Tag: new life

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 11 & 12 🚢 ⚓️✌🏻

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! 🤓🥰

A new door in the hold…
The main engine is out!
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… 🙂

Girl power!

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

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 10 🚢 ⚓️✌🏻

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!

Ruyter, towed in, with no visibility

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!

Ruyter alongside in Delfzijl

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

Learning new skills…

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

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 9 🚢 ⚓️✌🏻

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 9 🚢 ⚓️✌🏻

Ok. So the start of this week was awesome. Remember we were ar anchor? ⚓️ and sailed into Kotka to load fertilizer? Well. Yep. That was probably my last loading operation. And my last sail…. 😢.

Loading fertilizer in the port of Kotka, Finland
It looks like snow!

Ok. Rewind. ⏮ Finland has actually very nice landscape from the sea. The pilots we got onboard were all kind and talking about their dogs (they seem to all have beagles here!) and their hunt trophies… there was so much 🌬 wind so the temperatures were already below the 0s… but it was ok. I always think there is no bad weather but only bad clothing. Besides, i remember the times sailing down south from Salvador 🇧🇷 to Punta Arenas 🇨🇱 and the weather getting colder and colder, fingers freezing then burning. Well you have to train your body to the cold 🥶. My captain now, only swears by cold showers and all the benefits you get from it. Don’t tell him but i am giving it a try! And 🍀 the water in my cabin isn’t that cold! 😅

Urea flying in winds feels like I am in a blizzard!

Ok so loading fertilizer in Kotka 🇫🇮 it looked like we were in a snow blizzard for a few hours and I think they were pouring as much cargo in the hold than out of it! 😂 and I for sure had lots of fun laughing there with the captain finishing up the ballasting and the loading, sweeping the coamings and closing the hatches and making ready for the departure in the middle of the night until I woke up the next morning with a super puffy face and eyes!! 😂 then I was the centre of a laugh 🤭. It turns out that fertilizer is not as harmless as snow ❄️… oh well 😔.

Again, such beautiful colours at sea!

We had a great easy sail underway to Delfzijl 🇳🇱 , home port of the vessel 🚢. Until…. Kiel. Kiel Kanal in: perfect 👌🏻. Kiel Kanal out… perfect untill the 💥. No more main engine… the explosion was heard up to 3 km around Brunsbüttel!

Ruyter alongside in Holteneau locks, at night

And I must admit that my heart stopped beating as I was in front of the engine room entrance knowing that both the captain and the engineer were down there and I could hear or see anything moving anymore. But they were safe. Tugs out if the lock, back in the channel for two days and starting to dismount a few parts and cylinder heads out…

Ruyter alongside in Brunsbuttel locks

Over 10 years sailing ⛵️, I have never spend so long in the NOK! 😂 😂 but luckily enough we did have sweets to comfort us 🍬 🍭 while dismounting! We are just such a power team! 💪🏻 and i am very grateful for sailing with such nice and kind crew, almost as if i didn’t want to leave! Grapje 😉

Still « smiling » even without an engine!

And I am realizing I have done 2/3 of my internship already and I only have 4 weeks left. And time is flying too fast. 😔 this will be my second main engine complete overhaul/change…. ✌🏻 to be continued…. 😉😘

Waiting and eating gummy bears…

Take care and 🤞🏻 xxx ♥️ ⚓️ @ Port of Kotka