Tag: life experience

4th Term, Week 0 ⛴⛴

Before joining the ship again… May 2021

I am back onboard Ruyter! This leave felt so short… Probably because it was indeed shorter! First of all, I had to catch a few up days with my reliever. Second of all, I had to renew a few of my STCW safety courses before joining the ship again. So that took a good week off from my leave too!

Back in Amsterdam!

My leave started by arriving in France end of March and the president announcing another lockdown for the coming 4 weeks – at the minimum! Great! Some of my plans had to be canceled as I wasn’t allowed to travel over 10 km around the house if it wasn’t for a good reason, such as: working, medical appointments, etc. The other thing he announced was to avoid going to work when we could work from home. And there my were weeks in Brest flying away. As there were no real “important” meetings at work I could stay at home. This was the first time I ever did homeworking. I must say I didn’t find that too had at all: I could have a coffee whenever I wanted and could enjoy the surroundings of my home without interruptions. I was more productive as I was certainly more concentrated. On the other hand, I missed being in the office and being able to ask my questions directly or to simply have all documents under my hand, my notes, and my files.

Behind the Botel is a training ship where I renewed my safety courses! Funny to know we put it on fire a few times- for training purposes!

In the end, It wasn’t too hard at all and I was glad I also did not have to travel for over 9 hours to be there. As my leave days were already counted, this saved quite me some quiet time home. The next Navy session will be in July. Hopefully, it with be nice and sunny and we will have lots of time to go sailing.

Amsterdam and her channels…

My STCW courses were in Amsterdam. That took also more time than planned as flights back and forth to France were very reduced: only once a day. Although making PCR test within 24h of the take-off was an adventure in itself, it all went very smoothly. We were in Amsterdam Nord. I love that place because it is so “boho chic” you have a lot of street art and big fleas markets. I hadn’t been there for over 2 years and I must say it had drastically changed! Big new buildings: a lot of housing and bars. Probably very expensive. And no more “student housing” that was made of old redesigned containers. The apartments seemed nice with terraces, big windows, lots of light, and 2 steps from the ferry binging you directly to Amsterdam central station. Another very good thing was a couple of new shops: A very nice bakery and a big enough supermarket to do your groceries.

NDSM, a very hype place to be in Amsterdam!
The sunset from my hotel room!

And… Of course, I can not not mention my previous vessel laying there: the Gulden Leeuw. So of course I had to pop on to say hi. I didn’t know the 2 crew members that were on board. Because of the pandemic and Dutch regulations they couldn’t sail and had to stay alongside for the winter. I am glad they will soon be starting to sail again. That is what these sailing vessels are made for!

It was very nice to meet the two captains again, enjoy a nice coffee and an easy dinner, catch up on good old memories, and talk about the future. I was asked if I could join them again in May-June to start up the season but, of course, I wasn’t available. Maybe in the future when I have more time during my leave.

The Gulden Leeuw moored in Amsterdam, NDSM

Safety courses are always classes we are not looking forward to attending. There are refresher courses, and to be honest, when you train properly onboard and do your drills regularly and seriously, that you also try to keep up to date with regulations and just with the function of systems and equipment then you might think they are a loss of time. I kind of try to set my mind up and think I will practice that and learn something new that I do not have onboard. For example, we do not carry a lifeboat nor a freefall onboard Ruyter, so I do not know these systems that well. We have a rescue boat. So it is nice to be confronted with safety items that are slightly different. It keeps the course interesting and makes it fun… We might as well make the few days together nice, right? The other thing I like a lot in these refreshers is the practice we have in the swimming pool with immersions suits and liferafts, jumping from heights, and practicing being lifted like from a helicopter. Or again the fire fighting: Being « on-scene commander » and making decisions for your crew, or being the first fire team and not having any idea of what type of situation you will meet behind the closed door, once you are ready to enter – with your BA set. You feel the heat of the real fire you need to extinguish as a team composed of a crew you only met one day ago… I find these experiences interesting. You can learn so much from each other. And that is great.

