Hornbay Adventure by Eva

Videoclip at http://www.postmodemsociety.com/video/bananas.mp4
(use Firefox or Quicktime to watch)
• Getting there
• About the vessel
• Cabin & facilities
• Crew
• Passengers
• Food
• Sailing
• Cargo
• Conclusion

Getting there and on board
So to Le Havre by train for our first freighter trip to Costa Rica. Since we are to board on 6 Dec. but do not know what time, we spend the night in a hotel there. Driving to the train station in Geneva, I receive the expected call from the Horn Line: boarding between 15:00 and 18:00, 16:00 is ideal.

After a long taxi ride through the sea freight facilities in Rogerville to “multivrac” - Alpha Terminal, we see “Hornbay” in the process of being loaded. Two stewards come down long rickety stairs and grab our very heavy bags. I stay on the quay to take photos and am then afraid of climbing up with cranes lifting huge containers overhead.

No x-ray machines or searching of luggage, the captain just takes our passports.

About “Hornbay”
The freighter is attractive looking, painted white like a reefer or banana boat should be. It is 153 m. long and 23 m wide. Maximum speed is 20 knots (i.e. 40 kms). There is a ramp for loading cars, all other merchandise (whatever it is) is in containers, many are painted “Del Monte”. What they contain? See later on…

Henk says that this is really a boat with a four-storey apartment building slapped on. First floor, or poop 1, is where the restaurant and bar-lounge are located as well as the sports room and laundry. Poop 2 is crew accommodation; poop 3 has cabins for passengers, a sauna and a TV lounge and (unused) bar. Poop 4 has accommodation and day rooms for officers as well as a library with a lot of books (85% German, 15% English) and a TV-DVD player. Above poop 4 is the bridge (the control room of the vessel), large very tidy with a multitude of instruments. On one the deck there is also a small swimming pool and sheltered area with deck chairs.

The sauna is opposite our cabin and in the evening there is a steady stream of officers and passengers using it. There is also a sports room with table tennis and exercise machines as well as a laundry with machines we can use.

The containers are stowed between the bow and the apt. building, stacked 3-high and tied down securely, we hope. Some are apparently refrigerated, hard to get an answer on this. Presumably the hold is also refrigerated, except where the cars are carried.

Cabin & facilities
We are in cabin 3 starboard. It is surprisingly pleasant, “wood” panelled with two single beds on either side of wardrobes and a “vanity” in the middle. There are also two easy chairs and a desk with a bookcase above. The bathroom has a shower, WC and wash basin and is spacious. There are two windows with a free view, yes, of the ocean! All the furniture has drawers, including the beds, so there is loads of storage. Everything is conceived to withstand the ship’s rolling, except the people! The table surfaces are anti-skid, the beds have high sides to prevent us falling out, there are handles to hold on to in the bathroom. There were fresh flowers, a huge fruit basket, miniature bottles of champagne and Belgian chocolates welcoming us.

The crew
come from Latvia, Russia (Kalingrad, Vladivostok) and Ukraine. Even the ones from Latvia are Russian, there is a naval academy in Riga. Some are very nice, others foul tempered. For the 10 passengers on this trip there are two stewards, one for port the other for starboard cabins – and we share the chief steward-barman. They clean the cabins and make repairs and they have others duties as well, including serving meals. Some speak a little English, some German – but mostly they speak Russian! Communication is difficult. I quickly made myself unpopular with the second-in-command Alexei by asking too many questions during the “safety drill”. I couldn’t understand a word of his English and when I asked him repeat, he told me that the German passengers (who had had their session a few days earlier leaving from Hamburg) understood him perfectly (they don’t speak English…) and that I probably don’t know the language very well. The weather was so bad that we couldn’t go to the muster area, see the life boat – or have a demonstration of how to “operate” the life vest. We do have numbered seats in the lifeboat, though.

