Arrival Kaskinen 24-01-'10

We arrive in the dead of night again. The boatmen plow their way through the snow to catch our ropes. One of them is finnish my friend Jarmo.

Tow

Otso sails in front of us, clearing away the ice.

Pilot on board

Here the pilot comes on board using a ladder. When there is no ice he comes on board by pilotboat.

Exit

We are leaving the end of the world.

Haven Tornio, naar zee 22-01-'10

Bobcat.

The hold is almost empty. The dockers lower an bobcat to shovel all scrap together

Icebreaker Otso

This way we have also been brought in last night.

Stainless scrap

Scrap is expensive but looks like rubbish.

Tornio arrival

Tow

Stuck, we have to wait for the icebreaker.

Stuck

Pure beauty

Passerby

Normally you never pass by another ship so close.
But all ships follow the advised route the icebreakers broadcast on the radio.

Foxhol icing

Only mild icing on the foxhol.
Because the sea is frozen there is no spray washing over the ship.

Foxhol and superstructure

I try to stay outside for at least 15 minutes, but don't succeed. It's too cold and the strong wind makes it even worse.

Icefield

These fields I see all day, for days. There are many different kinds of ice. See link underneath.

different types of sea- ice

Keeping watch

Sailing in the ice means working long days. The icepacks migrate from Sweden to Finland and form dangerous rigs.

Onward

Onward and onward and onward I go.
Where no man before me has bothered to go.
Until the soles of my shoes are shot full of holes and it's all downhill with the bullit.

At sea/ in the ice

Still underway.
The sea is totally frosen over and so are the hatches. The AB's are busy trying to remove the icing with shovels and hamers.

At sea 16-01-'10

The dockers fill up the hold in one day. At night around 02.00u the pilot comes on board to guide us and after the engineer has started the main engine we leave for Finland. It's four and a half day's sailing. At the North sea there's a strong wind blowing, but it's not too cold. But on the Elbe we meet the first drifting ice. It's clear, we sail towards extreme temperatures. On the ice chart I find that half the gulf of Botnia is covered by ice. Further up north we cannot sail without the assistance of an icebreaker. But at first we will try to follow icetracks. At night we nead the searchlight. The ship is shaking, and rattling. Every time we ram thick ice a big bang sounds and the ship moans.

Dordrecht 14-01-'10

At home for a little while! It' s so beautiful, sailing on the Nieuwe Maas, towards my beloved Rotterdam. All the harbours I visited over the years, the shipyards I took photo's of, the compagnies I worked for as a welder. All comes passing by as I am looking out of the window. I am exactly where I want to be, on board of a sea-going vessel. Many times I was standing on the quay at the Parkkade thinking: how am I going to do this? In what possible way can I go to sea on a ship? And here I am.

Second mate

I step outside for some fresh air. When I look through the window the bridge looks cosy. I decide to take some photographs secretly. The captain is navigating and the second mate, Marino is working at the chart-table. Normally you would also see me sitting there reading a book or writing a letter. The second mate is busy preparing a voyageplan for our next destination: Dordrecht. We are going to bring a load of stainless scrap to Tornio, the harbour furthest north in Finland.

westlock to sea 12-01-'10

In Zeebrugge, througt the big lock together with two very big roro-vessels assisted by towingboats. We are so small alongside these monsters.

Visit

Our friends form Belgium come to visit us. At the place where we are now it's possible. In other harbours it can be so difficult to welcome people on board you simply have to forget it. Sailors have faced having to drag their grandmother underneath a fence that wouldn't open. Whole families were refused acces to the ship because of safety-regulations gone mad. Redigulous! But here in Zeebrugge, quay nr. 309 there is no crazy security-man in a uniform and big fences with camera's all over.
This is Aaron, a nice boy, crazy about ships since he was an infant. He is a good listener and we show him around the whole ship. I take photo's on every location, for the project he is going to do about the Westgard at school. Nobody wants to become a sailor nowadays, so we have to be very carefull with this young fan.

Zeebrugge 10-01-'10

Mantyluoto 04-01-'10

Breathtaking 01-01-'10

Empty.
Our next destination is Mantyluoto, loading oats for Zeebrugge. We are returning to sea in ballast. 4 houres through the fjords, passing rock islads, and villages with tiny wooden houses. It is hardly possible not to take cliche-photo's of white, frosen woods and swans floating on a lake.

Sodertalje hamn 30-12-'09

Phenomena 29-12-'09

Cold! 29-12-'09

Underway again.
The temperature has dropped so low we are not able to read it properly. -15 at sea. That's cold!

Christmas on board 25-12-'09

Two icewings 26-12-'09

Kaskinen 25-12-'09

Gulf of Botnia 24-12-'09

Mantyluoto discharging 24-12-'09

Mantyluoto 04-01-'10