general cargo – S O P H I E. T H E. S A I L O R.

14th till 20th of March 2022

Hello my friends!! back again!

So yes remember? we loaded wood pulp in Brake Germany a couple of days ago and we passed the Kiel channel on Sunday. We are heading to Kotka, Finland, with the wood pulp… Did I mention to you that I made myself a challenge for the whole month of March? The challenge is to go outside at least once a day, whatever the weather, for a short tour on deck and to get fresh air and silence on the fore deck for example. I realised I missed it being on deck and walking around. I missed the silence and the view. You know when you are on a sailing vessel, most of the time you are underway sailing with no engine but the wind blowing in the sails and the hair. I love that feeling. And onboard cargo ships, you tend to forget how it is to be outside with cold and rain, handling sails. Of course with time you forget the « miserable » part of being wet and cold outside for hours on your watch right? but you get nostalgic for the fresh air and the wind… and the beautiful view from the top of the masts!

So there was my Challenge for the whole month of March, and to make myself accountable, I post a daily picture on Instagram. A black and white picture of myself – called a selfie right?- or of the view or something happening on deck. Pictures are not so bad in black and white! it is funny but it does give a different perspective; you see details differently!

Arriving closer to Kotka on Monday, we were also arriving back into Ice. I took time to go on the foredeck to enjoy the cracking sound of the ice on the hull. It was not as thick as it was a few weeks ago, but it was still a nice experience and very enjoyable.

Oh! but before I forget! do you know what was amazing during that night sail before we arrived in the harbour? I saw for the first time in my life the austral light!!! beautiful green lights in the air and that was amazing! In the beginning, I was wondering what it was, and why there was a sort of stain in the air. But then I stepped outside and realized that it was in several places in the sky; to be more precise, it was on a huge part of my Portside! Green stripes and a green « dusty » sky… it was marvellous! I just wanted to wake up everyone on board even though it was in the middle of the night, and I wanted to call all the other vessels on VHF to see if they had seen it too! On my previous vessels, I would have enjoyed this with more crew of course, and the trainees. we would have been all staring at the sky and enjoying each minute till it lasted…. but now I felt really alone. Alone on the bridge with the green sky and stars. It was still amazing.

*As we are sailing to Kotka, I notices some green lights in my night watch!*

Fun fact, the next morning, when I told the crew and showed pictures they were all envious, but none of them would have wanted me to wake them up….

I thought it was amazing to see them so low in the Baltic. there were probably perfect conditions for the moon, a clear atmosphere and reflection to see them like that. Anyways. I was really happy and glad. I wish I would take shots of amazing ones now quite up North!

In Kotka, we discharged the wood pulp. This went quite fast as there was perfect weather for it: a huge blue sky and not one single cloud. I opened all the hatches end we completed at the end of the day. The next morning we sailed to Hamina where we were going to load paper reels again to Terneuzen.

*Discharging wood pulp in Kotka. The skies are always amazing in Finland*

chief officer Sophie smiling next to the coasting during the transit between Kotka and Hamina

Chief officer Sophie smiling on the foredeck, ready at the mooring station

Hamina is just a couple of miles further from Kotka so there was no hurry. We had to wait for another vessel ahead of us to complete before they would start with us. So guess what the captain and I did upon arrival in hamina? of course! we went for a swim! This time we stayed 5 minutes and it was really interesting because it felt way easier than the last time! It seems true that the more you practice ice water swimming, the easier it is! I realize for my side that when I remain still, I find it also easier than when I am trying to swim around. My next challenge if I have the chance to swim again this year, will be to swim slowly to a giver ice block in the water so that I also get a cool picture close to the ice and not only close to the ladder! 😉 safety first, of course, this has to remain enjoyable and do not worry I will not force myself only to get a cool picture. I also know that someone is watching me from the quayside, and that captain H. is close by in the water together with me too and we are supporting each other…. although I have the feeling he supports me more in this than I…. he says he is a Viking and indeed, he seems to not even feel the cold. or not as much as I do. ok ok. Actually, he does but he probably just shows it less ;).

*The ice is every where around the vessel!*

What we did this time too, is that when coming out of the water we remained outside in our swimsuits in the sun. just moving around and doing jumping jacks just there to heat up from the inside. It was not cold outside. Or I mean, we did not feel cold as we were just out of the freezing water. But last time we went directly inside the heated accommodation, for a cold shower inside to wash off. This time we wanted to experience heating up from inside to the outside of our flesh instead of heat coming from outside towards our chore. this second experience was way better because we were almost normal after our shower; whereas last time we still had to move and relax to keep ourselves from shivering…..

Captain H. and chief officer Sophie swimming in ice cold water

Happy chief officer after swimming in the ice!

Anyways nice experience and it gives energy and smiles to our faces! It is so great to feel alive!

