Leaving Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Tour of Engine Room

Tuesday 19th February 2013

Day 25

I wake at 3am which surprise me. We are so tired from the walking and cold these last few days yet still I wake early. It snows all night. It doesn't remain once landed on deck or on the port containers and tarmac but it flurries outside our window in the ship's bridge lights. I doze for the next few hours. I realise I should have checked my emails at the Duckdalben Club. How foolish of me. I wonder if they have been downloaded and realise the written email also had not been sent; maybe because I didn't use their password protected WiFi. I realise also we will loss reception as soon as we head away from Hamburg. I write a quick sms to the children, before we sail away. It is just like a telegram msg. Short and minimal letters, maximal news. I get dressed and will wash my hair after breakfast. I wake Roy as he will no doubt be hungry. Our daughter responds by sms, she has written email. It is fine. I shall wait and then reply. We go to B deck mess. The new Captain and another man, who replaced Reefer Dario, come to breakfast as well as Nenad. We are now sailing at 11am. Captain brings us an email which he assumes is for us as it is addressed to Dear Mum and Dad. We all smile and it is from our daughter. I read it first and it tells about her reading my very, very long email. I give it to Roy to read. We return with tea and thermos to our cabin. I write a quick sms to say we will be leaving soon, will reply by email. They are all so hot in Perth and we have had snow. Roy sleeps soundly while I catch up on the diary of the last few days. It is easier to write as soon as practicable and there is much to get down. Two whole days of sightseeing after 22 days of exclusive shipboard life. Roy is tired and my legs are aching. Luckily the walking has been excellent for the constitution. As it gets close to 10 am I hear a change in the hum of the engine. I think we might have finished loading. I step outside, it is freezing! All the cranes have lifted their cross bars. This means it is close. I gently wake Roy and ask if he wants to come. It will be amazing to see Hamburg from the bridge as we leave. 

View from Thalassa across
Burchardkai port and Hamburg

He is as keen as me and gets dressed. Sleeping can be done anytime. We dress and I take our camera. There are so many photos and it won't stop. It is for my memory when I write my blog. I shall need the photos for recall. We arrive on the bridge and Joey is preparing for departure. He is busy and keeps his head down. There is much to get sorted, maps, radar, information and paperwork. 

The new officer complement onboard.

Soon we are introduced to visa pilot. That is what I heard. Then Joey and the Captain with Chief Officer are on bridge. He brings us another email, this time from my sister. She loved my descriptions and encourages me to write a book. The Hamburg pilots come aboard. It is very busy on the bridge. Roy stands outside to starboard. Roy reads the email with interest which is promising. The Captain smokes inside. I take some pictures and suddenly it is all busy and alert. 

Officers and pilot as we depart our berth.

The Captain and a pilot both in thick jackets, go outside. The wing bridge is open. There is a call for the tugs and then we are beginning to move. It is a splendid sight. This ship is so huge and pilots call the commands, directing tugs and engine room. 

Captain and pilot direct
the dance of the tugs.

Our tugs peel off as we enter the River Elbe.

We can see Hamburg from a unique vantage. There are beautiful houses across the river in large park like gardens. The Captain, after we have moved into the main River Elbe, has time to tell Roy that these houses are the exclusive part of the city. Inside all those trees are huge homes, luxury and expensive. I take many pictures of everything interesting. It is freezing outside. 

The right bank of Elbe, to left,
where we were tourists in the city.

He also tells Roy about special Airbus factory for parts, with a special plane built to transport the huge pieces. It is on the port side. 

The Airbus factory and transport planes.

I take images of this but without stepping outside. I am not prepared and dressed for that cold. The pilots are fed a hot lunch whilst we travel down river. In the end they shake hands with Captain and Chief Officer then they leave. We still have the original visa pilot. Roy asks Captain why so many. Two are always taken on board in Germany for each side, plus there's one extra who is staying until Bremerhaven. German pilots are excellently trained. Always top class. Sometimes, in some countries, it can be very tricky and to trust the ship of this size to unknown entities is stressful. It is fascinating to get an inside knowledge given so freely. This Captain has done this trip many, many times and will be back in May. 

Back inside as we head west.

He explained last night about the tides, the wind direction and the interaction changing the times of port entry. I hear him talking to the pilots about this also. We watch and I take more pictures. 

Hamburg suburbs from the bridge wing.

Very exclusive suburbs on the hill.

We pass the Airbus factory and I try to get good images. There are actually two, flip top, front cockpit opening, specially built planes that are loaded with the enormous Airbus parts for transport. They have their own runway. 

The Airbus plane with odd shaped chassis.

