Tag: merchant navy

5th term, week 9 🌊❤️

22nd – 28th of November 2021

Hello all! Will this be my last week onboard? We are not sure yet! Maybe we still make it for the weekend in The Netherlands, but honestly, I do not think so! For the first time, I might start a week 10 onboard while I am under contract!! As a trainee, I had 13 weeks to do and stayed a little longer but…. For the past 2 years, I was always home within 9 weeks. There is always a first for everything right? 😉

And here we are in Uusikaupunki in Finland. I am slowly figuring out that in Finland it is almost always nice weather when we are there. Or at least the lights, the skies and the colours are always so amazing! Sunrises and sunsets are so beautiful! I think I would not mind having a holiday house here in these areas somewhere in between the trees and the snow and where I would be able to go for long daily walks in the snow and have a small wooden house with a beautiful bay wind to enjoy the sunsets with a fireplace and a warm drink on the couch with a woollen blanket… Well yes, pretty much that picture! But yes that is daydreaming because it is now just cold enough but there is no snow yet and no ice in the water so it is just my imagination…. But I mean it is still very pretty.

Pilot boat has just dropped off the Pilot onboard
Alongside in uusikaupunki and enjoying the beautiful skies

Ok now having said that, the next day we were there it was snowing very hard so probably God up there heard my dream request haha; or it is just winter coming. I like to believe it is both. So yes Quite a bit of snow in the morning but then it finally cleared up and we could start discharging. The crane was there and the trucks started coming too. What I like about this harbour, is that it is just « easy ». That quay is easy, the foreman is not difficult, he is also following the weather forecast and tries to work with you with planning and possibilities and shares his forecast with you to compare. I like that. In some harbours, trust me, the foreman and stevedores do not care at all what they are doing and if you close because of rain they get upset and start shouting at you so you really have to learn how to shout back!

Discharging operations in Uusikaupunki

Well that being said, we had our first snow in Uusikaupunki, which I thought was pretty exciting!

Oh, the other exciting thing I had was a friend in the water with me all morning! Yes as I was doing so deck jobs there was a seal in the water on the port side. It was staring at me and I was staring back and was trying to talk to him and make sounds… it was pretty cool. But of course, the moment I wanted to take a good picture, he was gone. Do you ever have that too? The moment you want to immortalise a moment, then it is gone and only belongs in your head?

Well, then I continued doing my deck jobs of course. 

Then I got distracted a second time with climbing up the aft mast to check if all was in good order still…. And as you know my history with climbing masts and working at heights. I probably stayed there a couple of minutes more than necessary just to enjoy the fresh air and the view!

Overview from the monkey deck on the cargo operations
The chief officer says it is all going smoothly

Ok, the cargo deck is probably – for sure- not as pretty as a tall ship’s wooden deck, right? But I got to appreciate it, knowing all the time the ABs spent scraping off the old paint, grinding sand and repainting very nicely the hatches. And also the various colours you can see: the shore crane, the cargo, etc…. Well you know it is just appreciation of all the small things around 🙂 I just think it is cool. And I hope you enjoy it too haha!

Once the cargo discharge was complete we sailed to Dalsbruk through the inshore waters of Finland! That was actually a pretty cool trip. All the way we had a pilot on board and halfway changed for another. It was a pity that it was during the night because of course it was pitch dark and you could only see the buoys around. And it was a lot of bearings too. I guess the Finnish pilots know these routes and shortcuts like the back of their hands but for us, it was pretty interesting. Also to know that even though you are taking pilots all the way which costs quite a bit, taking the inside water is way shorter so fewer miles and less fuel burnt so, in the end, it compensates well. Just a pity it was all by night. I think I would have very much enjoyed seeing the scenery!

Anyways. Dalsbruk was a very small harbour. It is known in the summer as it is full of sailing vessels. The quayside for the cargo ships was very short and we barely made it ;-). We did but it was short let’s say: so sticking out forward and backwards. It was the first time that they were going to load wet sand on such a vessel as ours. And also the first time they were having a ship transporting it back to The Netherlands. Interesting… Second time in this term that we are a « first-timer ».

Alongside in Dalsbruk for the first time, hatches open ready to load sand
The quay was very short and we had to walk a bit to read the drafts!