Enjoying a warm coffee cup in the bridge

chief officer Sophie Happy to be ashore , in front of the ship!

There was a change of plan. The ship ahead of us finished loading earlier and we could start loading in the evening already. the next morning I woke up very early to open up the rest of the hatches. This time I had a better plan than the last time we loaded paper reels. I wanted the crane driver to start from the aft for the last layer to avoid putting so many airbags around. Paper is a very fragile cargo and it needs to be protected everywhere of course. But only the last layer needs to be lashed because the layers beneath are lashed by the weight of the top layers. I hope you understand what I am trying to explain.

There we were off in the middle of the afternoon, outbound for Terneuzen via the Kiel channel again!

The weather was great. I must admit I enjoy very much loading paper reels. I hope we will have more of those in the future!

*Taking in the pilot ladder after the Pilot disembarkation*

The sailing out was very smooth till the locks. I enjoyed the beautiful sunset which was nice because it started to feel like summer was around the corner. You know: great skies, big suns, still fresh air but you could feel the heat wanted to come through.

*Chief officer Sophie Smiling on the foredeck while sailing on the Baltic Sea*

We were going through the Kiel Channel in the middle of the night again and you know what happened? I had the chance to manoeuvre again and enter the locks in Brunsbüttel the next morning!

I was very proud. Of course, I also manoeuvred out and to the river. I really enjoyed it. It is a great feeling. Probably because I know the captain is never too far around. I guess I would be a bit more nervous if he suddenly left the bridge to go on deck. But I know that that will be happening one day too. Each day is a step further. Fun fact: Captain h. is sending my parents movies of me while manoeuvring! it is funny they can almost follow me live while mooring!

*Chief officer Sophie taking a selfie from the bridge after a manoeuvre , overlooking the crew chatting on the hatches in the locks*

It was again a very smooth sail to the Netherlands. captain H. was going to sign off in the next harbour and we would get another captain onboard. A captain sailed a few weeks with us but I had not had the chance to sail with him yet as we relieved the captain and chief officer the same day. I was a bit nervous as usual. I always get a bit nervous when a new crew joins the ship because I always hope they will be nice people and fun to work with, not too stressed and with whom I will enjoy working and learning too.

*Sailing on the North Sea with beautiful sunsets*

Arriving closer to Europe we could finally see a pink haze on the horizon: they were talking about it on the news the Saharan sand was transported with air masses to Europe and it was all over in the atmosphere: thin pink dust. It was beautiful.

*Saharian dust on the Horizon while approaching the Dutch and Belgian coast*

We came into the harbour on Sunday evening and the discharge would start only the next morning; not so early. that was good for the last evening together with captain H. and the dog.

Let’s see what next week brings us with a new crew member onboard!

7th till 13th of March 2022

Here we arrived in Brake in the morning. This is perfect because it gives us time to prepare for discharging: we need to take all the timber lashing for the deck cargo and the tarpaulins off. This takes quite some time – but luckily less than when we make them tight! haha!

*Ruyter underway on the Weser river to Brake with timber cargo on deck*

We took the afternoon to roll all the lashings and the tarpaulins that were no more in use. We would then store them the next day in the lashing store as we had time to do it during the discharging. Only a part of our cargo would go to Brake and the other part to Bremen. Obviously, the deck cargo and the top part of the cargo that was in the hold were for the first harbour and the rest for the second harbour. Just saying. It can be logical for some but not for others. When we load, first the second harbour comes in first then the second. We also need to make sure that we can keep a nice trim once we are partially discharged. Often that can be slightly corrected with a part of the ballast already in….

*Ruyter alongside in Brake, lashings still need to be taken off*

Anyways. Tuesday Morning I woke up early to be on deck as they started discharging in the morning. I did not have to open hatches yet as there was still cargo on top of it. Also, We would first have to take the bottom tarpaulins off before being able to reach the speed locks. After an hour or a little more, I woke the deck crew up to help me with the tarpaulins. We needed to fold them nicely and neatly and store them again. It is not difficult to do but it is faster with a few people of course. And if there is a bit of wind then the sail just blows away very easily. Also, we do not want the crane to wait on us for discharging, so we have to always be a little bit ahead of time and clean up, to be ready to open as soon as possible for the discharge to go as smoothly as possible. Remember? It is always all about money and time and time and money… I work for the ship, so I have to make sure that I do everything in my power to not have the ship lose money…. Let’s say I am here to make the ship win money by transporting cargo in name of the company right?