                                   

There is snow, on the ground, near the mansions on the opposite hillside. I have almost drained the battery on the camera and the card must be almost full. We are both hungry and head down to lunch. We stop at our cabin to

leave stuff. :::: We are not the first down. Roy has taken down the two very large boxes of after dinner mints for Gary to share with the Filipino and Indian crew. He understands. We eat heartily as it has been only wurst yesterday evening. With shared leftover pizza for lunch. Despite the availablility of all that amazing German food, we had very little, even no cake. As we are about to leave the dining room, Bojan the Chief Engineer invites us down to the engine room for a visit this afternoon or tomorrow. This is most gracious as, last night over beers, we had mentioned how we were not invited to visit when Zoran was onboard. We feel this is a very friendly point for Bojan to make. We return to our cabin and Roy sits at the porthole and mediates. I continue to write my diary which is taking a long time. I need to wash my hair, we have an invite to the engine room and I have puzzle books open everywhere. I decide that a shower and hair wash is essential and so undress and take a wonderful, cleansing and muscle relaxing shower. It takes time and I rest again afterwards. Roy sleeps. He finally wakes just before 4pm and I ask if he wants to visit the engine room. He sadly says, 'Not now.' I lie down and try to let my hair dry. I have caught up to date and have shall transferred all the camera images to the laptop. Going through the shots is helpful in remembering our events of the day. There is no way I can image the cold, chilly  discomfort of the wharf wait,  the walk along the back streets of the port with the cold aching legs and the warmth of the club entry. These are memories that will stay only in our minds and hearts.  I watch Roy wake. I thoroughly admire his knowledge and social skills in this shipping environment. Roy is gone for ages. It is after 5pm when he returns and he brings the tea. We are at dead slow in the roads for Bremerhaven. A four hour entry, waiting for our berth. I relax and do the cryptic. I have learnt a lot from the Telegraph book and complete all but one clue. We go to dinner after 6pm. All the officers are at table and we wish them Bon Appetit. I lie down for a while then go up to write an email. Check the bridge first for an image but it is too dark and there's no markers to locate on the map. When I reach the office, Captain is at the computer. Do I want to send an email? Is it on a usb? I explain the problem we had before and he says he can transfer it. Even using his own laptop. This makes it easier so that I can prepare it in the cabin. I say goodnight and go back. We shall see. :::: We both settle in bed and I create a document to send home. It is after 9:30pm before I finish and must leave it till the morning. I need to transfer it to the laptop then to the memory stick. I might as well backup the diary entry, too.

Wednesday 20th February 2013

Day 26

I wake at 3am and we are just docking at Bremerhaven. I check outside and the cranes are much smaller here. It looks dry outside. It is a much smaller terminal. I get up at 4am and transfer the documents to the respective folders in my backups. I then put the email onto the memory stick to try to send to the kids. I might have to wait for the Captain to be available. It is still only 5am so I take the thermos and cups to the mess and make myself a tea. Roy sleeps through. I wash and dress for breakfast. I quickly use the ball-in-the-bag to release some tension in the legs. Roy gets up at the last minute. We have our usual breakfast. Gary asks if we are going out. He wants to clean our room. I take the usb with me to try to send. Roy returns to our cabin. The Captain's room is shut presumably he needs to sleep sometimes after docking. I put the usb into the bottom port on the office tower and it won't open. But the second port works perfectly. It takes me minutes to do the email instead of the painful hour. I return to our room but Roy doesn't wish to leave for shore until closer to 10am. I do my puzzles. I spend at least 50 minutes releasing all the painful areas down the spine, into the buttocks, along the thighs and this time also the shins and even the front of them. I can feel the tension going. Last time I wore my angora white jumper. I check my coat and it is covered in fluff. It looks dreadful. I try to remove it by using the sticky tape loop but there is too much fluff. I suddenly have an inspiration and try the new pencil eraser. It is the best tool and takes off rolls and rolls of the collected fluff. It is brilliant for brushing the whole coat. The Captain brings us a brochure with suggested places to visit in Bremerhaven, a printout of restaurants and areas for us to see. The port agent has provided this and he has made a point to bring it to us personally. It is grateful accepted. We don't want to carry the whole thing but take the map, sheets and add to backpack. We both collect our warm gear, I put on my leggings and wear just two ordinary jumpers. This time I also wear my Cloud shoes. The boots have given my shins a work out with their small heels. It feels OK. We go down to the upper deck meeting Joey with a visitor. We need our passports to go ashore. Roy stays in the U deck office and I go with him. We met the Captain and he speaks in German to the electrician. We chat briefly and I congratulate him on his languages. Joey then shows me where the passports are kept. I can put ours back using the key in the drawer, when we return. It already has exit and entry stamps for Hamburg and Bremerhaven so it happens without us being present. The emigration officer comes onboard just before sailing. So tonight, he didn't keep office hours! We are ready to leave. We go down the gangway and Ereneo and another crew member are waiting, too. Going to a supermarket. 

