Back to sea

Well I've run off back to sea again! Well I drove actually and I really didn't feel like coming back but I had arranged it a couple of months back so couldn't let them down. Besides I know once I get into the swing of things I'll be fine.
So hubby got up and left at 3.45 this morning, he had an early flight to catch to join his ship in Antwerp. I got up at the same time but left just before 5 am to drive upto Teesport. Strange I should join in the same place that I left my last ship!
Anyway I got on board at about 1015 and met Andy, the chief officer leaving and we spent the next 2 hours running through loads of stuff. My head was bursting. You know when someone tells you loads of things, like email this to them, send this form to that person, full in and send this form here........ My head almost exploded and to be fair although he did a really good handover I was beginning to lose the will to live by the time he had finished !!
I know some of the crew, I've sailed with the Captain, Chief Eng, bosun and one of the deckhands before. So I don't suppose it'll be too bad.
I've unpacked and am off to have a snooze. I'm back on watch at 8pm this evening and want to get up there a bit earlier to get my bearings etc.
I'll be on watch until 4am.
We're off down to Dunkirk to load a cargo of clinker. Clinker is a residue of burned coal or from a furnace which comes in lumps. It's used in the production of cement. I remember sailing on a ship some years ago and we loaded clinker. It was usually loaded once a month and taken to a berth up the Thames river. Since this is the only ship that can carry it in this company, we get the job every month!
From memory I do remember clinker being really dusty, it had to be wet down with fresh water. However if it comes into contact with a lot of salt water then it can start to stick together so let's hope it all goes smoothly.

My cabin here is not as spacious as the last ship I was on but it's not bad although the only down side is that I don't have my own bathroom. So glad I brought my bathrobe with me. It'll come in handy as I traipse down the alleyway to have a shower!

Anyway here's a few photos of my cabin.

Also if you fancy tracking my ship and seeing where I am click on the link at the side of this page and type in Arco Beck into the vessel name search engine.