulkheads. There was more than enough time the next morning.

We shifted and loaded during the night soja bean meal to Denmark 🇩🇰. Fun. It is nice to be back. I realise it makes me happy and I enjoy it.

Hvide Sande was a tiny harbour. We stayed there one night and were lucky enough to go for a nice long walk on the beach. A nice long stroll and weather good enough to not think we were already entering the cold wet and miserable times of the year….

Then we sailed from Hvide Sande to Mariager, also 🇩🇰. A very very nice little fjord where peace and quiet are the main words to describe the view when I woke up. Lovely weather beautiful sky and above 25 degrees. I thought we were on holiday looking at small sailing vessels ⛵️ finishing their summer trips ( or still enjoying summer days!). We loaded salt. Very fine and high-quality salt 🧂 used for medical purposes. Well, you know me by now… I couldn’t resist tasting and… well.. it was salty! Haha. I took a cup of it. Salt is really good for blisters and so: mixed in water as a mouthwash or small cuts, as skin scrub… it could come in handy on this term. You never know! 😆

That berthing place was very interesting. We just fitted in. It was a single pier with a fixed belt and an adjustable gangway from shore that we could use to board the vessel check draughts. We had to shift the vessel every 2 hours to move the loading spot but it went all very fast and smoothly. I like when the belts load over 400t an hour! This sand is for Sweden: so off we sail to Stockvik. It is the Bothnia Sea, very close to Sundsvall where we were also the last term and went for a ride with the MOB boat and went swimming 🏊‍♀️ 🥶 . Hopefully, we will have time to swim there too! I will feel my cold water showers getting colder and colder as we sail north; and also have some natural cold water therapy directly in the sea. That sounds fun and I am looking forward to it!

But before we need to pass a wind barrier… a nice short gale 💨 is planned on our way and I am afraid we will not avoid it. Ready for some winds over 45 knots? Well, no choice, we need to go, but we are sailors. We will manage 💪🏻💪🏻

See you next week! Xxx Sophie 😘 ♥️ ⚓️