Here we are at the end of week 4. Time flies. It s already 1 month that I am on board, and it honestly feels like a couple of weeks only.

We ended last week on the Kiel Channel 🇩🇪 heading toward Brugge 🇧🇪 with heavy winds. Speeding up to be on time at the Wandelaar pilot station. And guess what?! We were there on time. And of course, we had to wait for our pilot, which had been postponed also. The winds were still heavy so we did not drop anchor but the Captain decided to make turns in the water till the appointment time with the pilot boat. It was quite foggy but in the end, it all went well, he brought us to the Pierre Vandamme locks, then the last two hours were without pilot till our berthing place in Zeebrugge. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go ashore there which is a pity because the last time I had been there was in 2010 when I was sailing on the French Navy Dundee MUTIN!😍 during the Tall Ship’s Races ⛵️… The architecture there is really pretty and as you all know I am still an architect in my heart, I very much enjoy sightseeing and walking in cities to get the vibe and fill my eyes with beautiful buildings! But we get it. We are used to it by now, not being allowed to go ashore.🦠.

The worst was that we were Monday evening in Zeebrugge and we only started discharging a couple of days later. Do not ask me why. We were ready but they were probably too busy. We had to wait. The funny thing is that Tuesday was a good day to do cargo operations…. The following days were pretty rainy 🌧so more difficult as we need to quickly close the hatches when there is rain. But it is part f the job. And I do not mind it. It often ends up in counting drops and waiting. And doing maintenance when possible.

We have 10 hatches that are decided into top and bottom hatches. Obviously, we have to first put the bottom hatches ( mainly the odd number hatches) then we can position the other ones. This means that in case f drizzle or rain, we try to limit to have either 1 or 3 hatches open at the minimum; depending on where we decide the crane driver should be digging out the cargo. It is not complicated but the first times you are using the hatch crane it happens that you forget it! 😂

In Zeebrugge, a few things were scheduled for us: our annual survey with Bureau Veritas. I think the surveyor worked 2 hours…. We were very ready and didn’t have any items to comment on. It all went smoothly so it was perfect! I like to say that it was because of the female chief officer…. But it would be a bit discriminating for the mal crew working hard on board to keep the ship in great condition and an engine room nice and shiny… right? 😝 We had our annual MOB crane and boat survey, the annual radio survey too. It is safe to say that the bridge was pretty busy that morning! And in the afternoon as the discharging times kept on being postponed, we got provisions on board with a full crate of Carolina Reaper pepper… the hottest small red pepper in the world. Did I ever tell you we eat 2x spicy fire noodles on board as a challenge? Well-led by our not so crazy Captain, between hot food 🌶 and cold showers 🥶…. We just follow him 😂 I do not mind, I pick up those challenges pretty well.

So… It took pretty long before we completed the discharge of the SBPP. I had the time to be really up to date with my maintenance to-do list. Most of the jobs are either administration jobs ( niiiice paperwork!), checking radio equipment systems, or greasing. So there I am greasing and cleaning on deck the equipment I use the most, but also anything that moves on deck.

It is such a big job from every moving part of the crane, the anchor winch, the fire flaps, the ventilation hatches, the watertight doors, the emergency exits, the rubbers, the pipe sounding caps…. It takes hours! That is why in our maintenance program it is split over a couple of weeks to spread it out a little. It works fine like that. The most important is that it is done regularly because with the very dusty bulk Caro we carry, the grease dries out and gets stuck. That isn’t good.
Because of the bad rainy weather, everything got postponed. As soon as we discharged, we had to go to Sas van Gent 🇳🇱 to load fertiliser.

Again another cargo very dependent on weather conditions. The vessel before us wasn’t ready s we had to go out at anchor. I the beginning we thought it would be for the whole weekend, but actually only half a day. Great, but again another strange night with a lot to do: heaving up anchor, pilot onboard, change of pilot, through the locks, mooring…. Sailor’s life, but…. Short nights mean also short sleep 😴🥱. Normally this company doesn’t work on weekends, but to catch up with vessels we continued all Friday night till early Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon till completion. At least we could go and stretch our legs a little in Sas van Gent and have a beer 🍻 in the only café open….. a Saturday afternoon like a ghost city…. Strange 🤨, but I do not complain to have a nice walk in a so quiet environment! 😉 Next harbour, we will be changing captain again. I am not looking forward to that. It is like a piece of the ship that leaves us. I know the next captain, he is nice, but Captain H. is not replaceable. The thought of it makes me sad; sailor’s life. We always say goodbyes and always meet new people. The nice part of it is that we always meet again and that is something very nice to look forward to. always.
Enough talking for this week! ✌🏻

See you next week! Xxx Sophie 😘 ♥️ @ Brugge, Belgium