6th term, week 9 ⚓️✌🏻

28th of March till 2nd of April 2022

There we are again for my last week onboard. It has been confirmed: after Rauma, we will sail to Hamina, also in Finland and we will load timber for Bremerhaven. I will not be part of the timber crew this time as I will disembark just after. Do not tell anybody, but I am quite relieved about it! These past days have been quite tiring preparing everything for the new crew member relieving me and I am a bit tired and I know the deck lashing is exhausting. I do know it is part of the job, but, I will only have to make sure that it is already on deck and then I am not even sure I will still be on board when they start loading! we will see, but it is also the way it is. If I had to stay longer of course it would have not been a problem, and I would have happily done it.

The thing is that sailing from Rauma to Bremerhaven is a short trip. And it is always the same thing: so much work for such a short trip is never so nice!

On the other hand, I have to point out that this term was the first term in which for two months I did not have one bulk cargo! We only had packed cargo! It is the first time it has ever happened to me! this is crazy! usually, we always have so bulk cargo; or let’s say half-half.

*beautiful view from my porthole* with a rough Baltic Sea

We are now still sailing to Finland. As usual, we passed through the Kiel channel; and as usual, it was during the night; but we are used to that now, right? 😉

During this voyage I tried to take time to enjoy the sailing a bit: as I had the whole month of march the challenge of going on deck daily; I tried to do that with mindfulness and breathing in and out the fresh air on the foredeck and get my hair in the wind. I enjoy that which is a good thing, but it does remind me of my sailing days … It is crazy that after so many years of what becomes my normality, I miss simple things that were granted on tall ships.

*chief officer Sophie still went for a stroll on the hatches to get some fresh air and a big smile!*

I also miss the winters in the Caribbean: being outside, wearing shorts and no socks all year round. But I accept the cold and enjoy it as well; as long as the days are not all rainy and grey all the time. In the baltic, it is crazy: I can still enjoy beautiful sunsets onboard which is nice and then the next day, the weather is the opposite when I wake up for my watch: grey, humid and overcast. Yes. where are my white sandy beaches in south America??

*Not so nice weather just before arriving in Finland*

Well, the hot beaches are not here. But it is fine, after a few years, I got used to it now…

Do you want to know the worst? It was not even rain or drizzle that was dropping out from the sky later that day but snow! yes! End of March, snow! I thought I could store away my winter overall and warm working clothes and start packing a bit, but that did not happen as I thought it would… snow! Is that very surprising for Finland? I do not know… Probably not if you consider that there was still a bit of ice in the harbour upon arrival. And that we also had spray on deck during our sailing …. and had to hammer a bit the coaming to make sure it was all clear in the morning to open hatches to discharge! That was a long time since we had ice on deck right? Always enjoyed some hammering as a good workout to do late at night or in the early morning! Hopefully, when sailing to hamina next, we will not have to do that anymore. hammering and shovelling ice plus the deck timber lashing…. yep. you got the idea. this job can be exhausting at times! but most of the time it is quite okay you know! Otherwise, I would not be doing it, right?

Sometimes captain H. has to remind me that it is not a factory here and that we are normal people working and living together. But that can only happen when you put the ship first on the list right?

*checking the magnetic compass up on the monkey deck*

The following days were actually nice blue-sky weather again! I was making the most things ready for my reliever so taking the time to do all sorts of safety jobs onboard, even if a little anticipated according to the maintenance schedule. One of the jobs I like the most but tend to postpone is checking the magnetic compass on the monkey deck! I miss steering on the compass as you do on tall ships! standing outside on the wheel and having a beautiful compass in which the sails are reflected on the glass! Beautiful!

*Enjoying a blue sky and calm sea sailing! Just how we like it!*

here, no sails and no steering outside. Ok; well fair enough if it is icy icy weather and snowing right?

We arrived in Hamina and from that moment it all went crazy fast. My reliever arrived in the morning and all my stuff was ready: my bag was made, the cabin cleaned, and the handover was written. I was just waiting for the grand tour of the vessel and showing/ explaining the main safety parts and the areas of work. When your reliever is fixed and knows the vessel, it is not necessary to go over all that again, but when it is not the case, it is a lot of information to share. but we managed!

In the late evening, I could get a taxi to the hotel where I had a short night’s sleep before my flight the next morning.

The day before we had shifted and started loading timber, they would continue today and probably have some overtime to finish up and head towards Germany. I was just hoping that all my explanations were enough and curious if we would manage to have all the timber we hoped for in the hold. the more in the hold, the more on deck…..

But it was out of my hands anyways and I had to start thinking about home and what I would do back home!

*View from my window in the plane, on a snowy France*

Luckily I did not have such a bit temperature change as I landed and there was still a coat of snow everywhere.

