GALES

EELCO'S BAD LUCK WEATHER VOYAGE ON mvAvalon

What initially seemed a simple trip down south turned out in a trip with in the first part gale after gale after

even a stronger gale and shortage of fuel . It was unbelievable how much bad weather we had from the start. Half a day after we left Skutskear, Sweden, we had our first good gale . So our Christmas celebration had to be delayed for a day till the gale tamed a little. We went over the top from Denmark at Skagen . There we made our first bunker-stop . We dropped anchor behind a small island to have some lee from the full blowing gale, but the bunkering went on . A bunker ship same size like ours came alongside and by means of a hose connection we bunkered 60 Cubic meter gasoil . Just before we left and once past the top we had our first North Sea gale but it was not too bad because the wind was southerly so we had some lee from the shore . The middle part from our North Sea crossing went fine . But while we came near the Dutch coast we had one gale after the other. It did not stop anymore. Looking at any weather chart made me and everyone else depressed. This weather with gale after gale continued one day after the other and of course we made not much progress down south at all but the gauge from the fuel tanks went steadily down . Near Chergourgh there was a gale with force 10 Bft coming so it was time to look for shelter what we did by mean of dropping anchor in the anchorage of Baie Du Seine . There we stayed 5 day's . The anchorage was full and even very big containers vessels were waiting for better weather . On Tuesday the wind went down . That morning we went to Le Havre in order to bunker again and to get some provisions on board. The bunkering took the whole afternoon and by evening time we were underway to Turkey again and up till now it is a good and normal trip .

TRASH FREIGHT

WASTE and SALT

Household waste is burned in Delfzijl Holland, to produce electricity. In Cork we were moored in the middle of the city. The first pub was in close proximity of the accommodation of the ship - what a shame??? – had to go and invest. The loading of the waste took 1.5 days. We took this cargo to Delfzijl in the north-east of the Netherlands. Discharging of the waste took 2 days of 24 hours nonstop.

After that was out we had to clean the hold very good in order to get the smell of the waste out. In Delfzijl we also had to load again, this time

3300 mt of salt in bulk. And according the information I got from my company we had to load "wet "salt. Which meant we did not had to stop loading while it was raining. Good. On Sunday we shifted from our original berth to the loading jetty of AKZO NOBEL, the salt company. Once alongside there we started to take our ballast out, to make way for the cargo, which took a few hours. Only then a man from AKZO came onboard to have a look at the holds and said "sorry, you first have to paint the sides of the hold as now it's not good enough". So we started straight away but halfway through the day they told us to move away because

they needed to load another ship at that jetty. But in order to move we first had to ballast the ship again what took 5 hours! Only then could we move to a waiting berth. This was in the evening and the next morning – the paint job was done and dry – we moved back to the jetty and after some of the ballast was out again, we started to load the salt. The rate of loading was approximately 700 mt / hour so that went fast. Six o'clock that night the last of our ropes were free and we underway to Stockvik in Sweden. This trip went by the Kieler Kanaal again and took us 4 days. Once empty in Stockvik – after one and a half day – we sailed 110 nautical mile south along the Swedish coast to Skutskaer and there we loaded a full load – 3500 mt – of woodpulp for two harbours in the Sea of Marmara in Turkey. 

LA ROCHELLE france

CHAPTER 4 OF EELCO'S JOB ON mv Avalon

This time I walked from La Pallice to La Rochelle and back what took me 45 min each way. But before I went to La Rochelle I visited the local market in La Pallice what was a nice one with all kinds off stuff and food for sale. In the second world war La Pallice was a big U boat base . The bunkers where those U boats were moored are

still there . They can not be removed simply because they are to massive . We were just moored in front of them.

La Rochelle was wonderful too and I spent a few hours walking trough the narrow old

streets and the area around the old harbor. Once the ship was empty on Tuesday we sailed for Cork in Ireland to load a full load of "Waste in Bales "Yes, regular household waste.

