Travelogue: off the Dutch Coast

Date and time: 06.08.25, 12:00
Location: LAT 54.17°, LON 04.22° (some 58 miles off the coast of the Netherlands)
SOG (speed over ground): 12 knots
Wind: 22 knots

A lot's happened since yesterday.

First of all, we were given only a few hours’ forewarning that we would be sailing yesterday instead of the planned departure tomorrow, the 7th. We still had to bring bunkers on board, and some divers needed to polish off the propeller and the sea chest.

In the end, we had a difficulty with the bunkers. They wouldn’t leave the side of our ship because there was a dispute. They had been charged with putting on 500, well, I don’t know how many exactly, 5,000 or whatever, but they only brought in 450.

So, there was a lot of back and forth between the two companies. The EO bunker managers didn’t manage to get them to back down. They insisted we pay the full price. This ended in EO putting in a letter of protest, as did the bunker company, and now they'll see what happens.

The first pilot patiently waited for the problem to become resolved. She then piloted the ship out of its slot on the dock and turned it in the right direction and only got off the ship when we were on course. She was just amazing.

Imagine, on dock, we had a ship at our bow and a ship at our stern, and it looked as if they were almost touching. Somehow, with two tug boats, they managed to take the vessel out of its slot on the wharf. It was as if the centre of the vessel stayed fixed, slowly drifting left, while the bow and stern pivoted back and forth.

Such precision. The pilot boats are dwarfed by our ship, but they knew the exact pivot points and the pressure needed to move the damn thing. You would have loved to see it.

Then there was a night of rolling back and forth. I woke up this morning with my legs feeling a little wobbly. I used your method for combating seasickness: always having some crackers and a cup of tea.

I’ve already drunk three litres: herbal tea and black tea.

I went up to the bridge and sat in the captain’s chair so I could look out at the horizon.

The boat moves so differently from any I’ve sailed on. It rolls and shudders. You can feel the movement snake from the bow all the way back to the stern, like waves of vibration passing through.

We’ll continue on this course for the next few days, heading up along the coast of Norway.