Have a nice time off and see you for my next term in 2 months!

XXXX

Sophietje

6th term, week 8 ⚓️✌🏻

21st till 27th of March 2022

Hello there my friends! It is 8 weeks since I am onboard and I should soon start receiving emails for me going home! maybe at the end of this week? or maybe at the end of next week, who knows! it will all depend on the harbours we will be sailing to of course! always the same story, right?

On the 21st, Captain H. drove home with Duschi the dog and the new captain was onboard. It is always strange to change crew members. Especially when it is a captain with whom you work well and things are smooth. The new captain was still a big mystery to me. Eventually, we slowly got to know each other. But the first days are always awkward: asking what he expects from me and how he likes to see things onboard is the first step. It seems strange to ask but usually, people come and say « oh just do like you normally do » but then everything seems wrong or modified etc…. I usually like to ask ahead now what they expect and how they see it rather than having to change things around after I have spent time making them. It is also a nice moment to ask how the new captain works and to have the first batch of information on how he wants it to be. Every captain is different and has different ideas, and ways of doing. And of course as chief Officer, I need to adapt to the captain. it usually doe not dork the other way around…. unfortunately.

*Saying goodbye to captain H. Crew changes are always sad*

I showed him how I did my voyage planning and asked if he wanted to see more information in it; I showed him how I entered things in the logbooks and the same asked if he had some particulars he wanted me to always right down. At least we could start first and see further later.

He seemed like a young fun person. A smoker. But that is not so much of a problem for me as long as doors are open and smokers do their thing on the lee side, right? but then later in the week, he said he was going to stop smoking… like what??? no, please! not on my watch!! haha. They say people who stop smoking at sea become irritable and in a bad mood! well, at least that started off well as a joke right?

We stayed in Terneuzen for a couple of days discharging the paper reels; in the afternoon or early evening, we sailed out to Zeebrugge where we would load wood pulp to Rauma, Finland again. But first, we had our new autopilot trials to do. This took a little more time than planned but it ended up all well.

Almost finished with discharging! chief officer Sophie presenting the last reels on a selfie

Chief officer with ear cuffs and thumbs up because she is ballasting

*picking up all the timber laid to protect the cargo from the tanktop*

Loading the wood pulp went extremely fast as they were loading 16 packages by 16 packages!

A big paper reel used to cut paper to protect the tanktop and the woodpile cargo

Loading the first woodpulp cargo in the fore part of the hold

A huge crane for a small vessel.... loading wood pulp in Zeebrugge — *A huge crane for a small vessel…. loading wood pulp in* Zeebrugge

There is a funny story to tell about the loading. For sensitive cargo such as wood pulp, there are two options. If the tanktop is painted then there is no need to display a layer of paper on the tanktop as a protective layer for the wood pulp. As our tanktop is not painted, we need to roll out the paper before the loading starts. In Sweden, the stevedores do it themselves and roll the paper out following the loading. In the Netherlands, the crew has to have it all prepared before they start loading. And of course, we prepare it when the hatches are closed and as soon as they start they do not want us to be in the hold anymore for safety reasons. The problem is that as soon as there are more hatches open the wind blows in and all the paper is torn apart and blowing away. It is quite annoying to know that we have spent time unrolling it and taping it the best we could and it is never enough. The funny part is that this time the paper was not on time. There had been a miscommunication and after a few phone calls, it was agreed that we would still display the paper in the hold. So they came with a huge roll of paper. Such a paper roll we had just transported. A 2-ton roll. I was a bit confused. Luckily the foreman told me it was not good paper and with the forklift, he rolled out the paper and made smaller rolls by hand….. way handier. because my crane was not capable of lifting it entirely in the hold of course. It was just a funny moment to see two persons rolling out a huge paper roll to cut smaller pieces as protection for the wood pulp.

The gaps between the grade are a bit big.... it will matter for the last tier and for the airbags in between

They also had a crew to do the lashing and the airbags. I tried my best to be on top of things there, to show the captain I was at ease on deck. But of course, I did not know him yet and sometimes there are miscommunications when people do not know each other and need to adapt to new working colleagues. I probably overlashed the wood pulp to not have bad surprises arriving in Finland of course. When other people, not from the ship, do the lashing, you cannot always blame it on them because I am supposed to always double-check what and how they are lashing the cargo right? And in any situation, the captain is always ended up responsible, and I did not want him to start with such a bad idea of me either. first impressions are always important, right?

This could actually be another full subject: how we first meet people and what remains of these first impressions over time. I have the feeling that first impressions are often the ones that remain the longest. that it is difficult to change one’s opinion on various matters. but I am maybe wrong.