Time at home always goes so fast…too fast. I love being with my family and I often have the feeling that I didn’t have time to do all the things I wanted to do before going back onboard. But I plan it then for the next time I am home. It gives me something to look forward to. Those “plans” include this blog, making it nicer and more attractive, it includes stitching bags in sailcloth and also drawing more, reading more, relaxing more. On the other hand, it is also sorting out more; my closet, my desk, my papers… Get rid of all the things you realize you do not need.

Ready to fly! Always underway….

So there I am. PCR test is done: negative. Flight tickets in hand, direction Stockholm where I will take the train to Sundsvall and join the ship in Stockvik. I am looking forward to being back on board and sailing again. I think that sometimes I have more time to do things when I am on board! It’s probably the feeling of being more productive because I am on a schedule all day long and I do not have to cook or walk the dogs. Just enjoying every moment at home and onboard as I can!

So see you next week my friends!

3d Term, Week 9 🤩⚓️

15th of March till I fly home on the 22nd!

There we were Monday morning still in Szczecin, Poland, finishing the discharge of the steel coils. There was not much left but enough to take up half a day and wait for the pilot to board so that we could proceed to Riga. This gave us time to prepare the hod, sweep it well, and make sure there were no remaining from the previous cargo in it: bits and pieces of plastic, lashing steel, etc. It goes fast and if you do not pay attention the guys working in our hold would also leave their crap behind that we would have to pick up and clean up for them: wraps of snacks, sweets, papers, empty cans, and bottles of water…. It is often like that. But I am never so happy with it and I often cannot keep my mouth shut for this type of things and I make sure that they pick up all their trash before they finish. Sometimes it is a bit of a fight. But I am right: before the cargo, the hold is clean and ready and after the cargo, the hold should be as clean as possible. Maybe because I am a woman they try to have me there, but I know my voice can sound louder from time to time, and trust me; I do know how to use the sound system when necessary!

Moored in Szczecin, Poland. Grey and rainy.
It is important to make sure everything come out of the hold at the end…
A nice and clean hold, ready for the next cargo

We were finally underway to Riga in Ballast. It was a 2-day sail and we would load Sun Flower meal pellets. It looks very much like sugar beet pulp pellets, but it is not the same ;-). We would bring this cargo to Gent in Belgium, which meant a nice few days sailing. Even if we had to pass via the Kiel Channel once again; if we were lucky enough it would not bother us too much in our watch schedules and resting hours. Fingers crossed!

I think this was my first time with this type of cargo…. Let me check. Yes, indeed it was my first time! Now you must be thinking how I checked so fast into my memories for that right? Well, I have a secret. I do not have any memory for such things: cargos, places I have been to, distances, events… No brains at all so I write it down! I have a note on my phone and I write down on each of the trips the distances and cargos we have been transporting…. 😉 especially when onboard Ruyter we tend to go several times to the same harbors and also a few times in the same term! And a few times in the same harbors but not with the same cargo either! Yep. As you can see I can easily get myself confused after a while, so I write it down. To be as precise as I can.

Ruyter alongside in Riga

The loading in Riga went quite fast. It was a touch-and-go harbour which is nice because I could easily prepare my handover and take care of the last-minute things. There are always last-minute things to arrange when you come closer to a Dutch or Belgium harbour: deliveries, technical orders…. This time it was our gangway. We were going to receive a new gangway in Gent with a new platform! How cool right? We were all so happy about it because our platforms always got stuck with the gangway. But the reason we would get a new one was not so nice of course… it broke. Well to be more precise, it got literally destroyed by the crane driver in Szczecin…. He did not look where he was driving and ran over it like if it were butter. But it was not as if we had quickly moved our gangway just on his path by surprise right…. I mean, you get it. Shit happens and no one got hurt.

Started loading bulk cargo in Riga!
Very nice sunset in Riga

On our way back to Gent, we of course passed via the Kiel Channel and I enjoyed being once again in the locks. It felt like these locks were becoming our familiar second place to be with the ship. I do not mind they do not take long, and I usually try to make fun on the foredeck taking selfies or showing my life on Instagram or just chit-chatting with the AB on deck with me at that time. There are a lot of things to talk about: the way the germans through their heaving line, the way the gangway is set, if we need to take freshwater or not…. Always something to talk about indeed.