My questions were on: water supply; garbage disposal: all (except plastics) can be dumped at designated distances from land; fuel: heavy oil and some diesel; what are we carrying: cars and peoples’ private property. But no nuclear or other dangerous waste, we were assured. Then he said no more questions.

The passengers
We are 10: two German couples, two German women traveling alone, one Austrian man, Anton, a tax advisor from Vienna, one French retired midwife, Monique, and Henk and me.

The Germans stick together and have a routine, video watching, reading and drinking beer, vodka, etc. Anton, who is very obese and incomprehensible in any language, eats and drinks a lot, (one day I saw 14 Sandemans on his bar list, but then he gets 4 shots at a time in a tumbler) reads fat books about Christianity & Islam that he had shipped to Hamburg, and smokes big cigars. He has hardly any teeth. He is friendly and we chat, sort of. Monique is interested in world politics, has worked with MSF in Congo and Guatemala, and we talk a lot. We share a table with her during meals. So instead of brushing up on Spanish, we speak English, German and French all day…

Monique and us two are disembarking in Costa Rica. Everyone else is doing the round trip back to Europe. In fact, several have done the same trip 2 or 3 times. They watch a DVD of a previous trip repeatedly.

Food
The passenger information states “meals are made to European standard”. Yes, but very eastern Europe/Russian standard... This is definitely not gourmet cooking and I won’t be putting on any weight during this trip. Plates are snatched away whenever you put the fork down – and sometimes when you don’t - and the next course is presented regardless of the eating rhythm of the others at the table (and we are only three, with French Monique). The information also says that we are eating with the officers, yes, but they have a separate round table in one corner and there are rarely more than one or two eating at the same time and in 15 mins. maximum.

Serving times are similar to those of a hospital or prison (?): breakfast 07:30-08:30; lunch 11:30-12:30; dinner 19:30. Come early, or the food is cold...

So mealtimes are not a great pleasure but are nevertheless met with great anticipation – because it is a break in the relaxation routine. Drinks in the adjoining bar-salon before and after – and at many other times during the day – are more jolly. We drink water with the meals, imagine! We now speak Spanish with Monique during meals, she must be bored because she knows the language very well.

The compensation for enduring the cooked food is the fruit… There is a never ending stream of pineapple, papaya, bananas, etc. - at least I hope it will last the journey.

Sailing
Wednesday 6 Dec.
The vessel was loaded all night, we slept on board. A delayed departure early afternoon 7 Dec. We were tugged through the huge terminal area with a (Le Havre) navigation pilot on board. At the mouth to the open sea, we were sluiced through a lock (the water level in the loading areas has to be constant). The pilot was very chatty and informative in French, of course, but after he left the ship, we were told (by mean Alexei, second in command) that we shouldn’t even have been on the bridge during the operation and that the captain had been annoyed with us (I think because he doesn’t speak French), we didn’t know…

The sea was very rough from the outset. Holding on to banisters and rails along corridors is a must. Monique, who had just told us that a calm sea is boring, got seasick and was lying low for the next two days.

Thursday 7 Dec. contd.
The sea is very rough, force 7-9. Sometimes waves crash over the ship. There was a lot of water on the windowsill of our cabin this morning and our steward screwed the window shut with a stick. Now it is a bit stuffy. We sort of had an emergency drill but could not go on deck to really know what to do.

Friday 8 Dec.
We are level with Finisterre (No. Spain). Very rough, force 8-9. It’s like adapting quickly to being physically handicapped. Holding on to things at all times and plopping into soft chairs when possible. Reaching the bed can be a challenge and you don’t leave it easily. I took a shower holding on tightly, the floor was a lake after because of the rolling.

Saturday 9 Dec.
The wind is slowly calming. Walking on the decks – and holding on tightly to all rails, my hands are covered in salt. I go to the bridge when the friendliest officer is on duty, Zhenya from Riga. He is third in command. We chat in English (he does not speak German, like most of the officers) and he shows me the instrument readings. We also talk about our families and about Costa Rica. He has been with Horn Line for 15 years, 6 mos. on a contract, then several months at home before the next one. Three ships, Hornbay, Horncliff and Horncap, are identical, and the crews are assigned to any of them.

