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.

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.

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 ;).

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…..

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

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!