October 2009
ENGLAND-Tilbury
The first ten days in October were spent trying to
sort out problems with the caravan, the biggest one being the air
suspension. Two Iveco garages tried unsuccessfully to solve the
problem, the suspension was not moving the body up so that we could
level the van on campsites. We were able to lower the body when
we wanted to and it returned to it‘s travel height. The cost was
in the region of £1000. We were due to sail between the 9th
and 13th. Eventually the company decided on the 13th.
Tuesday 13th we arrived at Tilbury Freeport as instructed, by noon. We sat in the van, having booked in, until 1400 when we drove onto the “Grande Buenos Aires“. We were then taken up six decks by the stairs, as the lift was not working. An Officer came to take our passports and our certificates of injection against Yellow Fever. This took about an hour before we were shown to our cabin. Our cabin is approximately 15ft by 11ft and is en suite. The toilet did not flush it only became fuller. We have two compartments in the wardrobe, with separate locks, we also have four drawers, two with locks but, no key. Under the beds there are two smaller drawers and a compartment for a lifejacket. There is also a small fridge. Our evening meal consisted of soup, a potato bake and thirdly some meat followed by fruit and tea or coffee. All lunches and dinners are very similar. Wednesday we awoke still in the port and went to the galley for our breakfast, we had bread, butter and jam with tea or coffee. The toilet was still not working and the steward sent an engineer who soon cured the problem. The stewards arrived at our cabin mid morning to stock our fridge with Fanta, 7 up, water, chocolate bars and biscuits. We then went to lunch. The menu was pasta to start, fish with olives, liver, an apple and tea or coffee. We took coffee in the lounge and spent a lot of the afternoon chatting with a French couple, a Swiss Gentleman, Roland Beck and three Germans, Ludwig & Hannelore Kammerl and Hannelore Widmann . The French were returning from South America, the Swiss and the Germans were returning for a visit to South America for four months. They all had a lot of useful information. Dinner was served at 1800 and consisted of Soup, Aubergine with Parmesan, a Hamburger, an Apple and Coffee (Tea). Our journey across the North Sea to Antwerp took all day, we anchored off shore. Thursday during the night we moved into Antwerp. Our meal times, ship’s time, are breakfast 0730, lunch 1100 and diner 1800. After breakfast we went into Antwerp, we shared a taxi with the French. We spent most of the day ashore. There was a good café for tea break and lunch. We strolled round the Historic Town, and then with help found an internet café to check our e-mails. The return journey was not so easy, the first part was by tram, then by bus and finally by taxi. We arrived back at the ship by 1700. We were told before we left the ship that we didn’t need our passports, the lady on the entrance gate to the harbour had different ideas, but eventually let us in. Friday we awoke early, the beds are harder than we are used to, and we went to breakfast. We were joined by a young German, Christian Bies, who spoke very good English, what a relief. In the morning Mervyn tried to get his editor working and then tried to upload Thursday’s pictures to the computer. He was unsuccessful. Howard started a jigsaw in the lounge, the only place with a surface large enough for the Jig-roll. We sailed slowly soon after lunch and proceeded west by south in rough seas with a strong wind.
Saturday 17th we awoke to smooth seas and to find the ship anchored in the mouth of The Seine the wind had dropped and the water was calm. We moved
very slowly into the docks at Le Havre.
The remainder of the day was spent relaxing. The French
couple left for their drive home. Sunday morning we were
still in Le Havre, it started as a cloudy day. There is not
really anything to report except we sailed at 2030. Monday the day dawned as we
turned from our westerly course to a southerly one for Bilbao.
The crossing of the Bay of Biscay was very calm and we found ourselves
in the entrance to Bilbao harbour on Tuesday morning when we
went into breakfast. We passed the day with a visit, by taxi and
train, to Bilbao. A French couple, Patric & Géraldine
Alleoud with their two year old son, Titonan joined the ship. Wednesday as we went into
breakfast the ship was leaving the harbour. The waves were higher
than previously with greater distances between the crests. The
weather was fine and sunny, but the ship was moving to the waves.
Thursday in spite of
the motion we both slept well, and as we had turned the north west
corner of Spain we were rolling with the waves coming on the starboard
beam. Friday
Howard had a restless night, but was up for breakfast. The ship
was still rolling heavily although on the bright side the sun wa
s shining. We were
due in Casablanca by 1300. We arrived at 1300 but it took until
1500 before we were moored. We decided to go ashore
tomorrow.
Saturday 24th was a nice sunny morning, but the ship was due to leave, as far as we could tell, between 0800 and 1300. We did not go ashore. We sailed just before lunch at 1045. Sunday the ship sailed southwards round the bulge of Africa towards Dakar. We passed The Canaries around 0930. Monday we continued on southwards. Tuesday we heard several rumours as to when we will arrive at Dakar and if we will be allowed ashore. We dropped the anchor off Dakar, in Sénégal, at 1030. Wednesday we moved into the port just before breakfast. As we were preparing to go ashore the lift with Howard in it stopped. He was rescued 20min later. We walked round Dakar, changed some euros, found a café for elevenses and later a restaurant for lunch. We were back in the ship, after getting a map from the Tourist Information, by 1430. Thursday we were told that we would leave at 1200. At 1900 we were still in Dakar. Friday we awoke to feel that the ship was at sea. We arrived in the port of Banjul, in The Gambia, at 1000. It was a fine sunny day on deck. While we were at lunch we were advised not to go ashore. The cargo for Banjul was offloaded.