The nice thing with wet sand is that the cargo hold also did not need to be dry which saved us some crazy mopping work. It was very clean though, as usual. We loaded like we load fertiliser or other types of stones or sand. 4 piles of approximately 750 tons each and a little more closer to the aft. The grab could barely reach aft and forward… Actually, he was probably a little lazy to move his machine… but in the end, he had to because we complained that he was just throwing the cargo in the hold… which was not good for two reasons: heavy weight falling on the tank top (it damages the steel) and wrong positioning of the cargo in the hold (stability issues). Instead of having specific piles and amounts of weight, we would have a splattered area of sand. In the end, it was all good. It is also nice to be in such a small harbour: easy people, no extra safety measures like in some ports where we almost have to call in to be accompanied to check our drafts otherwise we get problems…

They load with a grab
The sand is slightly wet and very dense

Here, they were pretty chatty and asking me where I was coming from and telling us what we could do in Dalsbruk and inviting us to come back in the summer when it was « the place to be » from all of the places in Finland… of course? You know, when we are doing some cargo operations, we do not go off in town. We also wait until either the operations stop for the night to have a beer. And for sure when it was a busy earlier day and night well, to be honest, we do not want to go to town so late haha. Or maybe I am just getting old.

Happy AB B. greasing the crane together with the guys!

That evening, I had one of the best sunsets ever. I do not know why the lights are so pretty and the colours so orange-red and almost purple every single time during sunsets in Finland. I always tend to take a lot of different pictures of them because the moment vanishes so fast and every couple of minutes it seems different and prettier. Do you get what I mean by that?

Finland has the best sunsets! I was here deballasting, hense the ear protection I kept
The sunset was exceptional!

Anyways during the night we finished loading and headed the next morning out with the Pilot onboard. They are only two pilots for that area which seems very little to me. What if one is on holiday or sick? What if more vessels come in? It is really that you have to wait your turn and pick the good timing.

On our way southwest the weather was still pretty windy outside; but luckily not as much as the previous voyages. A couple of big waves here and there and some rain of course. Sometimes sunshine which is nice because it reminds you that behind all the greyness there is still some blue sky somewhere… and indeed I saw a couple of really big and beautiful rainbows on the way. 

off we go sailing!
heavy weather on the way, but found the view still pretty with the lights on deck!

That is enjoyable at sea because there is no interference so you can sometimes see both ends of the rainbow!. Although it never fits in the picture it is nice to see in real-time and to just enjoy the moment. As usual right? 😉

Finally a ray of sunshine!

We passed the Kiel Channel again and headed towards the North Sea where there was still quite some swell left from earlier stronger winds. We rolled quite a bit but nothing dramatic or unbearable. Rain, drizzle, sunshine, clouds, big waves and rolls. Yep normal North Sea weather in winter times… Oh well, I prefer when it is all shiny and bright. Sometimes it reminds me that in the past years I would spend winter in the Caribbean with lovely warm and sunny weather. I guess my skin should be covered up a bit more right? Fewer wrinkles, less sun damage, less whatever… I do miss the sun kisses highlights in my hair and the light tan tough….

We were all ready to arrive in The Netherlands the next morning. With a new beginning of the week that was not showing great help weather-wise: a lot of wind and rain. Of course. Just for my last trip right?

Oh well, lets see next week!

Xxx

Sophie

5th term, week 8 🌊❤️

15th – 21st of November 2021

Sunday, in the middle of the night we arrived at our berthing place in Szczecin. It was quite dark where we were and there was just a quayside with enough space for two vessels our size to be moored. I had never been. In this part of the harbour yet. A small bridge was ahead of us where only smaller river ships could pass beneath. Clearly, this was the end of the end and the city could not be seen from where we were. I could only distinguish some cranes behind the shed where the wood pulp would be stored.

What a view on the vessel discharging in Stettin!

We were far from the city centre, that was quite clear. Anyways We would not have time to go there this time as they were discharging 24h here and there was no rain forecasted.

Chief officer making sure all is going according to plan
Climbing up high in the aft mast to check the condition of the equipment

The discharging went quite smoothly. We were planning to start on Monday after lunch which gave us time in the morning to take away the lashings and the airbags without pressure or hurry. The crane was a small crane that could take only three packages at the same time but it went quite fast nonetheless. The thing is that with smaller cranes, they are often faster and more agile than bigger ones. It is really a matter of perception: less cargo but more times, or more cargo but fewer times… In the end, it took us less than a day to discharge it all and I ended up waking up captain H. two hours after he had gone to bed; so that he could call the agent and get a pilot organized. We had still 4 hours on the channel to go and then not even a day to sail to Kaliningrad and if we were lucky with this time, we could have the early morning convey in Russia and at least be at the waiting Berth if the winds were to increase too much – as expected later in the week… And for once, for once, the Gods were with us till we arrived at our loading berth in Kaliningrad! Can you imagine? Arrived spot on time at the pilot boarding station, clearance with immigration went very smoothly, draft survey and cargo hold accepted without any problem and we started loading very easily and the weather was so far grey, but not rainy…..