The gangway. 

We stand and watch and I take a few pictures. Some white fluff drops and I thought it was stuff off the cranes working overhead. It gets heavier and it is snowing. It is so very cold. The shuttle bus comes finally after Raul calls down from above. We are taken to the port gate office. This is much fancier than in Hamburg. Two ladies in a neat, warm office tell us the Seaman's Club doesn't open until 3pm. They call for taxis. One also gives us brochures and tells us some old areas. It is always pot luck. The guys head off first to go shopping and we wait. The snow gets much, much heavier. Roy goes outside and I stand with him; it is cold but it is beautiful. At first they are little balls, like soft hail which covers my coat in little dots of white. Why did I bother to remove all that fluff. Then it changes to light bits of spread out tufts of cotton wool. These sit on my coat but melt quickly. This time the snow settles and begins to cover the ground. It is for us, such a wonderful experience because it is new. We smile though it is cold. 

Snowfall as we await our taxi
at the Bremerhaven port office.

Windmill parts await delivery,

Soon the taxi arrives and we drive towards town. He shows us the Seaman’s club en route. Driving away from the ship is always fascinating. I ask the driver what we should ask for when we need to return; Europort container terminal. We drive to the main tourist port, with Mediteraneo building, along the front but the driver drops us in a back street, pointing to an entrance to the main mall. We trust he is right and follow his directions. We find ourselves inside a modern, warm but sterile shopping mall. We step outside again to find the architecture is all post war blocks. Only the Stadthaus theatre has some beauty. I look at a map board and all the tourist stuff is back to the Mediteraneo building. We see only concrete and traffic. It is disappointing. Roy wants to ask a taxi driver information and in the end we return to the rank. He tells us, this is it, we need to enter the modern, warm mall. There is nothing more, it could be any ordinary Aussie mall. Roy says he wants a coffee and I'd like to try a good German cake. We walk because the cafes are so boring. We finally find the bridge crossing to the celebrated Mediteraneo and stop for a few moments before we cross over. We head off again, crossing into the submarine shaped steel and glass building. Inside we find an artificially built fully enclosed and heated rebuilt, clean fake old town. It is comfortable, modern, has a central square full of tables, coffee bars and shops. It is sterile and we are not attracted to it. It is also fairly deserted. Admittedly it is the middle of winter so tourists are few but for us there is no appeal. 

Inside Mediteraneo, artifical old town.

We are now both sore and just want to stop. Not one of these places invites us to sit down. There isn't a delightful place to stop and we both dislike it. We decide to go back towards the church spire that we saw in the distance. As we slowly stroll, I see a sign with Great Church in German, Grobe Kirche and we follow the mall out to the fresh air. We decide to just walk in the westerly direction and eventually find ourselves at a coffee shop. We order what looks like cakes. We ask to sit outside. A lady helps us who speaks English, many don't. We have been told my cake selection has quark inside. It is a most unusual but yummy cheese cake type filling and I like it. Both of our cakes are actually based on doughnut dough. It is unfortunate but this chain store, Engelbakerie, seems to be everywhere. We sit and watch the passing people traffic which is more active here than in the warm mall. We see a group of bronze seals and take some photos. Then we stroll along. It is icy freezing cold and the wind makes our cheeks feel solid. I wrap my scarf over my ears and put the hat over the top. This works well and my shoes are perfect. Occasional old, ornate buildings still stand but mostly it is a rebuilt post war city.

Some pretty brickwork survived.

