Day 34 Antwerp

Tuesday, cloudy and rainy. Today, a car took me to Immigration to get my Belgium exit stamp. My cost for the car was 55 Euros. While freighter cruises generally have a lower cost per day than passenger cruises, ground transportation costs are higher, because freighters dock far away from city centers, and immigration procedures may be less convenient. A few minutes ago, I saw a floating barge crane come by, carrying a large dock crane. The barge crane was the biggest I have ever seen, like something you might see on the Discovery Channel. I got a picture of the dock crane being lowered onto the dock, but not the barge crane. Another ship was in the way.

The Belgian dark chocolate was ok last night. I have 3 bars. At one square per night, they will last a month, until I can get some Asian jungle dark chocolate in Jakarta. Testing begins tonight for a new bottle of French bordeaux. I learned today that Belgium has a difficult climate for growing grapes, too cold and damp. There are some efforts at local wine making, however.

Watched a hold being loaded this afternoon with plywood crates of filtration equipment for Ho Chi Minh City. A computer program generates the load plan by crate, and for each hold, and for what will be loaded on top. The overall load must be balanced fore to aft, and port to starboard. The top to bottom weight distribution is also important. Then there is fuel weight, which changes over the course of a long trip. Virtually all modern ships have a large bulb on the bow, which is below water at sea. I have some pictures. It is empty. The sole purpose is to help the ship move through the water with less hydralic drag.

I hear the Dow was down to 8400 and gas at home is 1.74 a gallon. I saw a sign in Antwerp for 1 Euro a liter, also down from previous highs.