Sunday 10 Dec.
Hurrah, today we could open the window and get fresh air. It had been screwed shut because of the heavy seas and it has been stuffy and hot in the cabin. Now sailing at 18 knot, smooth sea, high pressure but overcast. At 17:15 we saw a fiery sunset over Sao Miguel island (Azores). The ocean is vast and empty, the nearest ship today was 30 miles distant, a Maersk freighter en route to Charleston.

The welcome party took place. Bar and dining room decked out with red tablecloths, vodka for the toast. Captain and officers turned up in their stripes (work outfits on board are very informal) and the captain said many things, each sentence beginning with “Dear Passengers” – made me think of “Dear Leader”… The gist was that as we were delayed leaving Europe due to the bad weather our stops in Guadeloupe and Martinique would be as brief as possible and probably at night, meaning that we probably cannot go ashore. We’ll see. The cooks outdid themselves for the dinner that followed – washed down with complimentary Matheus rose. We insisted on mixing during drinks time - but officers still sat at their table for the meal.

At 21:00 we went on the bridge to see the lights on Sao Miguel as we passed by.

Monday 11 Dec.
Guided tour of the ship at 08:30, a thorough visit lasting almost 2 hours. On deck and below – issued with hard hats. The enthusiastic English-speaking Chief Engineer explained many things in the engine rooms, but with the noise, the earplugs provided and the 40 degree heat down there it was difficult to take it all in. The water desalination and filtering installation was impressive, so there is a constant supply for washing, etc. We drink mineral water. All operations are computerized and all areas are impressively clean and tidy. The “best before” date of the life boat is 07/2010…In addition, there is a smaller rescue boat in case anyone falls overboard – and someone watches it happening, bien sur.

We carry
180+ 30-ton containers below and on deck, some are refrigerated.
80+ cars, new and used
heavy earthmoving and agricultural equipment
a pleasure boat
a motor cycle in a wooden crate
a huge container for recycling (maybe) destined for Cartagena
25 crew and 10 passengers. We are almost fully loaded.

Tonight the clock is set back one hour, and again tomorrow. We are now three hours behind European time.

Tuesday 12 Dec.
We’re on the edge of a depression moving north, while our course is south-west (currently around 30 degrees latitude – west of Madeira). We have sun with some overcast and it is a warm 22 degrees, but it is windy on deck. The ship rocks more than the last few days, but nothing like the beginning of the trip. The “swimming pool” was filled with seawater yesterday, but it was a little premature, I think. The boat’s rolling creates waves in the pool that splash onto the deck.

Today’s excitement was watching the launch of a weather balloon. This happens 2-3 times a day (or night) according to a schedule determined by a maritime meteo centre.
The captain goes into a container-type hut located at the stern, blows up a red balloon with special helium and attaches a small battery. A large periscope with a round opening is raised from the hut and the balloon is shut up in the sky. The information is transmitted to a satellite and is part of an international weather information collaboration. Until now, our weather and sea forecasts have been provided by European meterological centres, but we are passing over to No. American centers.

So what do we do all day? Henk goes to breakfast, I hardly ever do – ends 08:30 – except when we set back the clock. I take an espresso from the machine (euro 1 and worth it!) Then regular visits to the bridge to read the day’s news dispatch, check the weather forecast, position, speed, and chat with the officer on duty.

The cabin is cleaned by our steward, i.e. wastepaper basket is emptied, bathroom cleaned, duvet and pillows are straightened so that the Horn Line logo on the sheets faces up!

A drink in the bar before lunch. We have learned to be on time – 11:30 - to catch the food while it’s hot. And to ask for half portions. We now speak Spanish with Monique during the meal.