How can you not love sunsets at sea? Never bored of it…

I felt like this time the channel was quite busy with more vessels than usual. But I must admit that we were this time in a sort of convey so there were always vessels ahead of us and behind! And perhaps the last times I didn’t see the other vessels because of the darkness of the night… just kidding 🙂 even when it is dark we still see the other ships 🙂

Entering the locks in Holtenau
A busy Kiel channel!
Beautiful lights…

Does it happen to you too that when you know you are going home; I mean obviously I always knew it would be the case; but I mean the moment you have a fixed date, then suddenly everything becomes somehow « lighter » or more « cheerful ». You enjoy way more small things that you do onboard: mooring, cargo, watches…. Like a new you. The same happens when you just join the ship. You are fresh from leave so full of energy if you did not have a bad long travel day. At the end of your term, you are re-energized because you know you will get enough rest once home again so you are not trying to save on some rest or sleep.

Happy officer on the forecheck during mooring operations!

Anyways. Kiel Channel and arrival in Gent went quite smoothly. If you do not count the long waiting and drifting at Steenbank; then the locks in Terneuzen… The pilots always seem to postpone the boarding times and the locks always seem to be congested. Every single time. I can understand it is a busy area and if you have bad weather or infrastructure work in the locks, everything is slowed down. Do you have the same?

And then there it was suddenly the end of 9 weeks onboard. And my 3d term turns a page for new shore adventures… till I will join again in 8 weeks.

And say bye to the ship for the next 8 weeks!

I hope you still enjoy reading all my adventures and I am looking forward to my next term! But for now, rest is well deserved! Thank you all my dear friends and see you soon!

Xxx Sophie

3d Term, Week 7 🤩⚓️

1st- 7th of March 2021

It is already the beginning of my 7th week onboard! Time flies! This means I have already done 3 quarters of my term…. And I have only 2 weeks left… more or less depending on the harbours and where we will be: if it is easy or not to have a crew change according to the amount of time we stay in the harbour and the available flights and connections. I usually know a small week ahead of when the crew change will happen. But I still have quite some time to go. Captain H. He will be leaving soon. He is leaving in the next harbour and captain R. Is already onboard with us. Is it like we have two captains now? No. Only on of course but as he is new onboard and we are supposed to be sailing the following trips up and down with timber and it is still ice sailing conditions, Captain H. thought it was wise to have him on board a couple of days earlier to do a proper handover and make sure his vessel would be taken care of. Indeed As I said earlier in previous posts, Ice sailing is quite particular. You have to make sure you do not run full ahead into ice banks or you will damage the propeller. You also need to make sure you do not ballast for example all the way to the top so that the water overflows on deck and remains in the pipes. In this case, you will for sure damage your pipings and tanks because the water will freeze and expand. In freezing situations, you always make sure that you ballast a few minutes less so that there is room for expansion. On deck, you want to make sure that you do not get too much spray because, with our speed and the wind, it will turn directly into ice on deck. And this creates an extra unwanted weight onboard that cannot be removed so fast. This can be quite dangerous if it is not taken care of. If you listen to captains you have experience in this matter, they will always say that it is better to shelter, change course or delay the trip a few days if spray on deck becomes too dangerous. Of course, I totally agree with them!

Sailing with deck cargo: the timber is lashed on deck with strong slings

So yes Captain R. Came onboard slightly earlier for ice conditions and timber cargo experience. I must say, it is not because you are a captain for years that you have all the experience in all different cargo types and sailing in all the areas. Some ships never sail in ice and rarely have timber for example. I think it is wise to make sure that your reliever feels at ease when you have 2 red flags hanging above your ship: ice and timber. But of course, you lust think that too: better safe than sorry.

Captain H. Was going to leave in the next harbour in Brake. I never really like it when a crew goes home. I mean, of course, I am happy for them, but I enjoy their presence and I know for sure that with the dog gone, it would be quieter too. On the other hand, I do enjoy meeting new people… even if I find myself usually a bit nervous. I always think I have to prove that I am worth it, that I am good at what I do and that I take care of things, that I work hard…. And I must admit that it does stress me a bit. I know all captains are different and when I do not know them yet then I have to adjust, ask, test and see how they want it. And it feels to me that although I am home – in my second home- I have to change to please the new captain. Usually, they say « oh do not bother for me, just as you usually do… » but then come up with a full list of things that they want to be done differently. Haha. I mean it is never as bad as I make it sound but I have the feeling I am always nervous with new captains. Like if I didn’t like change; or like if my safe environment suddenly is not safe anymore and I have to recreate a new one all over again.