The last cargo till completion

Normally arriving in Russia is always a hassle because Immigration comes on board with 2 to 3 officers and they are never so kind to you. This time he was a normal human! 😉 They did not do any cabin check, but the compulsory face check did happen and all the crew had to be awake for that. Because we knew that in advance we also mixed around the watched so that everyone could benefit from a good rest. The ABs and the trainee would be doing constant gangway watch in Russia. They were prepared to be cold too. They took a small heater out and a bucket to sit on by the gangway but luckily they were also out of the wind so it was not as cold as one month ago when we were loading here; or even as two years ago during my internship where we were already reaching the 0° Celsius…

In this loading port, It always takes a bit of time for them to prepare the belt and the cargo and have the scale ready for loading. They say 45 minutes but I believe the tendency is slightly less than the double…. We are always ready and we need to wait quite some time before they move the crane and position it above the hatch we want them to start, and then again quite sometime before the actual first cargo is in the hold. It is a pity because we lose quite some time like that and Sometimes I wonder how they do not make it more efficient. They know we are there, and ready so why not prepare ahead if the weather is clear? I am sure they have their reasons I am not aware of of course.

Loading took really long due to the weather conditions: rain

This time I do not think it would have made a big difference though, but as we are depending on conveys to sail in and out of the harbour, we have to shots a day and if we are delayed 12 hours because we started loading one hour later well it can sometimes be a bit frustrating…. This harbour is not the best place to be for the crew: we are not allowed to go ashore really, we need to do constant 24-hour gangway watch, it is often quite cold weather and windy, there is no network and 4g (I mean there is but it is extremely expensive so we are all on flight mode!) and the buildings and silos act slightly as an opaque screen on our satellite internet which lowers the quality of our connection…. Of course, we can survive a few days without a good internet connection, right? I mean, on the sailing vessels, we would not have any internet for weeks during our long crossings and it was fine. We would socialize and read books (ok watch movies too… 😉 but not Netflix as it was not available of course!)

This is how soya bean is loaded

This time it was all going fine and we were hoping to be out on time before the storm and have a nice weekend in Uusikaupunki before discharge would start the week after. It was only 2 days sailing to Finland, but Russian surveyors can be very very difficult on the weather during loading. To avoid any difficulties and discussions, with the finest drizzle hatches are closed immediately. A drop is a drop and in this case, there is no discussion on how big or how wet the drop is. no risk is taken ship side. And…. On our first night, we had a very fine drizzle almost the whole night which meant we almost did not load. A few times on my watch I hesitated to open. I did for half an hour but no one could be found on the shoreside, or by the crane. Also, the surveyor was not there (he usually stays all day in his car in front of our gangway). I was waving whistling ( loud, with two fingers in my mouth right? Not the birds while you do in a forest on a walk… 😉 ), shouting. But decided to close again. As it started raining slightly again. I am sure they were checking me out with binoculars thinking I was just a crazy woman on deck… Or maybe they were just sitting behind their radar screens and deciding they were not going to load anyways because of what was still to come ahead… At least I tried, and it was noted in the logbook; not that it would make a big difference in the end!

Intermittent loading: hatches open and closed according to the rain…. finally one hatch open! so we can proceed with loading!

For almost two days we sat there counting drops while only half the cargo was in the hold. And then of course the wind was picking up. The same wind we were hoping to avoid while sailing out and to be in time out at sea. In Westerly winds, the harbour closes for vessels like us as soon as the speed hits 16 m/s which is a 7 Beaufort. It was 7 already and it would keep increasing to 10 even later. There was not much we could then wait for the rain to pass and the wind to die – in case we completed the loading. Sailor’s life. Sometimes it is also about waiting and being patient right?