Later we read, walk the decks, visit the bridge again. During the early part of the trip, the sighting of tiny flying fish was the height of excitement. There is coffee and cake (ice cream once a week) in the afternoon. And we play a game of scrabble. Drink some wine, go to dinner at 19:30. Tonight the hot menu is Eisbein, German soul food, so we might go for the cold cuts and cheese instead. In the evening we sometimes watch a video and chat with people.

When the going is good we travel at 18 knot/hour i.e. about 36 kms. This can properly be termed slow travel…

Wed. 13 Dec.
About drugs smuggling, stowaways and piracy. Well, since it was a pretty uneventful day, I thought a snappy lead would liven up the story!

We had another setback, I mean the clock was turned back one hour. Sun and cloud, warm and slightly “rocky”. One man swam in the pool and the Germans worked on their tan.

Last night I mingled with the German crowd. They understand absolutely nothing of what the officers say, since they speak only (some) English. I told them the story about our emergency preparedness session with Alexei (see above) and they laughed so hard about (not) understanding him. Our Eisbein offering was enthusiastically received by a German couple who normally eat cold food in the evening, we took that instead. One asked me what “porridge” means, they cannot understand the menus printed for each table every day – or speak with the officers on the bridge… Luckily the barman speaks German.

The captain was very talkative when I was on the bridge this morning. I asked him about piracy, ships get a regular warning report by telex and there is an anti-piracy helpline. He has not experienced any attacks but the Colombian coast is particularly dangerous. Mostly armed robbers who come in small boats, tie up the person on watch and get off with some supplies.

Drug smuggling is apparently rampant. A favourite method is to attach the packages inside or outside the water tank with suction cups. For this reason the ships are inspected by police (divers, I suppose) upon leaving port – in Turbo in particular. When in port, all doors to deck except one are locked and sometimes cabins, etc. are searched. In June, a stash of cocaine was found in the hold by the crew of a Horn sister ship and “our” captain gave them a cash reward. But he says it’s tricky, because who is doing the smuggling?

This year two stowaways were discovered – after 10 days - on the return journey to Europe. They were flown back to wherever they came from.

It now seems that we will not be going ashore at any of the stops en route to Costa Rica. We arrive at night in the French Islands and ditto Cartagena. Turbo is too dangerous, although we stay to load for several days. The last time a banana plantation tour was organized there for passengers was five years ago! We have a three-way bet with Monique about our arrival time in Pointe-a-Pitre – for a bottle of champagne - concluded in Spanish, of course.

Thurs. 14 Dec. – Henk’s contribution

The excitement of the day is Henk’s exclusive visit (invited by the captain) to the meteo hut at the extreme aft of the vessel. We already saw the launching of the weather balloon yesterday. This is an EU collaboration of 21 countries with a number of selected ships which sail in the North Atlantic. These ships launch a balloon (50 cm in diameter) with a sensor twice a day while sailing between 20 and 45 degrees North. The information is gathered on the vessel and then transmitted via satellite to the meteo service in Europe.

The hut looks very similar to those used in experiments at CERN. There are racks with equipment, a desk with a computer workstation and a supply of helium bottles on the other side next to the launcher, which looks like a huge cannon. After we entered, the captain started to prepare the sensor, inserting batteries into a box the size and look of a soapbox with several antennas sticking out. It has a GPS receiver as well. The box signals are received immediately and monitored by the computer. The captain chose a white balloon for the nighttime launch (red during daytime) and inserted it into the launcher, then opening the helium bottle. A familiar hissing from the balloon sounded and the flow stopped automatically. The captain then attached the sensor to the balloon. The roof opened and the launcher now moved outside of the hut. I had the honour of pushing the launch button. We saw the balloon taking off and went back into the hut to look at the data coming in. The computer showed the ascent of the balloon with the altitude, position, temperature, wind direction and pressure in real time. From a 28 C temperature at the start it quickly went down to a cool 18 C at 1000 meters. For several hours the sensor will continue to send this information down to the ship up to a height of 20’000 meters. Extremely valuable information for maritime and air traffic and weather forecasting will be received by the weather service thanks to this high-tech venture.

