Antwerp and back to England

After two days of unloading and loading cars and containers in Walhamm Sweden we left for Antwerp Belgium late the day after Easter. We expected to go back to the normal four course meal after Easter Sunday, but who knew that the Italians celebrate the day after Easter as well. More great dishes, more special citron cake! And more miles on the excercise bicycle to work off the extra sugar!

Going into Antwerp two days later was interesting, mainly because of the suspense. At first we were told that the only way a pilot could come on board was by helicopter, then we were told that there were no pilots available at all and that we were to anchor and wait. So we headed for the anchorage area off the entrance to the river that leads to Antwerp where there were five other ships already anchored waiting for pilots. But then over the radio came the message that there was indeed a pilot for us, and sure enough, over the horizon came the pilot ship which came near, lowered a small boat, and delivered the pilot to the side of the ship where he climbed aboard up a rope ladder. And he turned out to be only the first of three pilots we needed! First there is the river pilot who takes the ship within sight of the city of Antwerp, then the harbor pilot who took us past the city to the locks that lead to our docking area, then a final pilot for the few remaining miles to our dock.

And what a dock it was! I forget how many thousand square meters of parking there was, but there was at least 20,000 cars parked there in front of us, and buses, and heavy machinery, and boats on trailers, and containers almost as far as you could see. There were two other ships loading cars and containers at the same dock, and it was quite a sight. Linda and I passed on the opportunity to pay $55 one way to take a taxi to the city center, but we did do some serious walking around the docks. I found an interesting antique seaplane that was dismantled and loaded on skids that was going to be shipped somewhere. Its amazing what gets shipped from Antwerp.

But not all the cars were new ones going to dealers, and not all the construction equipment was new either. There were at least a few hundred older model used cars that were filled with matteresses and other consumer goods that were on their way to West Africa, and a large area of junked construction equipment that was also going to Africa, apparently it pays to send junked stuff just for the parts. It was a sober reminder that what Europeans don't want anymore is still useful to someone somewhere, and it reminded us of the old worn-out yellow school buses from the US that get sent to Honduras for public transportation.

We left Antwerp late the next day and headed for Southampton England, a port we were supposed to be in 5 days ago. But with the storms and the Easter holiday holding up loading and unloading in Sweden, we are doing the best we can. The trip down the river back to the North Sea was a lesson in navigation and signal lights. Three red lights in a vertical row mean this vessel is limited to what it can do by its deep draft, and a black cylinder flown during daylight means the same thing. And you have to keep reminding yourself that the channel markers are reversed in Europe from the US, if you go "red, right, returning" over here you will run aground very quickly.

This morning we boarded the Southampton pilot off shore of the Isle of Wight, and before long we were alongside the pier, within sight and walking distance of downtown and the sights and shopping. We were supposed to leave from Southampton on an earlier ship, but that one ended up in drydock in Sicily, so they had us leave last week from Bristol. We now know that Southampton is a much better port to board a ship in. There are three hotels within sight of the dock (no $20 taxi ride), and one of them advertises a £32/night rate, which is half of what we paid near Bristol in the only hotel available. And the National Express bus terminal is within sight of the dock and our ship. Our friend Frank who left us this morning is now on his way to Heathrow airport to catch his 7:00pm flight home.

Our time on the library computer is almost up, so we will post this now, and add later.

Lynn & Linda