The older buildings are taken by doctors surgeries, a mammography center and private well-to-do owners. Our stroll leads us into a more interesting, though slightly run down section then suddenly just homes. We do stop in one electronics second hand shop. We had hoped for more interesting sights. It is mostly functional blocks of flats. There is nothing open so presumably these bars, tattoo shops and restaurants open later at night. There is a taxi rank so we start to cross to return to the center. Just across the road we spot a small intimate bar with a light on. We try this and it is open. Inside there are three men, a thick smog of cigarette smoke and we tuck ourselves into a front corner. I can hardly breathe for the reek. I have a couch to lie down on. Nobody speaks English, but I can hear some translation going on. Even Roy can hear the word 'English'. I order a coffee and the milk is in an unusual plastic dispenser which takes me a while to open. The coffee is fine. Roy has a beer. Lager is pils. These men are drinking small shot glasses of schnapps. I use the facilities which are decent. This bar is a Werber Bremen football shrine. The walls are covered in photos, symbols, trophies and scarves. The Bremen key symbol is also prominent. On the wall is a newspaper article about the bar, Neustadtshranke. I restrain myself from taking photos to avoid offense. We are warm but my hair, clothes and everything reeks of thick, heavy smoke. It will linger. Roy orders another beer and one, younger gent leaves and an older guy arrives. He also drinks schnapps. Then Roy asks for a serving too. I tasted it and it is surprisingly smooth. I expected burning but it is an easy drop. One gentleman again says English but we say Australian. Now without any other change, we are spoken to in English and the atmosphere lightens. I believe these men's parents must have suffered badly during the Second World War. This town has been flattened. The older man used to entertain on cruise ships, this is his seaman's background. Roy downs the schnapps in one hit, bravo! He orders a second which I share. It is so cold outside and we have to walk again. Finally we wrap up, pay and head off. 

A warm inn and changing atmosphere.

We decide to try some backstreets and there is stuff happening, also some stirring nationalistic slogans, graffiti. An African aid poster has been stripped off a billboard. We see a removals truck being emptied into a highrise apartment with a small child watching, helping with his toys and obviously his baby sister's stuff. We keep going and come to a second hand shop, at last. It is large, mostly books but also small knick knacks. I start to rummage in a box. The guy is friendly, speaks good English and I show Roy a broken, carved bone or ivory card box. It is lovely but damaged. Roy explains the silver hinges and lock have been removed. Now there are also small, old cardboard boxes which I check. Each is filled with hand painted, flat tin soldiers. The boxes have the designated regiments. There are about six boxes, some have horses, lanciers, some pipers and mostly soldiers. Not the usual three dimensional ones but flat on a small standing base but intricately painted. I hand them to Roy. There is also one which has the flag bearers with the Nazi swastikas. Underneath are models of Hitler and some SS figures. We are told that nobody may sell these in Germany, not on eBay, at market stalls or anywhere. It is strictly forbidden. I say that it is still part of history. But it must be still a shameful past that needs to be carefully handled. We wander all over his shop which is quite large but not crowded. I see he has eBay paperwork on the floor so he does his research. The tin soldier boxes he has put €25 on each. Roy and I both love the tin lighthouse in the window. It is a lamp that used to be traditionally outside a fish handler shop. We would love to buy this. It is €120, rare now and too large and cumbersome for us to transport. It is time for Roy to show interest. He asks how much for all the boxes of tin soldiers. We wait while he waivers over them, counting back and forth. We understand how he doesn't want to lose a sale but still how much can he offer? When he says, €80, Roy doesn't argue. He pays and puts them into the backpack. He drops one box and the soldiers are spread wide over the carpet. I help carefully replacing them. They need care. We say goodbye and take his card, in case we'd like to have the lighthouse sent. We wrap up and head out. He gives us the suggestion to visit the Emigration museum. As we cross at the lights I ask Roy why he didn't pick up the Hitler box. He believes he did but I am adamant that this was placed back into the rummage box. I ask three times if we should return and then we do. It is a specialty interest that we shouldn't avoid. We walk back, wondering if the man has closed his shop at 2pm. He is surprised but happy to sell the extra box. He advises we visit an older area and writes the address. We start to walk back to a taxi rank. We sit next to the old surviving church for a hot chocolate wrapping blankets round or legs. It makes a huge difference in comfort. We are both tired and decide to just return to the Bremerhaven Seaman's Club. We are pushing it just to walk to the taxi. As we pass the Stadthaustheatre square, there is a man sitting absolutely still at a fold up table, with a full donkey's head over his face, and a chess board set up ready to play. Other people are gathering, too. Roy takes a seat at the table and I take a photo. I am shocked at the state of the man's blue hands. He is wearing just a suit and this very realistic donkey's head. 

A frozen chess challenge,

We get to our taxi with the same driver as this morning. As we pass the square on the other side we see a game of chess is in progress. It is a challenge. We are soon at the Club. This one is clean, warm and organized inside but not as friendly or natural. We buy two small bottles of Merlot wine. It is in the fridge but the lady fetches two room temperature bottles. I pay for an hour's internet access. Mostly to check our emails and bank account. I lie down flat on the couch and tell Roy what news we have received. I reply to the all but run out of time for the last. I buy another hour and download every email. 

Bremerhaven Seaman's Mission.

