CQB Rostock

From Pisa, I had to take a train to Genoa (Genova), Italy where I met up with Michael, my boss, and the Chiquita Rostock. Once my train arrived, I took a cab to the port - Porte Somalia at the Fruit Terminal. Now, Michael was supposed to tell the crew to watch for me so they could help carry my luggage up the gang plank - which is basically a ladder made of metal laying on it's side with railings so you can climb up to the ship. I really didn't want to go through the holes or lose my luggage so I was very happy when one of the crew members came running down. You should have seen the look on his face when he picked up my suitcase - I think he was wishing he wasn't so eager to help... have I told you that my suitcase was heavy?!?! Needless to say, he wasn't the same guy who helped me off the boat at the end of our Mediterranean Cruise...

Typical container that is loaded onto the ships

Genoa, Italy - port where we boarded the Rostock

how we get out of port...via tug boat

Sunny (Chief Engineer) & Michael (my boss)

containers being unloaded at port

Even though I found a list of a few things to see in Genoa... I didn't see much of anything other than the waterfront. When you work on the vessels - you put a lot of hours in. There's only a limited amount of time to get things done - if they aren't ready by the time the ship is scheduled to leave port - you're going with them.

One thing I did get to experience was a phenomenon called "Scooter Time". I'm told this is prevalent in all major Italian cities. At rush hour everyday - people on scooters come out. These people are crazy!! In Europe, scooters and motorcycles have the right of way and are allowed to weave in between traffic, along the yellow center line... basically anywhere one can fit. In Italy, there are THOUSANDS of them!

A guy from the Antwerp office has been to Genoa on a number of occasions but says he would NEVER drive anywhere near Scooter Time!

Salerno, Italy. where we disembarked from the Rostock. The ship you see in the picture was beached . A few months before we were there, the ship's anchor had let loose in the middle of the night and it ended up beaching in the middle of nowhere.

Now, the company hasn't tried to get it out because it would cost way too much money rather than just letting it stay... There are a few restaurants nearby where it's becoming a sort of tourist attraction.

Our cruise was very nice. The water is soooo amazingly blue - absolutely gorgeous! We watched the pilot take the boat out of port and took another break late into the night to watch the crew navigate in the pitch black. They have lots of charts to plot their course as well as instruments to watch for other boats in the water, depth, etc. It still amazes me that there are only about 20 crew members that man each of these humongous vessels! We had an all Croatian crew (including the Captain) except for the Chief Engineer who is from India. They look like a tough lot but are actually quite nice and friendly.

We sailed with the ship and ended at Salerno at 4pm but the port didn't have room for us so we were stuck out at anchor until about 3am. We had planned on taking the Captain and Chief Engineer out to dinner that night in port but it's a little hard to do if you can't reach land. So, instead, the Captain ordered a BBQ. The cook brought a grill up to the top deck and made delicious looking Pork Chops and Chicken. It was a beautiful evening spent on deck talking with some of the crew and overlooking Salerno.

After dinner, Sunny, the Chief Engineer, took us on a tour of the vessel. He took a picture of me "Queen of the World" Titanic style. Then it was back to the grind. We worked into the weee hours of the night.

Side Note: Each cabin is equipped with a bed, window / porthole, bathroom with shower, bed and drawer space for your clothes. I was actually surprised by how spacious each cabin was. Each of them also have a sign over the door for the crew member that quarter belongs to. Mine was called "Super Cargo". That's the first time I've been referred to as "cargo" before, but at least I'm "super"! Actually, the who takes care of the cargo - with the lashing bars and making sure it's not going to be moving or get damaged, etc during the voyage has the title of "Super Cargo".

Anyway, that night when I finally got to my cabin, I tried to take a shower - ended up being cold, I couldn't get the hot water to work so it was also very quick. I finally laid down at 3am. I had my alarm set for 4:15 so I could pack, etc and be upstairs by 5:30 so we could catch our taxi... oops...

I never heard my alarm... but I did get a knock on my door at 5:45, I opened it up frantic in my PJ's to find the Chief Engineer outside my door. He was very good about it... he says "uhhh... are you about ready? You have a few minutes - about 5 minutes?!" He said it very calm... and here I am- hair all over, old T-shirt, plaid pants, buggy eyed. All I could do was ask "What time is it?! What time is it?!?!?" I've overslept before and I've gotten ready quickly before but I think this blows them all out of the water. I dressed in work clothes for the Antwerp office, brushed hair, brushed teeth, stuffed my suitcase and was upstairs in 5 minutes. I amazed myself that morning (and I think Sunny was quite impressed with the quick transformation as well).