Discharging

The weather is not good for taking pictures. Two fishermen, very small in their little boat so close to our vessel. The pilot and captain peer into the water, judging the depth. The harbour where we are going to discharge is small and dusty.

IJmuiden and Amsterdam

In the distance the pipes of Corus steel appear. We enter the Amsterdam Rijn canal towards the harbour of Amsterdam.

Loading peat for Amsterdam

Two men are standing next to the piles of peat all day. Their function? I don't know. The cranedriver has lost something in his cabin. Loading goes quickly. In 10 houres time we are ready to leave again.

Preparations

How do you protect yourself from -23 and windforce 7? Well, like this I am ok for 20 minutes.

Kunda harbour

A strange pilot on board. He is shouting so loud, he doesn't need a VHF. Apart from repeating the same sentence 3 times he gives wrong advice so mooring is one big mixup. We take a walk. The harbour is crammed with vessels (3 all together) and they are all loading and discharging. We also. Tomorrow we will sail again. The dockers are ready for loading Peat in the hold.

At sea direction Kunda

A passerby, struggeling in the ice. The noise is impressive. The light is fading quickly, soon I won't be able to take pictures anymore. The ice becomes thinner when we head south. It's all been floting north. Near Kunda we meet only new ice.

Willy

AB Willy staring at the waves.

Underway to Kunda- Latvia

We are leaving the harbour of Halla, in the morning. Fortunately the crew can now see the ice and try to stay in the existing track. When the pilot disembarks at the pilotstation, we sail until the vessel is stuck again and the captain has to call icebreaker Nordica to come and help us out of the thick ice.

Night

The dockers are still busy discharging the logs. It's cold and the fog dresses everything in white again. I see some good pictures so I go out for another walk.

Strolling in Halla

Buying a newspaper is no longer an option in this small village. The kioski has closed its doors. Like in other finnish villages I see beautiful wooden houses painted in soft colors. Suddenly a thick fog floats in from the seashore. I find it hard to find the shipyard back.

Wauw

The landscape looks stunningly beautiful. I can't wait to go ashore with my camera.

Home

The crew are taking photo's to show home. Their families back in Philipines find it hard to understand why their husband or father is so cold in Europe.

Halla harbour

In the distance Halla harbour appears in the early morning fog.

A white world in the middle of  nowhere.

Ice

The ice Westgard has to break is thick. The journey is slow.

Tracks

Daylight. And sun. I go out to take pictures of the sea. Behind us are one old track and our new one, still smoking from the temperature of the seawater. The sea is unrecocnisable. It seems as if the vessel is sailing on land.

Icebreaker Nordica

Westgard has iceclass A1, so we are well equipped for heavy ice. But around Helsinki the ice becomes very thick. We have to try and find used routes through the ice. Westgard moves slowly and shakes and bounces. Around 05.oohr we get stuck and it's impossible to continue, so the captain calls for icebreaker Nordica.Within half an houre she comes and takes us up to Halla.

Frozen sea

Increadible things occur around the vessel. I try to register them.

At sea direction Halla

At sea again, heading for Halla- Finland, close to the russian border. All the ice from the southside of the Eastsea has been migrating to the north, so we expect a heavy and intense journey again. On deck we carry a small wig of logs. This morning the new ice I see consists of jigsawpieces and balls. I willl try to find out what the name of this type of ice is.

Cranes and birds

When I stand at the chart table, writing I see movement from the corner of my eye. When I look up a group of birds fly by.

They are sparrows. To my surprise they all settle on the ice floating down the river. It's a fantastic view!

Evening

Late evening and still logs of wood are being loaded into the hold.

Once again we are going te sail 23.00h, late at night. What's new! 

Truckdrivers

Two truckdrivers unloading logs from their truck with small cranes attached to the truck.

Props=wood

Yes indeed, this is quite a bit of wood.

Shop

Recognising a shop is not so easy. This is the bakery.

Road, river and rail.

Ventspils consists of old factories, old ships and lots of wood.