Saturday 31st there was more movement of cargo. It was transferred from the top deck into the vehicle decks. We left Banjul at 1500 and headed north for Dakar where we arrived and anchored before midnight.
Tuesday 13th we arrived at Tilbury Freeport as instructed, by noon. We sat in the van, having booked in, until 1400 when we drove onto the “Grande Buenos Aires“. We were then taken up six decks by the stairs, as the lift was not working. An Officer came to take our passports and our certificates of injection against Yellow Fever. This took about an hour before we were shown to our cabin. Our cabin is approximately 15ft by 11ft and is en suite. The toilet did not flush it only became fuller. We have two compartments in the wardrobe, with separate locks, we also have four drawers, two with locks but, no key. Under the beds there are two smaller drawers and a compartment for a lifejacket. There is also a small fridge. Our evening meal consisted of soup, a potato bake and thirdly some meat followed by fruit and tea or coffee. All lunches and dinners are very similar. Wednesday we awoke still in the port and went to the galley for our breakfast, we had bread, butter and jam with tea or coffee. The toilet was still not working and the steward sent an engineer who soon cured the problem. The stewards arrived at our cabin mid morning to stock our fridge with Fanta, 7 up, water, chocolate bars and biscuits. We then went to lunch. The menu was pasta to start, fish with olives, liver, an apple and tea or coffee. We took coffee in the lounge and spent a lot of the afternoon chatting with a French couple, a Swiss Gentleman, Roland Beck and three Germans, Ludwig & Hannelore Kammerl and Hannelore Widmann . The French were returning from South America, the Swiss and the Germans were returning for a visit to South America for four months. They all had a lot of useful information. Dinner was served at 1800 and consisted of Soup, Aubergine with Parmesan, a Hamburger, an Apple and Coffee (Tea). Our journey across the North Sea to Antwerp took all day, we anchored off shore. Thursday during the night we moved into Antwerp. Our meal times, ship’s time, are breakfast 0730, lunch 1100 and diner 1800. After breakfast we went into Antwerp, we shared a taxi with the French. We spent most of the day ashore. There was a good café for tea break and lunch. We strolled round the Historic Town, and then with help found an internet café to check our e-mails. The return journey was not so easy, the first part was by tram, then by bus and finally by taxi. We arrived back at the ship by 1700. We were told before we left the ship that we didn’t need our passports, the lady on the entrance gate to the harbour had different ideas, but eventually let us in. Friday we awoke early, the beds are harder than we are used to, and we went to breakfast. We were joined by a young German, Christian Bies, who spoke very good English, what a relief. In the morning Mervyn tried to get his editor working and then tried to upload Thursday’s pictures to the computer. He was unsuccessful. Howard started a jigsaw in the lounge, the only place with a surface large enough for the Jig-roll. We sailed slowly soon after lunch and proceeded west by south in rough seas with a strong wind.
Saturday 17th we awoke to smooth seas and to find the ship anchored in the mouth of The Seine the wind had dropped and the water was calm. We moved
very slowly into the docks at Le Havre.
The remainder of the day was spent relaxing. The French
couple left for their drive home. Sunday morning we were
still in Le Havre, it started as a cloudy day. There is not
really anything to report except we sailed at 2030. Monday the day dawned as we
turned from our westerly course to a southerly one for Bilbao.
The crossing of the Bay of Biscay was very calm and we found ourselves
in the entrance to Bilbao harbour on Tuesday morning when we
went into breakfast. We passed the day with a visit, by taxi and
train, to Bilbao. A French couple, Patric & Géraldine
Alleoud with their two year old son, Titonan joined the ship. Wednesday as we went into
breakfast the ship was leaving the harbour. The waves were higher
than previously with greater distances between the crests. The
weather was fine and sunny, but the ship was moving to the waves.
Thursday in spite of
the motion we both slept well, and as we had turned the north west
corner of Spain we were rolling with the waves coming on the starboard
beam. Friday
Howard had a restless night, but was up for breakfast. The ship
was still rolling heavily although on the bright side the sun was shining. We were
due in Casablanca by 1300. We arrived at 1300 but it took until
1500 before we were moored. We decided to go ashore
tomorrow.Saturday 24th was a nice sunny morning, but the ship was due to leave, as far as we could tell, between 0800 and 1300. We did not go ashore. We sailed just before lunch at 1045. Sunday the ship sailed southwards round the bulge of Africa towards Dakar. We passed The Canaries around 0930. Monday we continued on southwards. Tuesday we heard several rumours as to when we will arrive at Dakar and if we will be allowed ashore. We dropped the anchor off Dakar, in Sénégal, at 1030. Wednesday we moved into the port just before breakfast. As we were preparing to go ashore the lift with Howard in it stopped. He was rescued 20min later. We walked round Dakar, changed some euros, found a café for elevenses and later a restaurant for lunch. We were back in the ship, after getting a map from the Tourist Information, by 1430. Thursday we were told that we would leave at 1200. At 1900 we were still in Dakar. Friday we awoke to feel that the ship was at sea. We arrived in the port of Banjul, in The Gambia, at 1000. It was a fine sunny day on deck. While we were at lunch we were advised not to go ashore. The cargo for Banjul was offloaded.
Saturday 31st there was more movement of cargo. It was transferred from the top deck into the vehicle decks. We left Banjul at 1500 and headed north for Dakar where we arrived and anchored before midnight.
SENEGAL-Dakar