This week went extremely fast, once again. Last week we left The Netherlands 🇳🇱 for Denmark 🇩🇰 . Another passage through the Kiel channel and up North towards Kolding. The weather was this time nicer so we arrived fast in our next port of call. The Kiel channel was also smooth this time: entering before midnight and exiting around 8 am which made a good night sleep for the captain…. But less for me actually because I came before the locks when the pilot came on board near Brunsbüttel and till Pilot Change at kilometre 55 of the channel. And we had to wait for ages in the big northern lock for another tiny vessel to come in. So a bit less sleep but again, that is the way it is! 😊 Besides, entering the Little Belt in Denmark I had a great surprise with beautiful tall ships sailing ⛵️ . What a nice view! One of them was Hendrika Barthelds. She belongs to one of my previous captains. Nice to see that some are still sailing and looking good.

It was then strange weather: big blue sunny sky then suddenly big rain shower 🌧. I was pretty glad I was inside a bridge… two years ago I could have been standing watch outside or helming in the fresh breeze and rain. Some would call that “wet, cold and miserable” 😩 . I guess when it doesn’t happen that often it just toughens you up 💪🏻 and doesn’t make you as miserable as your brains would let you believe…. Another good thing is the number of big rainbows 🌈 that we were so lucky to admire with these rain-sun intervals. It seemed we were heading straight towards the pot of gold in Kolding 😂 .

The entrance of Kolding is a very narrow channel with not much depth out of it. Actually not at all. We would for sure run aground directly if we sailed out of it. The buoys are also not so big in Danish waters. They are also not lit; so you pretty much have to pay attention to navigation … 🙄 But Danish fjords are really lovely. As nice as the Mariager fjord we sailed into a couple of weeks ago.

No swimming this time, probably because the cold water swimming Captain left in this port to go home and our new captain is much more a running fanatic than a swimmer. Or maybe just not a fan of cold water swimming… 🥶 So we just carried on with discharging the fertilizer: the first day only 1:30… then it was raining the whole day. And the next day we did a bit of overtime to be able to complete asap. Their forecast was for us to remain the whole weekend in Kolding and finish the last couple of hundred tons on Monday morning… Well for sure we do not really like that as our next order is waiting for us in Russia. So we did over time and completed really fast on Friday end afternoon.

It is strange. Danish working times are like in some Swedish harbours: start at 07:00 and stop at 15:30 with I do not know how many breaks in between. I really think they could be more efficient… But honestly, it also gives us a break if we have had heavy sailing and little sleep the previous days. And I like long sleeps and a walk ashore too! These will still have to wait a few days, till the next opportunity.

To make the ship ready for departure after completion there are still a few steps to do. Usually, the ship would already be in ballast as the water ballast tanks are filled while the cargo is being discharged. By the end, the crane driver hoists a bobcat in the hold to grab all the little piles of remaining cargo and push them to make a bigger one. Easier for the crane driver and the big unhandy grab he as (although crane drivers are usually good! This time he knocked one of our hatches on the top side which made a scratch. I was sad for the freshly painted hatch, but there was no big deal). A couple of men from the team shore go down to the hold with brooms and they sweep the rest of the cargo towards the big pile. In Brugge the sweepers did an excellent job; probably used to the river ships where it needs to be done perfectly. Here it wasn’t as good…. That is where we come in: the AB’s, myself, the trainee, the engineer if he has time and the captain too sometimes, comes in and we sweep the cargo to have a hold as clean as possible before we wash it. The cleaner the easier the wash will be. Obviously. Then it all depends on the cargo: if it is corn, fertilizer, grain…. They do not react to water in the same way. Fertilizer dissolves in the water so the hold will be very clean after it has been washed. When it is corn, we have to pick up all the little grains we see. But for that, we have different type of brooms 🧹 too: harder brush and thinner brush for the smaller dust. Cargos are not allowed to be mixed and in the next harbours hold surveyors come to inspect it.

Usually, once the bobcat is out, then discharge is completed. Then most of the times we have to be fast as we rarely remain alongside in those cases: hatches closed, speed locks secured, gangway back onboard, hatch crane in parking position and secured and all lines cast off. The order varies depending on the weather and if we have a channel or river underway. It doesn’t take long to secure the equipment, it can also be done accordingly, underway.

This time, eventually after completion, we sailed out of Kolding Friday evening, on ballast, direction Kaliningrad Russia 🇷🇺 with fair winds in our favour. The hold was perfectly swept and the hold would be washed the next morning underway.

My second time in Russia. One year later when I was still new to all of this. I have such good memories! ✌🏻

See you next week! Xxx Sophie 😘 ♥️

Ps: did I tell you that cookie is growing vegetables in the galley?! 🌱