DAY 44 TUESDAY MAY 8 FERRY TO HULL BOOKED

Another beautiful day as we get a picture of Big Ben on our mobile phone.  We had the Arc de Triomphe and a Dutch windmill as well as we found 3G as we sailed through the channel.
The second engineer (Alin) is quite upset because they have not found a replacement for him so his contract compels him to stay on board till they do.  He hopes that will be when the ship returns to America, but it may be another two weeks or more.  He said his wife will be very upset.
The captain contacted Rotterdam CMA agent on our behalf and he booked a taxi to the ferry and
overnight cabin to Hull.  Excellent!

DAY 43 MONDAY MAY 7 TWO DAYS TO GO

Approaching the coast of England, we are still planning how to get to York from Rotterdam.  Saw the full

moon at 2am.

                                                                                          

OUR LAST JIGSAW      

DAY 42 SUNDAY MAY 6 LAST BBQ

Chilly and windy but sunny today. Many of the crew and officers including the
captain are also leaving at Rotterdam so a barbecue was staged by the crew
at 5pm. They all work long hours at low rates so have earned a party.

We found a book of poems written by seafarers in the library. This one by Richard Frampton in 1988 seemed appropriate for us:
                           Homecoming
Some choose to circumnavigate the earth,
And some to settle on a homely plot.
Whichever way for one is wrong must not
Be reason for a man to rue his berth.

For he away has in him things of home,
While he at home may dream of far Cathay.
And he away has always home to come -
As he at home in him to sail away.

DAY 41 SATURDAY MAY 5 OUT OF THE STORM

Plenty of "bumps in the night" but the seas settled down and the sun came
out as the day progressed. We noticed thatthe top hatch on the starboard
lifeboat had blown open in the wind and had probably let rain in. So we told
the Third Officer and we watched him fix it up. We read in our newspaper that
this weekend was hosting the biggest full moon of the year but it was cloudy at
sunset.  We have been told to advance our clocks by one hour nearly everyday since Philadelphia .

JIGSAW 3

DAY 40 FRIDAY MAY 4 HITTING THE WALL

Report from the bridge was water temp 3
degrees and air temp the same with
northerly winds. At 11am there was a sudden
bang and a shudder and we nearly pitched
forward. The bow plunged under a huge
wave and spray washed over the containers
and smashed against the windows of the
bridge. The passengers on the bridge were
asked to leave while the officers assessed
the situation. We were travelling into the
swell so the ship continued to bang into
occasional big waves and the crane hook
banged agaist its support. All ouside doors
were secured and speed was reduced. The
ship had been near its weight limit into Philly
but fortunately had reduced weight there and we
were sitting higher in the water.

THE SPRAY FROM THE BOW OF THE SHIP WAS HITTING OUR WINDOW 8 STORIES ABOVE THE SEA LEVEL

ROUGH SEAS

DAY 39 THURSDAY MAY 3 DOUBLE WHAMMY

When you travel by freighter you have to have a flexible schedule.  At breakfast
the captain told us h had been instructed not to go to Tilbury but proceed
directly to Rotterdam.  This was good for Pierre as he was booked for Rotterdam
anyway and would save a day.  Ian and Chris decided to forget Engand and
cycle directly to France where they were to begin their planned ride. We had
not brought euros with us and would have to catch a ferry or trainback to
England.
The captain also handed us an email from Hamish,  our agent, telling us that
the ship he booked us on from Korea to Auckland in September has been sold
and offered us one from Hong Kong on Sept 23.  That was unsuitable to us.
It is quite cold on the outside today so Alin put the aircon up to 24 degrees
and we are finding it uncomfortably hot. The swell has dropped and it is sunny
with nice blue skies.

DAY 38 WEDNESDAY MAY 2 WEATHER COMING

Last night the sea got rougher and the wind picked up speed.  When we got
up there was a thick fog as well.  The captain advised us not to venture onto
the main deck as the next two days would be heavy weather.  Temperature
was down to 9 degrees.  Pierre described it as typical Atlantic weather.

YOU CAN SEE BIG BAGS OF ONIONS FROM NZ IN THESE CONTAINERS