arrival at the ship at 14:45. quite decent considering I had planned to arrive between 1200 and 1400, and I had some serious car trouble. I immediately began with "familiarization" (be familiar with all safety equipment, where to gather in an emergency, etc etc.
Than they put me straight to work. helping to get the cargo hatches on and off. (had to happen over and over again because we had water sensitive cargo, and it was raining for 15 min every 30 minutes :'). at a certain point, the chief officer sent me to the first hold with a radio to give notice of when the hatches needed to be closed again because of the rain.
Having done that for about an hour, I was asked to help hoist in a new engine for the anchor winch and put it in the right location. After that it was all done for that day.
(everything up until the current day will come as soon as possible. But I First had to admire the view of Gibraltar strait in the evening :3)
Sorry for the delay. here is my full life aboard so far. nothing to interesting though.
Day 2 Wednesday, September 18, 2013
0700 out of bed . Immediately starting to work. Most of the day spent to get everything ready for the new cargo. a generator and some other stuff . I had to help mainly on the deck crane . ensure that all ended up as it should .
Also had to help chief engeneer with the bunkering of HFO
I had to keep an eye out for any lekage . if it did, I had to shout to stop all the pumps. that was day two about it.
Day 3 Thursday, September 19, 2013
prepare for the new cargo. I wansn't allowed to help to much during loading, but after that was allowed to help with the stowage of cargo . After we properly stowed the cargo, we had to close all the hatchcovers. After that I needed to help. wasch the covers.
I think that was the most intensive job labour that I've ever done .
but all went well, and we headed to Hamburg , Germany to load some other things. once we reached open sea again, I became seasick again.
Day 4 Friday, September 20th
not much to do at sea . cleaning day then. helped vacuum the accomodation. After that, I became seasick again. haven't been much out of bed until we arrived in Hamburg.
Part 2 by day 4
arrived in Hamburg. Immediately started loading coiled wire roles. and quite a bit too. have helped to moor the ship , opening the hatchcovers , sweep the hold and draining the bilge wells. Wast sent to bed around 0200 .
Day 5 Saturday 21 septembber
Still loading in Hanburg , not much to do until it is finished. some small jobs . empty bilge wells, storing things , bringing provisions on board.
1300: finished loading . at 1400 the pilot embark, and we will go to Bremerhaven.
somewhere in the night: apperently ther is another ship in our spot in Bremerhaven , so we have to anchor.
Day 6 , Sunday September 22.
All day long for anchor. nothing to do. day of rest.
Day 7 , Monday September 23.
0700 out of bed . Loading of cargo has already started, so somewere in hte night we shifted to our birthplace to start loading. cargo containing military equipment and fire extinguishers. fire extinguishers are considered hazardous cargo.
after loading it took a while before the pilot embarked, but at 1630 we could at last leave for Turkey.
Day 8 Tuesday 24 September.
Quiet day . calm sea , foggy. Helped chief engeneer with alarm tests. Chief officer wanted me to help place extra lashings to the military cargo just to be safe. Also helped clean the ship again.
Day 9 Wednesday, September 25.
Condition is the same as yesterday. Helped clean the outside of the ship. Tried to replace two pins of the hatchcover securing (which failed ). And continued with the familarization of the ship. And again helped with alarms testing with the CE.
Day 10 Thursday September 26 .
restless. replaced locks of the accommodation . then went to bed. seasickness again.
Day 11/12 Friday / Saturday 27 and September 28.
Seasick on bed. Only thing I did was try to eat properly.
Day 13 Sunday September 29 .
A day off. did some schoolwork, laundry and some recriational stuff.
Day 14 Monday 30 September .
Nice weather here in the Mediterranean . 30 degrees , wind. Painting on the forecastle. And who managed to paint himself by exident again? Of course. ME. how? god only knows.
Day 15 Tuesday 1 October .
Another beautiful day. Painted again. Spilled less on myself this time .
Day 16 Wednesday 2 October .
again good weather. Not much to do. Trying to make a cup holder for on the bridge .
day 17 to day 27 (Thursday 3 October - Sunday 13 octoober )
okay. last 10 days nothing interesting happened. except discharging cargo in Derince and another port in Turkey. both were quitethe disaster. Not literally, but the shore party who had to discharge the cargo, were slow and disorganized, and in Derince they even managed to drive a forklift stuck between two decks.
Another milestone for me was, the passage through Istanbul bengazi (Istanbul strait).
Istanbul is a truly a beautiful place.
Day 28 Monday 14 October
Arrival in Trabzon. Nothing special. Been ashore for a bit. We will be here for 3 days.
Day 29 Tuesday 15 October
Hold has to be spotless and clean and has to get a new coat of paint in some places. That is the biggest job for the next few days. also went ashore with the Captain and a AB (abled body) explore Trabzon a bit.
Day 30 Wednesday 16 October
not much to do . So went ashore again.
Delicious barbeque for dinner.
Day 31 Thursday 17 October
Shore people started loading corn after we received a "clean hold certificat".
Day 32, Fryday 18 October
Left Trabzon in the early morning. first interesting thing is passing istanbul strait again. on our way back to Rotterdam The Netherlands. (aka home)