We are really ready to go and a shuttle bus is coming. It is so cold outside. We arrive at our ship having collected a scientist from a research ship Toisa TBN working with RoV underwater. He tells briefly of his work, he didn't go under, but we arrive at Thalassa and have to go. The driver had barked out, 'name of ship' a few times before we realised he was asking us. We had already told him when we got in. Anyway we are full of bounce, happy to be 'home' and climb the gang way steps easily. What a day! Roy hands out Snickers bars to the gangway men. He has bought some snacks at the Club. We go to put our passports away in the office before settling in our cabin. The door is locked and we have to return to B deck to ask Gary to open. We have had a clean. Fresh towels, sheets and vacuumed. All good. We undress and relax. Roy also bought chocolate and Jaffa cakes. We both scoff a bit then check out what he has bought. We line up all the soldiers in their regiments with flag bearers, etc. The German Hilter figure and swastika flags are a rarity which will be interesting. Still the people who play those war games must want that element, too. I take some pictures. 

Our only antique find.

We were sorry to miss the old area that Marten, the dealer, advised plus a very good pub but we must stop in time or pay. We rest until it is dinner time. As soon as we return to our cabin we settle in bed.  I read a bit of Bremerhaven's history in the brochure, then sleep. We both wake at about 9:30pm. We are still in port. We return to sleep and I wake again at 3am.

Thursday 21st February 2013

Day 27

I have slept enough. I settled down and puzzle. It is relaxing. At 5am I wake again and the ship is just pulling out of Bremerhaven. We cannot see or image much and settle back to bed. It is nearly 7am when I wake. I wash and dress in a skirt. Just for a change. Roy doesn't want any breakfast and he sleeps. The Chief Officer Nenad, and Reefer Niko are in the lift. We will be late arriving at Rotterdam, 8am. Problems? No, just there is a delay in berthing time. They will have breakfast later. Neither of these guys can look me in the eye. Ban, the electrician enters the lift as I exit. I arrived at the mess and Vido is alone. I chat to Gary as I look around the kitchen and ask if I might take a picture later. He is happy that I do this. Vido also felt the town, which he'd visited in the past, lacked interest. No people wandering, no amazing architecture, no little bars or stopping places. Just shopping. Later the Captain has his breakfast, too. He says 10am in Rotterdam, tomorrow. It will make Southampton 10am on 24th Feb. For us, that's good; an extra day on board. How do they make up the time? He explains they have 14 days to reach Beirut after Southampton. They could do it in 10 days but they must save fuel, so probable will do it in 12 days. Plenty of time to get back on schedule again. We eat in peace. They are always busy when in port but navigating is more relaxing. I return to our cabin and the sun is rising. I take some beautiful shots with the many ships which are outside the harbour in the North Sea. 

Nature at her most spectacular.

I have returned with teas and relax writing my diary until 10am. When I check outside it is just starting to snow. It is in the middle of the North Sea and the deck is covered in splotches of black soot. Now pristine flakes of snow fall in contrast. I take an image through the small binoculars, which is barely OK. 

Snow and soot on deck.

I see a small boat in the distance and wonder how they feel about snow on the North Sea? Roy gets dressed and steps outside. I remember that I need to do a load of washing. Roy has worn all his tshirts. He showers and I gather everything except what we're wearing. :::: Roy falls asleep and I put on the washing. It is quite large load for us. 

The huge galley kitchen . . . 

. . . and Gary our steward.

We both relax for the morning and I write all my diary catchup. It is a lot of remembering before I forget what happened. Suddenly it is lunch time and I had forgotten the washing. Luckily it is on its final spin. Vido comes from his room and closes the laundry door. I must have disturbed his rest. It is a very noisy spin and I apologise. We also visit the bridge during the morning. 

Internal bridge control centre.

View across the stern cargo.

At lunch Roy asks Bojan if we can visit the Engine Room this afternoon. Yes, come after 1pm. We return to change out of my skirt and into trousers plus closed shoes, which is safer. Roy lies down again to read. We take the lift to the Engine Room ER deck. Vido is at the bank of controls and I take some pictures. He shows us some of the control screens that show the state of fuel, temperature, boilers, valves, filters, ballast and many, many other machine states. There is a whole list of options all of which must be monitored. There are endless electronic alarms which will alert for them if there is anything for them to attend to. Not like in the old days. 

The engine control room.

We are given some inner ear plugs for noise protection, plus hard hats, just in case. Bojan also comes to the control room. Vido will be our guide and we step through a door into the engine space. It is just enormous and I take pictures of everything that looks interesting. Vido talks directly into Roy's ear as it is impossible to shout above the noise. He uses a small torch as a pointer. This lets me image what he highlights so I can ask Roy later. I am just so amazed at the size and complexity of the engine that drives this ship day and night through the waters at 26 knots. We are currently idling at 33rpm and 12 knots. This is because the Rotterdam berth is not ready to receive us yet. 