GENT , Belgium

GENT - CHAPTER 3 OF EELCO'S JOB ON mv AVALON

Gent is a beautiful old city and everything is in walking distance

from each other. I went ashore around 11h00 and only came back to the ship around 17h00. Two shipmates accompanied me and we were picked up by the bus of the wonderful seamen's mission in Gent. They also arranged a good taxi service for us to go back to the

ship. The next day we started to discharge at 06.00 and at 11.00 we were empty. Once empty we had to shift to another berth in the port of Ghent and in that berth we had to load fertilizer for La Pallice, the commercial port of La Rochelle in France. But before we could load again we had to clean the hold very good. This took the whole Sunday and most of the Monday. Monday

afternoon the surveyor checked the holds and they were approved. Loading started Tuesday afternoon by means of a big crane with a grab that shifted the fertilizer from canal barges to our hold. In total there were 4 barges that had together the cargo we were to load. On Wednesday afternoon we sailed for La Pallice where we arrived on Saturday early evening and we went straight alongside inside the small dock, lucky us again. Why?? Because discharge only started on Monday so I could play the tourist once again. 

ALL WEATHER TERMINAL mvAvalon steel loading

CHAPTER 2 OF EELCO'S JOB ON MV AVALON

While alongside in Dordrecht NL, we discharged a part of the cargo of wheat mv Avalon brought from northern Spain. The rest of the load we discharged in Zwijndrecht, a port just around the corner of Dordrecht. Once empty, we received orders to sail for IJmuiden –

also in the Netherlands – to load a cargo of 3480 mt of steel coils. The place we loaded those coils was a special place. Due to the fact that those coils are not aloud to get wet you can not load them while there is a drop of rain. So Tata Steel in Ijmuiden made a shed where ships like the Avalon can go inside up to their accommodation and then they can load whatever the weather. Yes you can guess the name of that place: 'The All Weather Terminal'. The loading goes on 24/7. Once we were loaded we left for our discharge port of Kolding in Denmark, Solvesborg in Sweden and Stettin in Poland. Kolding was our first port and in order to reach it we had to pass through the "Kieler Kanaal". In all the ports the discharging went efficient and quick. 

mv Avalon, where Eelco is.

Hello Family and Friends,

This newsletter I write while working as master onboard mv Avalon in order to earn some freedom chips to keep Mylady and crew going. But let me start with updating you about what happened the last few months. At the beginning of October we came back from our sail to Tonga and Fiji. This time we did not clear customs in Opua, New-Zealand as usual, but in Whangarei. While underway to New-Zealand we booked a spot on the hard at Norsand Boatyard in Whangarei. This time we want to let Mylady dry out and do a proper job on her underwater ship. From the moment she was out I

only had 10 days before I had to join the Avalon. So after a week working on Mylady I left for the Netherlands while MisAle stayed on board before she flew to Corpus Christi in Texas USA. 28 October the Avalon was moored in Dordrecht in the Netherlands and that is where I joined her. 

The Avalon was built in 2008/2009 and came in service in

2009. Her overall length is 88.90 meter and she is 12.50 meter wide. Her gross tonnage is 2545 mt and her summer deadweight 3850 mt. She has a good strong 280 Kw bow-thruster and a 1250 Kw main engine with a big pitch propeller. Her bridge is full of the most modern stuff like two good radars, two ECDIS screens etc. 

If you have a look on www.marinetraffic.com and punch in the following IMO no 9387322, you will not only find out where we are but can also see lots of pictures of the vessel. Now at this stage we have a crew of 7. Master and Chief Mate are Dutch. The Chief Engineer and one of Abs' are both from the Cape Verde Islands. The other AB is from the

Philippines and so is the cadet. The cook is originally from Cape Verde but he has a Dutch passport. Yes a real mix of nations again but we have a good team. The size of the hold is, 62 meter long, 10.12 meter wide, 8.43 meter high. Here the empty hold is being prepared for the next load.

Pawns in a chess game

One of the green pawns is my dearest earning our freedom chips. I pray his eyes are open.