Sat. 16 & Sun. 17 Dec.

Too busy to write – quite a shock after our calm routine on the high seas. Saturday we were allowed on land – twice even. Got up at the crack of dawn and we were docked at Pointe-a-Pitre. We had 3 hours in the town, with some of that taken up by gridlock traffic – a bridge was being resurfaced and it caused chaos. I won the bet about time of arrival and Monique bought champagne.

We walked around town taking in the shopping streets, the markets, etc. At 08:00 there were no cars allowed in the centre – one hour later there were. Apparently authorities had wanted to pedestrianise some streets, but then decided to try the following Saturday instead. Coffee and croissant and local juices, nice.

We then sailed down along the west coast of Dominica, close enough to see a lot, it was beautiful and took about 1.5 hours. We also saw small whales spouting, maybe orcas.

Arrived in Martinique, Fort de France in the evening and had three hours on land, except by the time we got to a restaurant it was much less than that, since our first recommendation was located out of town and was closed. Had a nice meal with creole overtones. Some other passengers chose not to go and those who go did just walked around.

We got back to the vessel to watch loading, it was exciting and impressive. The harbour has the latest hauling and lifting equipment, just like lego, only bigger! The job was only finished around 23:00 and I heard the captain murmur to the dock supervisor that Del Monte management was putting pressure on him to catch up on lost time in Europe.

Today, Sunday, we are going full steam ahead for Cartagena (Colombia) where we will arrive Tuesday. The sea is calm and it is very warm. The big excitement is the “barbeque party” on deck that kicks off around sunset. A long table has been set for almost 30 people, I wonder if the seating arrangement will allow for mingling with the officers and crew?

Yes, we mixed a little with the crew. Copious amounts of food, shrimp, smoked salmon, grilled meat and sausage, lots of beer – and fruit for dessert. The Germans asked if I would thank the captain on behalf of all passengers which I did – of course beginning with “Dear Captain…” I have become the translator in residence, the Captain tells me what he wants the Germans to know, etc. The Germans ask me to translate their questions to Monique, etc.

Mon. 18 Dec.
Today I splashed around the pool, quite nice. We arrived in Cartagena at 23:00 and had been told a few hours before that we could go ashore for a “Panoramic City Tour”. Of course we were game, although we didn’t get on the minibus until midnight! The Germans did not go, too late, etc., but two junior crew joined us which was fun, Sergei the cook from Latvia spoke good English and he and the deck hand were taking photos constantly, lagging behind and having a good time. While we were tired, it was good to be out when there was little traffic and only 29 degrees. A very strong wind blew, the Alize that signals the summer season beginning in December. Cartagena’s old town is a UNESCO heritage site and is beautifully restored (looks a little like a stage set). We got back to the vessel at about 03:00 and then stayed up to watch the loading.

The equipment here is much less sophisticated than that of the French Islands but this is compensated for by a seemingly endless supply of dockers. Security is tight and there is much red tape. First the customs and security people come on board. Then the workers are frisked on the quay and their bags and thermos opened for inspection by more police and security. At the top of the gangway, each docker surrenders an identity card and is issued with a yellow armband – which is of course needed to reclaim the identity card when leaving.

Being in Cartagena we discovered that we are on “ship time” not on Colombian time, it is one hour earlier here. Nobody had bothered to explain that one to us. The idea is that setting back the clock five hours total on the outbound trip makes the return to Europe easier for the crew, i.e. only setting the clock forward five times. So when we arrive in Costa Rica, ship time will be two hours ahead of local time which is seven hours behind European time. The bonus now is that the sun sets later.

Tuesday 19 Dec. –Wed. 20 Dec.
So much work for a few bananas!
We sailed towards Turbo (Colombia) where the sole operation consists of loading bananas, lots of them, actually. Security is at the highest level due to drug smuggling (everything we were told previously is fact). Some distance out from Turbo, the navigation pilot came on board, taking us a short distance to anchor in lighterage (although I asked the captain what that means, I haven’t yet understood) the middle of a bay. There were three other freighters with long tails, barges with bananas to be loaded.