Well, let’s say that to complete the waiting, they decided that there was too much wind to load even. It was dry. But too much wind. Oh well. Captain H. Said I just needed to wait for them to come to the ship and decide that we could open. It feels a bit strange. Usually, I would say that it is the opposite. That we ( the vessel) decide if we can load or not. But of course, there is more involved to that too. They have their inspectors and they want to make sure that the cargo is good. And we do not want to mess with Russians either. The good thing is that it makes easy watches…. But it feels a bit like a loss of energy to be just awake and waiting during the watches at night. You can do a few small jobs but not like during the daytime. Luckily they came during my night watch for me to open up! I was glad – although the wind had not decreased in my opinion…. Haha And finally finally we continued the loading process. We still had 900t to go so with a bit of luck it would be completed by the morning and with even more luck we would be able to sail out with the morning convey! For sure the wind would have decreased by then just enough to open the harbour again.

This is how soya bean looks like: crushed nuts
Loading selfie!

And Yes! We were lucky; it is how it happened. Completion at 6:30 am then draft survey and then waiting again. For papers, for the agent, for immigration to come onboard. I think in this country only the pilots are there on time, or even early… hahaha they must be paid for the time they spend on board haha. I mean, of course, I do not know and I hope they would not get offended reading this; the past Russian pilots we had onboard were pretty ok and nice people.

Big ships and small ships, this is Leonie, on the left, a sister ship from Ruyter, waiting for our berth

Saturday afternoon we were finally sailing out of Kaliningrad, wind in the nose – of course, for a change!- and heading to Uusikaupunki in Finland. It was a 2-day sail normally; but with strong wind, we do not manage to reach the double digits in speed. And this time we were slightly below average but still made it on time to the pilot station in Finland.

Sunset in Svettly (Kaliningrad, Russia)

The crossing went well; not so much heavy weather as expected, a bit of a nervous ship when sailing out on my watch but then it because easier. It seems like a good thing in the Baltic: when the wind drops, the horrible swell also decreases almost immediately. Because the swell in that area can be terrible really. The other thing I do not really like when sailing up North like that is that the heading of the ship is not so nice to catch the satellite for good internet onboard…. Oh no, do not judge me! After years without internet and after 5 days in Russia when you do not want to have any 4g network and a very bad internet connection, trust me, you are really looking forward to having some speed internet on your night watches too!! Or just for the ship of course ;-). Ok I might be slightly exaggerating, but it is true; on that course, it is not as stable because our mast is in the way. It is the way it is. It is not a long trip anyways and I pick up drawing a bit more instead. I have a tablet with a pen and I am trying to get more drawing skills. It has been so long since I have not really done « art » and I really like it and wish I’d be better at it. I believe the only way is to practice then and because I am always travelling, having a tablet on which I can draw is really awesome!

And the rain continued still at sea!

Oh! A great thing when sailing up north is the water temperature! We are getting close to Finnish winter temperatures here! During my night watch at sea, it was -2°C and I had hazel, snow, and drizzle. I had it all! Soon we will have to take care to ballast -5 minutes the tanks to avoid any damage. The air is getting colder and ice is slowly making its way on deck. But ok that is one thing. What I wanted to say is that the water temperature is really cold! Outside of course but also the ship’s wanter! The tank is of course located very low in the aft of the ship and is directly against the hull so it is cold – very cold- when it goes through the piping system to my shower! But wow it is so powerful in the morning. I must say it wakes you up! Brrahh! 😉 I try to train myself again to stay a little longer like count till 60 on each side of the body and breathe slowly. It is really great! I hope it will help me not get too cold on deck and not get sick either ( just the sniffy nose you know…); we shall see!

Anyways, We are arriving Monday after much time so I wish you a good Sunday at sea and oh! Saturday was A. Our engineer’s birthday! We had chocolate cake. And a very nice meal. It was nice 🙂

Ok, see you next week my friends!

Xxx Sopietje

5th term, week 7 🌊❤️

8th – 14th of November 2021

We left last weekend Birdport for Gent with steel slabs in our cargo hold. Back in the English Channel with very nice sailing conditions. We were planning to enter the Belgium water in the middle of the night – on my watch- and proceed the next early morning through the channels to Gent. I finally enjoyed the French side of the channel between Dover and Calais. The most narrow part is where you can see both sides of the channel in good condition. It was funny to hear French-speaking all over the radio again. All the little fishermen and the French coast guard as well. People always ask me why I do not speak French to the coast guard. I do not know why. I always do it in English…. Probably because I am afraid to not know the terms in French as I have always been speaking English aboard vessels…. But I do sometimes wonder if they think I could be French because I can pronounce their calling name correctly… you know… those difficult French names such as « Ouessant » or « Jobourg »…. 😉 not blaming anyone here!