Leaving Belgium was nice. It is always nice to go back to sea after a few days in the harbour, especially when there is a lot of tide, and some work to check the mooring lines to make sure the vessel is not hanging in them at low tide… I must admit that this is something I like very much about the baltic sea… there is such a minimal tide that it is often not even applicable! I also like that most of the quays are at our height too and not made for huge vessels. You have no idea how difficult it can be to have a safe mean of coming off and onboard ( the mighty gangway of course) when the quay is not fitted for our type of vessel and when there is a huge tidal difference that you have to move the heavy gangway every couple of hours and adjust it again.

*Hatches closed and ready for departure!*

We were now sailing away to Finland: Rauma.

Do you know a nice story? When we left the Belgian port there was a tug boat; most probably checking the fire pumps of course, but the nice thing is that it seemed like they were making the water spray to greet us and wish us fair winds as we were departing… I know, I know, I probably still have a mindset on big events for tall ships, where the tugs were actually welcoming us and saying good-by with all fire pumps on during the sail-in and sail-out parade. haha.

*A tug boat trying the fire hydrants, making like a party upon your departure!*

It had been a while since I was not in Rauma. It was nice to know we had a couple of days sailing before arriving. I start to know by heart the schedule: depending on where we are in the Netherlands, it is around 12 or 24 hours to the Kiel channel then 8 hours on the Channel and 2,5-3 days to Finland. This would give me some time to prepare for my handover.

This time we are welcoming a new crew member as an officer onboard and it is important to spend some time preparing anything my reliever would need and to make sure to have time to do a good safety familiarization and go over the administration of the ship. It will be a huge handover so I have to be organized right?

So off I go to prepare all that!

xxx

Sophietje

6th term, week 7 ⚓️✌🏻

14th till 20th of March 2022

Hello my friends!! back again!

So yes remember? we loaded wood pulp in Brake Germany a couple of days ago and we passed the Kiel channel on Sunday. We are heading to Kotka, Finland, with the wood pulp… Did I mention to you that I made myself a challenge for the whole month of March? The challenge is to go outside at least once a day, whatever the weather, for a short tour on deck and to get fresh air and silence on the fore deck for example. I realised I missed it being on deck and walking around. I missed the silence and the view. You know when you are on a sailing vessel, most of the time you are underway sailing with no engine but the wind blowing in the sails and the hair. I love that feeling. And onboard cargo ships, you tend to forget how it is to be outside with cold and rain, handling sails. Of course with time you forget the « miserable » part of being wet and cold outside for hours on your watch right? but you get nostalgic for the fresh air and the wind… and the beautiful view from the top of the masts!

So there was my Challenge for the whole month of March, and to make myself accountable, I post a daily picture on Instagram. A black and white picture of myself – called a selfie right?- or of the view or something happening on deck. Pictures are not so bad in black and white! it is funny but it does give a different perspective; you see details differently!

Arriving closer to Kotka on Monday, we were also arriving back into Ice. I took time to go on the foredeck to enjoy the cracking sound of the ice on the hull. It was not as thick as it was a few weeks ago, but it was still a nice experience and very enjoyable.

Oh! but before I forget! do you know what was amazing during that night sail before we arrived in the harbour? I saw for the first time in my life the austral light!!! beautiful green lights in the air and that was amazing! In the beginning, I was wondering what it was, and why there was a sort of stain in the air. But then I stepped outside and realized that it was in several places in the sky; to be more precise, it was on a huge part of my Portside! Green stripes and a green « dusty » sky… it was marvellous! I just wanted to wake up everyone on board even though it was in the middle of the night, and I wanted to call all the other vessels on VHF to see if they had seen it too! On my previous vessels, I would have enjoyed this with more crew of course, and the trainees. we would have been all staring at the sky and enjoying each minute till it lasted…. but now I felt really alone. Alone on the bridge with the green sky and stars. It was still amazing.

*As we are sailing to Kotka, I notices some green lights in my night watch!*

Fun fact, the next morning, when I told the crew and showed pictures they were all envious, but none of them would have wanted me to wake them up….

I thought it was amazing to see them so low in the Baltic. there were probably perfect conditions for the moon, a clear atmosphere and reflection to see them like that. Anyways. I was really happy and glad. I wish I would take shots of amazing ones now quite up North!

In Kotka, we discharged the wood pulp. This went quite fast as there was perfect weather for it: a huge blue sky and not one single cloud. I opened all the hatches end we completed at the end of the day. The next morning we sailed to Hamina where we were going to load paper reels again to Terneuzen.

