INTERNSHIP ~ Week 13 … & The. End. 🚢 ⚓️✌🏻♥️

My oh my. It is the end. Or is it the beginning?
I am so confused.

Confused how I have already spent 13 weeks onboard!

Three months went by. Already! How fast does life go when you enjoy learning and what you are doing?! But most of all when you enjoy the people surrounding you making everything seem so easy and fun? #girlpower #teamruyter

While France 🇫🇷 is striking their butts off and complaining as always, I need to wait till some kind of transportation is available for me to fly ✈️ home or take the train… I am lucky to have a direct flight. And I am lucky 🍀 to have almost a week extra onboard 😎✌🏻

But I am still confused. I came on board as a trainee having absolutely no idea of what would happen. And I leave now not feeling a trainee at all. I leave being one of them.. being trusted and respected (I think 🤔?! 😆) for my work and who I am, with my teasing, my jokes, my person and probably determination to go from A to B as a team.

We had a goodbye bbq last Monday on the aft deck (check out the crooked bbq! 😂) because of crew change (Ruyter women signing on and off!) and it was a moment to share together. It was awesome. But then I just broke into tears in my cabin because I realized how happy I was and I actually didn’t want to leave. Of course, there were other reasons… probably a lack of sleep… not mentioning the wine that sometimes gets me all emotional 😂… but I felt so so so grateful.

So thank you 🙏

Thank you for supporting me in my challenges. And thank you for the changes in my life and the people I have met.

1 task book 📖 filled and sent, 6 reports, 5 exam reports, over 25 homework exercises, quite a few cargos with ballasting and deballasting, 2 weeks of shipyard in Russia, 1 💥, 1 month with no engine in Delfzijl, one clean overall that turned dirty just to pretend I did something (…) later… I am proud of what I did and thankful for the people that helped me get here. I am so grateful and its perfect timing just before Christmas 🎄!

My parents cannot wait to have my home (sounds weird… 😆) and I cannot wait to tell them all the good stories! But I know I will miss it ALL!

Till my next adventure… with lots of love 💕 sopietje xxxx ⚓️ ♥ @ Delfzijl

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 11 & 12 🚢 ⚓️✌🏻

Ok so here is the thing. I didn’t take time to post! I always wait till Sunday is over to prepare the post and Monday or Tuesday to post it! I just got caught up and procrastinated ….

Climbing up with a harness? Yes! Always in for that! 🙂

Caught up in school. I finished the last Cargo assignment onboard, which means I have already passed 5 of my written exams that had to be done onboard. The school will just check in an « interview » if I were the one writing them! I haven’t been doing so much homework because I wanted to be part of what was going on deck… to be honest, I am pretty stressed that the subject I hate the most is about cargo! But its what I love the most onboard…. I think it comes more from the fact that the books are horrible to read in dutch and the exercises are like 150 questions per subject… 📚 I feel very lonely and ready to break into tears when I am in front of that book. 😢 so I have tried to be doing a few side subjects with not much (enough) concentration. Oh well.. 😔. The other reason is that I have spent way more time with the crew in the evenings. Watching a movie together👌🏻, getting a cappuccino or talking for hours. Getting to know people better and realizing you hadn’t expected you’d probably miss them a lot more than you would have thought. I have been trying to enjoy as much as possible their presence – way better than studying! 🤓🥰

Hoisting the main engine out of the engine room

I was so lucky I have been able to meet up once with an old friend of mine, Jonno, working on a tugboat not so far from Delfzijl. It is like almost 9 years of friendship. And he didn’t change a bit! That was one of my highlights🤪.
Workwise so much has happened in these two weeks: the engine is got out with a nicely cut door to the cargo hold. It was pretty fun. I got annoyed by the shipyard foreman thinking I wasn’t strong enough…. well, you don’t tell that to me! 😂 Captain Harry repeated it made him so proud when he heard the story 😂 💪🏻 badass chick … or just a Sophie putting someone back in his place… the cargo hold is now painted again 🙂 We are getting the ship in tip-top shape before sailing out again… 🙂

I already miss it while my last days are counted…. 😢🥺
Xxx sopietje ♥️ ⚓️ 🌟 @ Delfzijl

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 10 🚢 ⚓️✌🏻

Ok ok…. so this has been a pretty interesting week. We were tugged into Delfzijl and then suddenly the vessel was full with inspectors and engine repair technicians, people from the office going up and down between the bridge and the engine room… of course, we had a typical fall dutch weather arriving: fog, rain ☔️… perfect for discharging fertiliser… hatches open, hatches closed, open, closed, needless to say, it took for ages compared to how fast it was loaded!

And then the news came out: the whole engine is coming out. Including the main block. 😕 zo zielig! This sounds like a kind of déjà vu here…. 🛠. It confirms that we will not be sailing for the coming next weeks but will be at the shipyard and doing other interesting stuff there! 🙂 there are always bad things happening. But sometimes it is just the way it is and you don’t have the choice and just take it as best as you can and still make fun. So here is to our next weeks getting dirty in the engine room! 🍻 😬😜

The crew on the bow when finally alongside

The good thing is that I will have plenty of time to learn new things and assist where needed and I like that! The captain 👨‍✈️ has been teaching me how to weld and i find that pretty cool! Although I still need to practice breathing in and out (not just only for the welding! 😂) I am looking forward to the next little welding projects we have to make the ship look nicer!

We had a bit if a crew change too, our engineer is going home and the new arrived. Jaya, one of the ABs flew back to indonisai and Robbie flew in. I am looking forward to getting to know them as i have heard so many nice things! ✌🏻

Ruyter being towed in the narrow inshore channels

I am slowly realizing it is soon coming to an end and it makes me realize I want to spend as much time as possible with the people on board. I know I will see them again but I am not looking forward to the goodbyes. I know myself, I shouldn’t think about it as it makes my heart of steel shrink a bit more! 🖤 For now, focus on day by day, school, work, walks, talks and gezellig moments with 🍦 ice cream and cappuccino.

Typical Dutch… Narrow channels, ships and flat green countryside

I will miss it. And the people here. for sure.
But hey I am not gone yet! Haha 😂 🤓 #franseheks

Take care all! Lots of love Sophie xx✌🏻 ⚓️ ♥️ @ Delfzijl

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: kicking ass

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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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