Beautiful machinery, 12 pistons.

Vido takes us down, layer after layer of working, thumping, throbbing machinery with fuel tanks, injectors, valves and 12 pistons, further and further into this area, past so many interconnected engine components. 

Vido shares his knowledge with Roy.
There are many storeys.

Spare parts and jigs for replacements.

Vido uses his torch
to highlight his explanations.

One valve is being serviced as part of ongoing maintenance and we see inside the Daihatsu generator valve seat. Everything is super-sized. 

Daihatsu generator maintenance.

Close up look at the spare part pistons,

There are two spare heat exchange intake valves the size of a small truck each. In one area that we enter, where the fuel must be heated we see all the pipes are covered in silver jackets, making it look like a large, foil covered conglomerate. I carefully advance my hand toward one silver jacket to see if the heat generated can be sensed from a distance. Vido signals that it is hot. I wasn't going to touch anything but I understand his concern. 

Very spaceage and so clean.

We enter the steering compartment and see the monstrous bar, with spanner shaped cog, hooked onto the 30cm pin that is the control drive of the rudder. This is the steering mechanism which can move from side to side actuating the commands from the bridge, 'hard starboard' etc. How often is this seen by normal people like us? 

Such a simple looking tool . . .

. . . and so amazing in size.

We follow him down and down, descending metal mesh staircases and walkways, until we are looking at the 1 metre thick propeller shaft. It exits the driving machinery and runs about 30 metres to exit at the stern of the ship. It is just so awesome. We walk alongside it and it is within reach just driving the ship onwards. 

The propellor shaft at idling speed.

One can see the shape of the inside of the hull, the strengthening joins and the height up and up to the upper deck where the super cargo is stacked. I take endless images and just smile in pure pleasure at this remarkable opportunity to view the workings of a machine this size. This is one of the largest ships on the world's ocean. 

Quite a work space.

I have composed an email to the family and shall copy and paste it here, for information.

"Hi everyone,

After such a long time at sea with no shore time, we were very keen to go and explore Le Havre, France.

Unfortunately with the uncertainty of arrival, there were delays, then some misunderstandings about how long we were going to be in port which lead to us missing the opportunity. We were up and ready to go but we were told we only had till midday. This would make it difficult to be sure to return on time. We did not want to miss the boat. :-)

In the end we actually sailed at 8pm. Maybe there were other reasons. We have found there are often more complications than you can imagine with the organization and logistics of a container ship in port. It is just a matter of going with the flow.

Our fellow passenger, Ginette, gratefully disembarked. She had a hard time of it really. It is isolating enough with no shore visits in 21 days. She had embarked in Vietnam and did not get off at Singapore.

We watched with great interest as the ship negotiated the English Channel. It is often surprising how little we know of the sea and ocean side of the great land masses. The navigation charts are an endless source of fascination for me. Not only are there marked, every buoy, shoal, depths and islands but the expected course and hourly, or half hourly, calculations of our position. The GPS position, the changes of crew, the arrival of harbour pilots and anything important is written down in the log. We can see before us, the latitude and longitude, the depth underneath the ship's hull both fore and aft. It is surprising how shallow the English Channel is in some parts just 100 metres below. The radar screen identifies all nearby shipping. So we can ask who or what that funny looking thing might be. :-)

We have noted that the English Channel starts from the line near Wolf Island, Cornwall to Cross Crison in France and ends at the line from Dover to Calais. The tides affect the ship's sailing time as the surge and slack affects the speed of knots that the engine can endure.

We were told there would be a change of officers' complement at Hamburg. We had become comfortable with our ones and hoped the next set would be as accommodating. There was no worries as the next set of colleagues were just as friendly.

On board the linga franca is English, but senior officers all converse in Croatian between themselves, the Filipinos and Indian also chat together in their own tongue. We have had many interesting conversation about the men's lives as they manage their seaman's contract.

So you can imagine, when we arrived in Hamburg, Germany, we were raring to go ashore. We were up, before the dawn, to watch the pilots arrive on the bridge and to admire the manoeuvring of this, the largest of container ships in the world, being spun on its axis and backed into its designated berth. We watched the sun rise from the misty distance and our officers were going to be handing over today.

We had our usual breakfast to stoke our bodies for the cold. We had 'tested the waters', so to speak, by putting on sample clothing and stepping out on deck in the freezing wind, changing to more suitable layers until we had the full range of our arctic selection on; angora jumper, ski socks, under-leggings, good cashmere wool coat, Roy still has his English coat, our thickest scarves, gloves and our warmest shoes. We were rugged up.