Then numerous customs, Del Monte and security people – complete with sniffer dog -boarded and set up in the conference room. Stained mattresses were laid in the sports room, hammocks were strung on the lowest deck, and then a huge barge pulled up and discharged 40-50 dockers. There were pilot boats, barges, containers with equipment and bananas all around the boat. The dockers were searched and tagged (yellow armband again) and set to work, by now it was 20:00. All doors to the decks were locked except two, the swimming pool was emptied, the bridge was closed to deck and the doors “secured” with bits of rope tied to the handles of the captain’s chair inside. Passengers had the run out several upper decks – and there was never-ending entertainment watching the goings-on. That night we had our private champagne party on a quiet deck.

The loading activity continued for the next 30-odd hours. It is incredibly labour intensive and dangerous, but I suppose it’s worth it to carry over a million kg of bananas. Interesting that while there is general awareness of fair trade principles, these concern the conditions of the producers. Nobody talks about the transport to consumers, conditions of dockers, etc. In the morning we saw dockers everywhere on the container deck, brushing their teeth very thoroughly, drinking milk, etc. The weather was overcast, muggy and 34+ degrees.

There were so many barges of bananas to be loaded, our “tail” was very long. We are near the mouth of River Leon where the plantations are and it is presumably easier to float the cargo down the river to be loaded. Each barge held a sort of one-storey shack with a metal roof that slid open to allow the boxes to be lifted on board and loaded in the hold. One barge had flashing Christmas lights. These barges were towed one at a time by small boats and nudged alongside our freighter. Each pallet lifted on board contained 48 boxes, each weighing 20 kgs. – and there were 52.179 boxes to be loaded. Bananas are kept at a constant 13.3 degrees during shipping.

Unfortunately, we pulled anchor in the middle of the night and did not experience the drug police divers checking for drugs being smuggled inside or outside the water tank – but they did!

Thurs. 21- Fri. 22 Dec.
Sailing along the coast of Panama. Hornbay will dock in Moin some time after midnight. It will take on pineapple and more bananas. This port on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica marks the turnaround point and the vessel will sail non-stop to Dover. We’re told they have zero tolerance for drugs in Dover and might even search your underwear! There is a story about a Dutch passenger on a Horn boat who had 100 kg of cocaine – I wonder how that would be possible.

We have just begun to pack our bags. Henk gave our favourite officers a CD of photos and a fun movie he made on board. Only three passengers disembark in Moin. All the German passengers will sunbathe and drink their way home.

PS I understood the meal times after a while. Officers have two four-hour watches per 24 hours. This allows both the 04:00-08:00 shift and the 08:00-noon, etc. to eat.

Statistics
We received a “voyage certificate” on disembarking with interesting facts.
Distance traveled: 5277 nautical miles (approx 10’000 kms)
Fuel burnt: 5810 tons (sometimes bad fuel spat out soot all over the deck and the people)
Loaded in Turbo: Bananas 1,044 million kgs, Plantains 148.600 kgs

Some impressions
• A fascinating voyage in terms of learning how goods get transported around the world and how a cargo vessel operates.
• Access to information and the run of (almost) everywhere on the vessel made the experience unique.
• The crew had a strict hierarchy, partly necessary and partly due to the mentality of Eastern Europe and beyond. But the result was a very well run and competent operation.
• The different loading techniques and equipment used at the various ports were fascinating.
• The cook’s imagination in naming the two daily salads knew no bounds and the same goes for the cooked dishes – usually breaded pork of some kind. But according to repeat tripping Germans the food was a lot better than on other trips.
• There was an endless supply of parsley, but the bread petered out. We could have done with a baker!
• And much more…
• Ends
•
28 Dec. 2006 above San Jose