Day 40 Hamburg

Monday, began overcast, but most of the day was sunny. The people who work outside complained of miserable humid cold in the early hours. I'm told that some emails don't make it through. Also, because of transmission problems, I've dropped most punctuation. Das tut mir leid. Well, not that sorry.

Many things get replenished here at the headquarter port. Got a new pillow and new sheets yesterday. Last night the ships supper was, appropriately, hamburgers in Hamburg. Tonight was my Thanksgiving meal. Had a roasted turkey drumstick with gravy and rice. The newest departure schedule is 0300 Tuesday. Won't stop until the Suez canal, and then Jakarta, around December 17. Sister ship, Shanghai, departed at 1400.

Here's the bow process for the Shanghai, which I could see really well from my cabin. We are really not able to see this happen for our own ship for safety reasons. Tugs show up and push ship against dock. Deck crew and supervising mate arrive on the focsle. Rat guards are removed from lines and stowed. A pilot line is fed to the tug and used to winch, first a medium line, and then the tow line back to the ship. Side mooring lines are singled up. Four bow mooring lines are slacked. Three lines are dropped from the dock and winched into the ship. Final side line and final bow line are dropped and winched into ship. The tug pulled her away, down the channel. The bow thruster was never used.

All day, a crew of 3 has been stripping the corrugated roof from a large wood frame warehouse next to the ship. Red sky at night. Two stars are visible in the southwest, even in the city. Planets perhaps, following the sun over the horizon. Venus and another planet, I think. I stepped outside for a look with the binoculars, but did not stay long because of the cold. Both here and in Antwerp, there are refineries nearby, with large burnoff flames, reminiscent of the scene in Lord of the Rings.