Antwerp - FinlandDAY 1
- by Nikki and Pol
- Friday, July 15, 2022
The heat causing fierce forest fires just about everywhere in southern Europe is advancing into Belgium. Next Tuesday and Wednesday tropical temperatures of 35°C and more are expected. Those who want to keep their heads and bodies cool are advised to divert to Scandinavia. That's right. We have been following the forecasts for the north all week: highs of around 16 or 17 degrees and continuous rain. Ideal for a freighter trip to Finland?
But when we report to the Maritime Police on Friday afternoon in Blauwhoefstraat, in the middle of the port of Antwerp, it is pleasantly sunny and warm. "Ha, also for the Timca, surely?" surmises the friendly officer. So our fellow passengers have preceded us.An hour later, in the Land van Waaslaan, we drive onto the grounds of shipping company Transfennica, where CptnZeppos himself, Joris Van Bree, is waiting for us.
"The four passenger cabins on the Timca are occupied," he informs us.
Besides the two of us, Arnout also booked the trip via CptnZeppos. The German Gisela from Bremen and the Dutch couple Martijn and Hennie did it via a different route. The latter two are only doing the outward journey by ship: they are taking their car and will return by land via Tallinn. Joris poses for the farewell photo with the impressive Timca in the background, helps us get our bikes on board (not easy, in a narrow corridor with high partitions - we hoped to be able to use the ro-ro facilities) and then wishes us... good ship! We only really get an idea of the size of the ship when we are allowed to drag our luggage up the stairs. There seems to be no end to the number of stairs and floors. The doctor's certificate that testified to our "good physical condition" made sense after all. But the effort is rewarded: a friendly welcome by chefs Auke (Dutch) and Jim (Filipino), beautiful and spacious cabins with an en-suite bathroom that is much larger than that of the motorhome, a separate mess room where you can eat and drink 24/7, apart from the three meals... But above all: the view that you have from this height on the activities on the quay, where two huge cranes are loading containers onto the Timca.
Fascinating to see that port activity "from the inside" for the first time.
When the loading is over and the giant cranes have shuffled to their resting places, we explore the part of the ship that is open to us. That's the "superstructure" from the passenger or "mess room deck" (excluding all crew quarters) to the bridge, three stories up. In between, we translate the Dutch welcome letter into English for German Gisela. The planned time of departure, 21h30, is delayed to 00h15, we hear from first mate Joris. The reason: we have to wait longer for the Scheldt pilot. We exercise patience in the increasingly cool night until the first lights of the ship come on and a first figure appears on the darkened bridge. Nikki had met Captain Paul van der Varst before, but I see him now for the first time. He greets me warmly and doesn't object to us standing outside in front of the bridge, as long as we don't obstruct the view to the side.... A little later, the Timca cast off from the quay and drifted at a snail's pace out of the Vrasene dock towards the Kieldrecht lock. After us, another barge with a barge full of containers alongside it entered the lock.
Strange how petite the lighter is next to the Timca, while barges of those sizes on the Albert Canal seem so large.
As the double bridge on the north side of the lock swings up and the lock gate slides open, we sail into the heart of the container port on the Left Bank. Although it is now well past midnight, there is a fascinating bustle. Gigantic ships are loaded with containers up to at least ten rows high above deck and even more rows wide by dizzyingly high quay cranes, while behind them the bright yellow straddle carriers or "elephants" drive back and forth to bring in containers. The yellow and orange lights flashing everywhere and the variety of warning horns and beepers on the vehicles give the whole thing something futuristic from this distance, as if no people were involved. One initial conclusion is also: it would be better to ride on the Timca than on one of those container giants, of which one wonders how they stay above water at all with such a massive load. In the curve to the left as we turned onto the Scheldt, we saw the abundantly lit chemical port on the right bank. On the left, the cooling towers of Doel are approaching faster and faster. The temperature has dropped, it's already half past one, and we seek refuge in our cabin, where we first turn off the air conditioning. Nikki settles down in the lower bunk, I clamber into the upper one. Despite the deep hum of the engines and the clearly perceptible movements of the Timca, we don't lie awake for long.
***
A nice description that brings back memories for me of my 1st sea voyage - not with the Timka but with the Kraftca - in August 2010.
I would like to read the next day's stories.