We stood on deck and watched the cranes getting into position and begin the unloading. Every port is different and we have spent many pleasant hours watching them, getting their crane lines right down into the hold. But we wanted some shore leave so we presented ourselves at the upper deck office for disembarkation.

We had to wait for the emigration officers to arrive and stamp our passports. This was our first arrival in Europe by container ship. We already had our ship's passes.

One of the crew, Chief Officer Milos, had a plane to catch. So naturally he and the Captain, Chief Engineer and Reefer Engineer were dealt with first. We stripped right back down to our ordinary clothes while we waited. Everything happens in good time. Coffee is always available. It was a very simple process, passports are kept in the Captain's office and at every arrival and leaving, our stamps are put onto the appropriate page. We carry them off when we go sightseeing.

We bounced down that gang way and straight into a shuttle bus. Naturally they can't have people just wandering around and the cranes move whenever and wherever they need to, on tracks. The activity is relentless. It costs $50 to load or unload a container. I saw a breakdown list of the activity at Port Kelang, Malaysia, and there were approximately 6000 containers moved. It is a big bill. There were less than 150 empties.

We had a fabulous time in Hamburg. We were deposited at the port gate. There is nothing there except an empty road; typical port dreariness. We were first directed to a Seaman's Club, called Duckdalben, which means Dolphin. Not the sea animal but ship hitching posts from 1600s hammered into the harbour for waiting ships to tie up. We saw them in many backwaters, in our wanderings, some worn out with wear to rotten wood. It was a short five minute walk to the club and it turns out to be one of the best 'missions' to visit, though we didn't know that at first. We were warmly welcomed, had a sheet of local information given, just in case, free WiFi for the first hour and the cosiest bar imaginable. We ordered a taxi and went to town.

It is a truly amazing place and probably most people wouldn't see much of the port that underpinned the city. Yet the people commuted on the river; it is what the Thames used to be when it was the centre of shipping. Roy's river boat background helped a lot to get to grips with the maritime history of this port.

We were keen to get to the Fischmarket, a trash and treasure market, held on Sundays only. It was Sunday! But unfortunately they start at 4am and finish at 10am. It is held inside the old riverside building that used to be the centre of the fish commerce. We had missed it. We did go to see it the next day and it is a very beautiful building. Inside there was a huge wedge of ice which had been used by a big events party the weekend before. It was so very, very cold, it was largely still frozen solid. But no market.

We loved the city, we saw much and we even walked under the river in a preserved tiled access for crossing to the other side. We were 'rescued' by the Duckdalben minibus who returned us to their warm and cosy bar.

We had some fine conversations with other seamen on other ships. We met our new Captain in the most congenial atmosphere. Eating wurst, drinking beer and telling stories. In an old world environment filled with the paraphernalia of the old ships. It was a great way to farewell the old crew also.

We went ashore again the following day, after successfully negotiating our way back the night before.

We had snow overnight which was a wonderful thing to watch from the comfort of our cabin porthole. More difficult to be as positive when one's nose and cheeks are somehow rock solid with the cold. It had been suggested we take a local ferry from just behind this port in the next inlet. We had a 45 minute wait on the river, fascinating traffic, but the ferry was toasty warm inside and it delivered us, thawed out, at the metro underground entrance which is also kept comfortable. We found the cathedral during the day for our customary sit/lie down meditative practice and saw plenty. The food on offer cannot be denied; they know how to do food! I kept saying I wanted to try a cake but I was too full.

Yes, we shopped, too. All that yummy stuff, how can one walk away? Nom, nom, nom. There are bars to rest in and the shopping malls were full of interest. One had an insect display with 5 inch long grasshoppers and crickets.

We did see some sad sights too: crazies who shout and curse at passersby, under one bridge an open air bedroom with sheep skins, dressing tables and a vase of flowers, a disheveled man picking up every bit of rubbish and putting it in the bin but shouting aloud all the while at people. A large woman, in her flimsy nightgown and pushing her rollator fast down the street but ignoring offers for help. She must have been so cold.

We were glad to get back on board and have a full day of rest. We left the Elbe River, again on the bridge to watch the pilots at work. Our new Captain pointed out the Airbus factory on the southern bank where the enormous parts are air lifted in special planes. There were two strange shaped planes with their noses opened up, and great humped bodies. There was a special runway there for takeoff. We also passed huge wind farms everywhere.