*The discharge of the deck cargo has started early in the morning*

*the crane is taking two timber packages at the time*

Well, then this is what I also try to do then! Haha. So here we are myself and the ABs and the trainee, folding the tarpaulins on deck and waiting in the beautiful sun. It was not so cold and there was no pressure, just good moments and a lot of laughing. I like days like that. I like to be working outside. I like laughter and a good atmosphere. We were happy. Probably still enjoying as much as we could before the hard work would come when putting back the chains and the slings. In the lashing store haha.

*The Weser river is marvelous with the sun rising. Amazing colours!*

It was a 2 hours sail to Bremen and we wanted to make sure that we would sail before the end of the afternoon to not have so much night work for nothing.

*Here the crane is discharging three packages at the time; we are already in the hold*

The morning gang from Brake was quite a fast crew. They discharged most of the packages before they left for their crew change. If not all of them. We were ready with our hatches closed when the other crew arrived. The problem was that all our slings were still ashore and we needed them to give them back to us with their crane.

Also. They probably did not really like each other between morning and afternoon crew because they had left all the timber ashore directly on the floor with our slings around them still; and not in an organised manner at all! It was a pure mess and the forklifts could not access some of the packs of timber without moving others around it was difficult because they were directly on the ground without space for them to insert the fork and lift them…

Besides that, 8 people were watching two forklifts work…. And those were not the best: as we were all waiting on the hatches looking at them, they were moving around packages that were already without slings while we were waiting and waiting….

Our engine was even on already!

After one hour, Trust me, I told the captain I would go out and scream at them a little hoping would accelerate the pace. Luckily it did. I do not always like screaming, but sometimes you do need to. Otherwise, nothing happens. And unfortunately, as a woman, I need to scream a little harder otherwise the men ashore just look at me and laugh. So there I was…. from the top of the hatches telling the shore team to speed up; telling them it was one hour already that we were waiting and that our engine was on and that we were waiting on them and that nothing was happening. They were all a bit confused. In reality, it did not happen exactly like that… a couple of them started staring at me and laughing -probably thinking I was crazy- so I threw in a few rude words that touched their ego…. And then it started moving a bit faster too.

I was laughing because of captain H.: he was telling me by VHF to tell them that even his grandmother of 98 was faster than them!

Oh well, that was a good laugh. 20 minutes later we were finally casting off our lines and sailing in direction of Bremen further on the river.

The next morning we discharged the rest of the timber and that lasted the full day.

*The last tier on the tanktop needs to be discharged then we will start under hatch 1*

While the ABs were collecting all the slings as they came and directly putting them in the lashing store, we would after that have to put the chains in and the « timber job » would be closed till…..next time.

The nice thing is that we managed to repaint the lashing store on that voyage and make it nice again. All the slings were stored in the lashing store and non in the bow thruster room. I must say I was very happy about it. We made smaller packages of slings: by 10, they were way lighter and easier to handle of course than by packs of 25….. and we could also squeeze them more easily in small corners which was perfect. I was quite proud of the result. The lashing store is slowly getting organised, finally! And we even have an extra shelf there as an extension of the deck store in the aft; this way we can keep only the things we use regularly at hand reach and once in a while get things out from the forecastle or the lashing store.

The next trip was loading would pulp in Brake again….

In the late evening we sailed back to Brake and the next morning we loaded wood pulp. I was just hoping we would not get the same afternoon shore crew back…. You know…. Those on which I said rude things to get them to work faster …. And surprise yes! It was the same team! Like « oepsies ». Well, the good thing is that there was not the whole team again; just the crane driver. And you know what? I was not ashamed… we were a bit in our right to scream at them to go faster because they were wasting our time and that was not correct….

Anyways. Loading wood pulp took a little longer than planned as their crane broke down for a couple of hours…. We were sailing back to the icy area: Kotka! I sometimes find it funny to see how cargo goes from one place to another: close to Kotka there is a wood pulp factory; why on earth do we bring wood pulp back there? Of course, there are different qualities and different trees to make cellulose. Usually, the one we load in Belgium or The Netherlands comes from Brazil and is made of Eucalyptus.

We have been lucky with beautiful sunsets and sunrises this week! — *Ruyter underway again, in the sun!*

In the evening we completed loading and sailed up to the Kiel Channel again… And yes, Kiel Channel on a Sunday; of course. Lucky not at night, but it is usually either one or the other! Haha.

And there was our week gone!

The highlight was my manoeuvring! Yes, you heard it! In Bremen, I manoeuvred the vessel to put her alongside! I was so happy and proud it made my day! You will hear more from me about that every time I manoeuvre! I just love that!

Anyways…. I wish you a great Sunday and see you on the other side of the Kiel Canal tomorrow!

XXXX Sophie

S O P H I E. T H E. S A I L O R.

Just another view of the world through Sophie’s eyes while working and traveling at sea

Tag: general cargo

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S O P H I E. T H E. S A I L O R.

Just another view of the world through Sophie’s eyes while working and traveling at sea

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