Tag: sailing around the world

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 3 🚢 ⚓️✌🏻

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 3 🚢 ⚓️✌🏻

One week in Russia 🇷🇺 already! As you can notice I am never too far from tall ships…

STV Sedov moored ahead of us on our waiting berth in Kaliningrad

Here in Kaliningrad not only we were moored astern of Sedov but, other tall ships are everywhere to be seen …. 😉

Ruyter is out of the water now and ready for a huge sand blast. Pretty cool for her to get a lift but for us, a closed ventilation is not so nice… but we still do the jobs! 😉

A good team work for changing the rubbers of the hatches on sunny days and overhauling generators and oil seperators on rainy days… 🌧 it is still pretty cool onboard!

We had the chance to go downtown and found a few cool spots! World heritage cathedral and old unused buildings from the soviet time…. its either poor or rich which makes a funny combination when all mixed together … no real harmony ~say my architecture eyes 👀 ~ but still nice to walk quite a bit! 🙂

No need to say that all the shipyard workers are coming to « check the female crew out » that we kind of had to say the captain was our father and the engineer our brother to warn them 😆… its pretty funny. They are offering us appointments in beauty salons for our black oily nails… well sorry we are not the type wearing guess sweatpants, long fake nails, gucci socks and huge sunglasses and half a centimeter make up on the face… but thank you for the offer! 😉
👄 💅🏻vs🔩🛠⚙️

A lot of learning in the engine room this week and was really surprised to realize I knew way more than what I thought… and the captain seems pretty happy about that! Apparently some come onboard and do not know how to hold a screwdriver…!! 😮

So happy that not even at week 3 out of my 13 weeks internship, he offered me the chief officer’s position if I wanted… 🙂 like wow! What on earth is happening here????!!! What have I done here? Super surprised and also a bit proud…. i must say! Well i am really looking forward to do more here!
Even though i miss quite some people and the dogs back home too! i am thinking of special people I havent seen or heard from in too long.♥️
I am almost done of the mini Reese peanut butter cups I had and i am trying to save them till my birthday but i guess I’ll have to find some new ones soon…⚓️

@ Калининград

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 2. 🚢 ⚓️ ✌🏻

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 2. 🚢 ⚓️ ✌🏻

And then flew by the second week onboard…
I am soooo gratefull for one of the best surprises this week…

After a heavy rolling night with a good northerly 7bft in the german bight, I woke up for a nice calm kieler kanal. I love this channel for the people cycling along 🚴‍♀️ and the smell of grass and countryside. It just makes me happy.

Calm day on the Kiel Channel

I was already wondering who I’d see in Holteneau when I saw some of my precious friends and previous collegues of mine pass by while sailing on Hendrika Barthelds, alsonkn the channel! They came back to shake hands with me! ♥️ it made my day.

Collegues and friends from my sailing world meeting uo in the kiel channel

Still quite a few firsts with my first time in Poland 🇵🇱 (Gdynia) to discharge our nice and heavy steel coils… no more heavy rolling for a while… 🙏 Unfortunatly- I knew it before hand though- there are no times off in harbour to go sight seeing…. so my view for the day was pretty much the quayside and the cranes loading other vessels 😂 !

My view when I cannot go ashore

The funny thing is that as we had an annual survey and as I had experience/ was the officer awake (hum hum trainee ~ excuse me!) I had to do a few things for the surveyor ! But I am just new onboard haha and not 100% familiar with all emergency systems yet of course! But happily it went pretty smoothly which made me content of myself! 💪🏻;)

Alongside in Poland

And another a first to Russia 🇷🇺! Where we will be staying in Kaliningrad for approx 10 days… I hope that we will get some time to go out one evening to the city! I really would like to experience some…. vodka! 🤪

We also have to do a strict gangway watch here… and I was glad to end up my freezing cold watch (ok not freezing but still felt like it..) 🥶 with my first russian sunrise 🌅

Early sunrise while the trainee (me) is on gangway watch

We had immigration and customs 🛃 onboard (normal) and they were not very friendly it felt like we were the bad guys in a prison… a bit strange to not be alowed to get out of your cabin, holding your seamans book till they facecheck you, check your room and the dog 🐕 sniffs everywhere… I hope I didnt forget to declare anything! 🥴funny enough the lady with the dog and the drugs stopped and asked me if i spoke russian (LOL ~ of course…. not!) and asked me about a laundry soap tablet and my multivitamines!! 😂 errrre- are you sure you are looking for what you are supposed to search for?!

Xxx♥️⚓️ @ Nord Ostsee Kanal Fähre Fischerhütte

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 1. 🚢 ⚓️ ✌🏻

INTERNSHIP ~ Week 1. 🚢 ⚓️ ✌🏻

As you can see this has been a new week full of firsts! I am off discovering a whole new world and everyday of this week has been full of nice encountries! Someone seems so be checkin on me from up there… 😇

Last sunday I was off for three months with my sailing bag but almost no sailing item in it for a change. Instead: study books 📚 , quite a bit of fear of leaving my comfort zone and a lot of absolutlynoideawhereiamgoing feeling. 😱… Now you see the picture, right?

A Happy New Trainee

Landing in Spain and joining a small cargo vessel for my next three months of internship. Yep… there i was; and guess what? I totally survived this first coming week!🎉

Early morning sunrise in harbour with the forward hatches open

First of all, I was super well welcommed by the officers. We are 7 onboard and we are two girls!! 💪🏻 🙌🏻 They are also young and it seems that they are very kind and great fun to be around! Upon arrival I discovered a huuuuuuuuuuuge cabin waiting for me (no pictures, I didn’t want to get some jealous here… 😉 ) and a nice schedule enabling me to get into my study books and all the assignments that I need to get done to get school out of the way asap 🤓… I keep on saying “this will be my last study” but it seems I always get back to it as there are so many interesting things the world can offer!

My first cargo: loading steel coils in Santander

I survived my first discharging and my first loading, my first biscay crossing in just over 24hrs in the most straightest line ever… I am glad to be back at sea and point France 🇫🇷 out on the coast, enjoy the sunrises and sunsets again and all the beautiful amazing colours and stars ⭐️ life at sea has to offer.

View from the porthole in my cabin

After my first day, I realized how much I enjoyed it and my first titanic version of dolphins 🐬 on the bow of a cargo ship reminds my how just the sound of the waves is also nice.

Dolphins playing on the bow: always nice!

I started a small challenge that a few friends of mine picked up with me…. to remind myself how beautiful small things can be and how having fun is important in your job, take an honest fun and smily selfie a day… 📷 🙂 you are the only one that can make your day nice fun and enjoyable! Just highlight those moments! And replay them once in a while! 🙂

Thank you mom and dad for being the best ♥️ oh and Imiss our black and white furry zoo too.. 😘