*Discharging wood pulp in Kotka. The skies are always amazing in Finland*

chief officer Sophie smiling next to the coasting during the transit between Kotka and Hamina

Chief officer Sophie smiling on the foredeck, ready at the mooring station

Hamina is just a couple of miles further from Kotka so there was no hurry. We had to wait for another vessel ahead of us to complete before they would start with us. So guess what the captain and I did upon arrival in hamina? of course! we went for a swim! This time we stayed 5 minutes and it was really interesting because it felt way easier than the last time! It seems true that the more you practice ice water swimming, the easier it is! I realize for my side that when I remain still, I find it also easier than when I am trying to swim around. My next challenge if I have the chance to swim again this year, will be to swim slowly to a giver ice block in the water so that I also get a cool picture close to the ice and not only close to the ladder! 😉 safety first, of course, this has to remain enjoyable and do not worry I will not force myself only to get a cool picture. I also know that someone is watching me from the quayside, and that captain H. is close by in the water together with me too and we are supporting each other…. although I have the feeling he supports me more in this than I…. he says he is a Viking and indeed, he seems to not even feel the cold. or not as much as I do. ok ok. Actually, he does but he probably just shows it less ;).

*The ice is every where around the vessel!*

What we did this time too, is that when coming out of the water we remained outside in our swimsuits in the sun. just moving around and doing jumping jacks just there to heat up from the inside. It was not cold outside. Or I mean, we did not feel cold as we were just out of the freezing water. But last time we went directly inside the heated accommodation, for a cold shower inside to wash off. This time we wanted to experience heating up from inside to the outside of our flesh instead of heat coming from outside towards our chore. this second experience was way better because we were almost normal after our shower; whereas last time we still had to move and relax to keep ourselves from shivering…..

Captain H. and chief officer Sophie swimming in ice cold water

Happy chief officer after swimming in the ice!

Anyways nice experience and it gives energy and smiles to our faces! It is so great to feel alive!

Enjoying a warm coffee cup in the bridge

chief officer Sophie Happy to be ashore , in front of the ship!

There was a change of plan. The ship ahead of us finished loading earlier and we could start loading in the evening already. the next morning I woke up very early to open up the rest of the hatches. This time I had a better plan than the last time we loaded paper reels. I wanted the crane driver to start from the aft for the last layer to avoid putting so many airbags around. Paper is a very fragile cargo and it needs to be protected everywhere of course. But only the last layer needs to be lashed because the layers beneath are lashed by the weight of the top layers. I hope you understand what I am trying to explain.

There we were off in the middle of the afternoon, outbound for Terneuzen via the Kiel channel again!

The weather was great. I must admit I enjoy very much loading paper reels. I hope we will have more of those in the future!

*Taking in the pilot ladder after the Pilot disembarkation*

The sailing out was very smooth till the locks. I enjoyed the beautiful sunset which was nice because it started to feel like summer was around the corner. You know: great skies, big suns, still fresh air but you could feel the heat wanted to come through.

*Chief officer Sophie Smiling on the foredeck while sailing on the Baltic Sea*

We were going through the Kiel Channel in the middle of the night again and you know what happened? I had the chance to manoeuvre again and enter the locks in Brunsbüttel the next morning!

I was very proud. Of course, I also manoeuvred out and to the river. I really enjoyed it. It is a great feeling. Probably because I know the captain is never too far around. I guess I would be a bit more nervous if he suddenly left the bridge to go on deck. But I know that that will be happening one day too. Each day is a step further. Fun fact: Captain h. is sending my parents movies of me while manoeuvring! it is funny they can almost follow me live while mooring!

*Chief officer Sophie taking a selfie from the bridge after a manoeuvre , overlooking the crew chatting on the hatches in the locks*

It was again a very smooth sail to the Netherlands. captain H. was going to sign off in the next harbour and we would get another captain onboard. A captain sailed a few weeks with us but I had not had the chance to sail with him yet as we relieved the captain and chief officer the same day. I was a bit nervous as usual. I always get a bit nervous when a new crew joins the ship because I always hope they will be nice people and fun to work with, not too stressed and with whom I will enjoy working and learning too.

*Sailing on the North Sea with beautiful sunsets*

Arriving closer to Europe we could finally see a pink haze on the horizon: they were talking about it on the news the Saharan sand was transported with air masses to Europe and it was all over in the atmosphere: thin pink dust. It was beautiful.

*Saharian dust on the Horizon while approaching the Dutch and Belgian coast*

We came into the harbour on Sunday evening and the discharge would start only the next morning; not so early. that was good for the last evening together with captain H. and the dog.

Let’s see what next week brings us with a new crew member onboard!

S O P H I E. T H E. S A I L O R.

Just another view of the world through Sophie’s eyes while working and traveling at sea

Tag: sailing around the world

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S O P H I E. T H E. S A I L O R.

Just another view of the world through Sophie’s eyes while working and traveling at sea

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