We visited our next port, Bremerhaven, after a day of total relaxation, and again it was snowing. This city has a big 19th century emigration history, but the city had been badly bombed during the war and it is very soulless. Lots of modern shopping malls and the convenience of not having to go out in the cold but post war buildings are functional only. Some architect has created a fake center in the port area which is fully enclosed and climatically perfect but there's nobody there. There's no view and it's pretty but just shopping boutiques and bars. Maybe at night it lives up but we didn't stop.

We did find in the less salubrious part of town, amongst tattoo shops and more interesting bars (closed so early, while we were wandering) one little corner bar that was open for the early morning drinkers. It was schnapps from the fridge in a shot glass. We had a coffee and a thick lung full of unadulterated smoke. We tried the schnapps, because you do! and it was remarkable smooth and easy to drink. So we had another. Then thoroughly warmed from within we faced the freezing streets.

We wandered slowly and discovered some occasional gorgeous survivors, little surprises among the mundane. We found a back street second hand book shop with some interesting knick knacks. He had the most amazing tin lighthouse lamp, 2 foot tall, which the fish handlers used to put up outside their establishments. What a perfect decoration it would have made for our caravan! Unfortunately It wasn't particular cheap and it was an awkward size. We sadly left it there. But we will keep looking!

Today was a rest day on board as we travel south to Rotterdam. We were invited to visit the Engine Room. First we were shown the computer room where everything is monitored with sensors. There are screens for every imaginable process. We were given such interesting information about this ship, this machine. The size of this one engine, 12 cylinders, 3 metre stroke, 100,000 horsepower, to drive one propeller shaft of 1 metre diameter to a propeller with a 30 feet diameter blade, moving this ship at a maximum speed of 26 knots. Depending on the speed it uses 130,000 to 200,000 litres per day. We were escorted by the 2nd Engineer, who spoke directly into Roy's ear as we both had earplugs for protection (and hard hats). We climbed up and down numerous flights of stairs to see such an array of machinery that just blew me away. I just kept snapping pictures of everything. There are steam boilers for heating the fuel, settling and server tanks of HPO and LWPO (different quality oils), maintenance schedule with one cylinder being serviced, sewerage treatments, huge silver lagged pipes with important fluid getting to precise temperatures, machinery for filters and water and fuel. All sorts of pumps so numerous it was overwhelming as well as controls for ballast tanks and valves. We saw two spare piston sleeves, so beautiful, and the neat valve changing tool, nearly 1.5 metres in diameter. Everything was very clean and there was no unnecessary clutter. The discipline is tight. For these men it is their job, for us, it was jaw dropping awesome. The size of everything, we went down several flights to finally reach the stern and the exit of the propeller shaft which was turning at 33 revolutions per minute. We could see the nuts on the joins but I couldn't image it in motion. It can rev to 190rpm. I took so many photos and then asked Roy to share with me the information that Vido gave him (because I couldn't hear a thing) back in the comfort of our cabin. We learned that the ship could be underway even on just six cylinders. They are regularly taking them apart and Vido showed us where he must climb into this thumping, deep throbbing, powerhouse. It is beyond words.

We were fully underway when we went down into the bowels of this ship, heading south towards Rotterdam on the North Sea but we were delayed and going slow to await a new berth window. I cannot tell you how special we found this Engine Room visit.

We are running late and tonight at dinner we were told we won't be berthing in Southampton until 26th Feb. It is quite sad to think it is coming to an end so soon.

Still we have one more port visit and then crossing over to the south coast of UK before we start our new adventure in Mersea.

I know this is a long email, again, but there has been so much to share.

Hopefully we will soon be seeing the Spring coming to the northern hemisphere and that will be special too."

We returned from the engine room very pleased with ourselves. We thanked them both for showing us. 

Heading back up and out to ER level,

We rest when we return and I transfer all these images to the laptop. I eat a few mini Amaretti biscuits. Just before 6pm I suddenly remember our washing. It is still quite moist so I set another low temp session of dying. We go down to dinner and the whole officers set are at table. The Captain comes to tell us that we will probably be arriving 25th at Southampton but we might stay on board of we wish for the next night. We must arrange a hire car to transport us to London. He says we can stay aboard, it won't be sailing until later the next day. This would save us finding accommodation. He says Emma, the port agent, is very helpful. We are not locked to a schedule so free to be late. We return to our room and rest. I collect and stow the washing. Then I lie down and composed the email above. So I was able to prepare this email from my bed, lying down with the mobile in my hand, rather than sitting at the computer upstairs. Finally I settle in bed and sleep. Roy is already away.

Click on this link to view a YouTube video of 
Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Engine Tour 

End of ER tour and we are changed forever.