Early morning alongside in Brake, ready to start discharging deck cargo.

Anyways. This was the last trip for Captain H. And the first for captain R.

After w a few days sailing through the Baltic Sea then the Kiel Channel, w arrived in Brake and started the usual discharging process. hooks and chains off, slings off, tarpaulins off and timber away. The crew made it ready upon arrival in the night so that I could start in the morning with the discharging of the deck cargo. I am the one in charge of the cargo operations so I wake up early in the morning for that while the rest of the crew continues sleeping. Rest is well deserved because taking off all the chains and wood and tarpaulins is not a small job to do in the middle of the night!

In Brake, discharging the timber till late in the night

The mornings in Brake are always very peaceful and quiet. It is not a busy river and the fresh air is just there. On top of that, there is the smell of timber! It is a very nice cargo to have onboard. When you open the hatches, it comes up to your nose and it seems you are back in the Finish countryside on a holiday in a cabin far from the world, just coming home from a long walk outside and preparing yourself to sit with a cup of tea close to the fireplace and make your self cosy…. Oh well, I guess you can imagine the loveliness of the smell….

The last packs of timber before a good sweeping and mopping to dry the hold for our next cargo.

The next voyage finally came in the email and surprise! It was not Hamina! Of course not… We are « promised » a few trips of timber up and down and we finally manage to get into the right systems and tips and tricks and out. The office decides else wise. Oh well. I wonder if we will go back after again or if that was it for the ice sailing of the year. I have the feeling that was it and I should have enjoyed it a bit more…. Haha. Next year… maybe.

This time we were not going very far. Just from one river to the other: Eemshaven. We would get the cargo of another sister ship that got a technical problem. Oh! Actually, that is also interesting! And I do enjoy meeting the other sisterships around! I find it always fun to compare them and either be proud of our ship or take notes on how they do things… Not that I am not very proud of the ships I work on, on the opposite! But most of the time, people tend to forget how far some ships have been coming from and that a whole makeover takes time.

So there we were, after saying goodbye to captain H, we headed to The Netherlands and arrived just before the weekend started…. Which meant a full weekend in the harbour. Perfect to go for a walk and rest. Well, a walk is pretty much the only thing you can do in Eemshaven if you do not have a car… because where we were there was literally nothing except windmills haha!

We came alongside our sister ship and as they were loaded and we were in ballast, it was funny to be the same but at one high above. When their discharge would be complete, it will be the exact opposite. They were coming from another dutch harbour and their cargo was steel coils. These coils had to do to Szczecin in Poland. We would make sure that this would happen off course. A few coils had to come out because they were expected earlier so trucks were arranged to pick them up on Monday so that they would be on time for the client in Poland. The rest would go in our hold.

We were ready for Monday where all the craziness would start.

Ruyter alongside her sister-ship Sprinter in Eemshaven.

Our sister ship was very nicely maintained. There was probably no rust anywhere… and their decks seemed really perfectly painted. Our decks in the aft were still red from the old colour and because they would be descaled and painted from scratch later in the summer, they did not look as perfect. They had even carpets to walk on outside to make sure we would not bring dirt on the ship from outside! Or maybe it was also not to slip on deck…. Fresh paint and water can be very slippery.

Our neighbours were very kind. They invited us for coffee and we did the same of course. Their bridge was not as nice as ours and slightly differently arranged. In our PS wing, we have our little kitchen area; they had a space; their kitchen area was midships. They also had a fixed chair for steering and their office corner was on the Sb wing with two screens. I thought our bridge was cosier. But hey! Unless you are the very first owner and choose the style of your bridge, you get what you get right?

Enjoy a nice weekend and Sunday in the harbour and see you Monday for the next adventures with the steel coils!

Xxx

Sophie