German Weather

28 April 2008 Posted by Martin

[Kiel, Germany] Life on board is quite intense. It goes at full speed and the weather seems to have takn the same path: one day can picture the 4 seasons: sun, rain, snow ... and even sometimes ice! It is difficult to predict what the weather will be like in the afternoon, and we have no choice but learning flexibility. One day, surprised by a ray of sunshine, I decided to go take my meals on the deck and enjoy the nice weather. I didn't have time to begin my salad that white glitter started falling into my plate. A little surprised (and irritated) I looked for the newby who must have been painting on the upper deck ... But there was nobody! It was just the snow that started to fall. Hurry up! Go back to the warm dining room! A few minutes later, it was ice in block that started to fall!

A Ferry ballet

Posted by Martin

[Kiel, Germany]The summer approaches. Soon the docks of the Port of Kiel will have the prestige of hosting the most prestigious Ferries in Europe. Last week already, I was surprised by the AIDA Bella, this brand new ship with a friendly smile. Imagine that you wake up one morning and you see in front of your window a 15-storey building smiling at you.

As long as two football fields, this new luxury Ferry will host 2 050 passengers and 646 crew members ... suddenly I feel very small on my boat!

And while the ferries' ballet continues, we are getting ready move from dock to dock during the month of May to make way for large damsels.

Mountain climbing

Posted by Martin

[Kiel, Germany] The job of Telecom engineer on a ship has a few cool aspects. For sure I have the disadvantage of living on my workplace and I'm never away from being asked to solve internet related issues. But this week was rather interesting. I worked on a surveillance camera located under the bridge. These cameras are used to monitor that nobody is climbing the mouring lines and to give you some glimpse of our voyage when we will be sailing from port to port.

I worked a few sunny afternoons, hanging on my ladder to install the camera and protect it from the rain. As you see, even at see we can go mountain climbing.

Helicopter crash

Posted by Martin

[Kiel, Germany]Haa, America and swing dance, this music makes us instinctively swing ... I admit that when a beginner course started two months ago, I was tempted. Not that I am a dance addict, but pushed by the challenge of being able to do something with my feet, I joined this team of swing learners. For several weeks, I felt rather like a lumberjack moving logs at arm's length, not really elegant, but with practice, I begin to remember steps and finaly make some figures...

That's how I got to learn a figure called the helicopter. If you know the game where you attach a rope to one foot and hop on the other foot, you can imagine what does the helicopter look like by replacing the rope with one of the partners (usually the girl). We were having a calm helicopter tour, the take-off had been smooth, everything was going well when suddenly the engine broke, the blades stop turning and my legs moving. I had to land in emergency ... with (fortunately) more fear than harm.
Well, I think I still have to practice...

PS: My swing partner is OK :o)

IT Office

22 April 2008 Posted by Martin

[Kiel, Germany]Since February, I work in the IT office. The most important task is to give support for the entire network of computers. If you often curse your computer don’t worry, you are like the 350 crew members who will agree that computers can be very temperamental.

So every day, I work with my team to solve problems from printers, surveillance cameras, network connections and ensure that the work of my mates is as simple as possible. When my eyes get tired of my screen, I lend a hand in the work of the future library. There, I install cables for Internet and configure the network hardware for the cashiers and the info desk... I am sometimes a little frustrated because my job is to provide support for other teams and I do not see the direct impact that it brings to the outfit of the ship. At the same time, the work is really different from what I have done before and I am so glad to discover all these new things.