We had a delay in the pilot boarding time so when I came on watch at midnight I had to reduce and drift around for a few hours before picking the pilot up. We would have him onboard from Wandelaar till Flushing and then Captain H. would take over with his PEC ( Pilot Exemption certificate) in the Dutch waters. We ended up also waiting just in front of the locks in Terneuzen and finally made it around lunchtime to our Berth. We were told we were first going to discharge at 2200 at night, but it got also postponed till the next night.

Crew storing the pilot ladder away once this latter has disembarked

At this point you know, we just take it as it comes. There is nothing we can do about it so we just take a good rest at night and do a lot of maintenance jobs in the afternoon. We were going to be busy as we were expecting a big store delivery in the afternoon. It had been a while since we had not been in the Netherlands or Belgium so our stores were quite empty. Finally, It took us two hours to get everything in and not all sorted but at least in the freezers for the frozen department and fridge for the cool items. The rest would follow later. Fresh produce ohhh!! Fruits, vegetables, milk… it was all flowing lovely! I mean not that we had not had stores earlier but big ones like this one not in a while. In Liepaja captain B. Went shopping with a few ABs, it was good enough for a couple of weeks. A good top-up. We also had deck stores and all the little things we ordered to improve the working onboard.

For me two highlights: on for the ship: brand new side/ angle tarpaulins for the side of the bulkheads in the aft, to prevent cargo to fall behind: string double magnets, wider; hopefully it would help. And new winter working boots from Jallatte. Yes, of course, made in France! You know you know…. They are with wool inside so hopefully, my feet will be nice and warm in the ice-cold weather later this year. I will not wear them directly, wait till it is really cold because I do not want to damage them… even if they are working boots. You know me. Keep things tidy without stays and defects as long as possible.

Tuesday night we discharged the slabs from 22:00 till 06:00. It was also easy as we did not have to worry about the weather. Captain H. brought the ship back north through the channel and the locks in Terneuzen and we arrived in Vlissingen (Flushing) around noon, ready to load our next cargo: wood pulp. After the steel slabs, it was not necessary to wash down the hold. Only a good sweep was sufficient so that was a big gain of time otherwise we should have waited till the hold was dry, and with this weather, it could take 12 to 24 hours with the air dryer on.

Sailing into Vlissingen after Ghent!

In Vlissingen, they dropped us paper rolls that we had to display on the tank top. It was fun. Also making sure some parts were taped otherwise it would just blow away and it would be a lot of work done for nothing! This paper was a bit thick so it was better. Sometimes it is so thin that it rips apart just by breathing around it.

Loading woodpulp in Vlissingen, NL; 1st part of the harbour

Mid-afternoon we loaded the first part at the terminal where we were. Loaded 750 tons in 3 hours and shifted to another terminal where we would load the rest of the cargo. Another vessel was still busy there but depending on what time they would complete they would start with us the same night, or the next morning early.

The loading of such cargo goes very fast with such big cranes, 2nd part of the harbour

This wood pulp was coming partly from Uruguay and Brazil. I was wondering what the difference was with the woodpile from our Scandinavian countries and while Poland should import it from the other side of the world when they had it just on the other side of the Baltic Sea… sometimes I wonder how the world is turning. Then we complain about environmental impact. Crazy. Haha Anyways…

They loaded one hour and the next morning I was ready with my hatches open to load the rest. It was a big crane that would shift 16 wood pulp units at the time so that was also going quite fast.

Loading in progress… Ruyter alongside in Vlissingen, NL
Checking drafts and selfie moment of course!

The weather was with us too, co after completion we directly started with putting airbags and lashing the last tier and we were on our way out. I like it when it is fast and easy like that. It makes everything so easy and simple. Unfortunately, it is not always the case. So we learn how to enjoy the good loadings right?

The last part of the loading is the fastening of the top layer with air-bags and straps.
When sailing out of Vlissingen you sail along the coast where there are long beaches. It is apparently quite a hype place!

We were heading to Szczecin with the wood pulp. A good 3 days sailing via the Kiel Channel that of course happened by night, but for once almost matched perfectly with our watches. Except for the captain that had to wake up for the locks. He would have to do the same upon arrival in Poland in the middle of the night. The pilot would board at 23:00 and the channel is also approximately 4 hours. We will see how that will go. For now, we enjoy a nice Sunday at sea; tonight will be busy again; therefore Cookie’s chocolate cake is well deserved!

Coastal night sailing in the bridge on the Elbe river
Crew selfie when in locks!

Take care my friends and see you next week in Poland for the next sailing adventures!