Hoy!

I got the first feeling that something wasn't quite right as I got off the tram and turned around the bend below the Akershus fortress. No rigs in sight. As I got closer, I saw all my neatly dressed colleagues in their matching navy blue sailor jackets. Hm. No ship. On the other hand - there was our HR Coordinator constantly on the phone, gesticulating and shouting "No, no, no!"

Turned out that the ship was somewehere else. Not at another dock in town, but in another town. Three and a half hour away by bus. So, as we are quite used to when it comes to public transportation in Norway - what was supposed to be one type of transportation, ended up being a busride. Fortunately, you can always count on the bus.

After lunch in Kragerø, it was time for embarkation. No canapees, no sparkling wine. All we got was a piece of string with a key on it, and a muster number. I got number 8. At least I was lucky enough to get a bed. Some people ended up in hammocks.

I was assigned to the 4-8 watch, or the "dog watch". Since the departure was so delayed, it was six o'clock before we got started. I was assigned the role as lookout, meaning that I was to stay in the front of the ship (I guess this has some funny maritime word for it that I do not remember), looking out for any large objects (including boats, containers or wooden logs) that might come in our way. Then, if I saw something, I was supposed to ring a bell, depending on the location of the object. For a while I thought we were going to ram straight into the Color Line ferry from Oslo to Kiel, but as I did not know whether to ring the bell one, two or three times - I pretended like nothing was happening. The only other object spotted was a white plastic bag. Some people pointed out to me that I missed an empty Coke bottle on the starboard side. Imagine what could have happened if it had been an iceberg?

In general, I really enjoy staring at the ocean. Sitting in a deck chair with a crappy chic-lit paperback and some bubbly really is my kind of vacation. And (maybe because I was born in the sign of the Aquarius) - water makes me calm (unless I am below it). But this is obviously a whole different story when you HAVE TO keep staring at the freaking ocean CONSTANTLY because other people's lives depend on you. Boy, that was boring! And - we were sailing in the opposite direction of the sunset, so I could not really enjoy that either. To top it all off, it was freeezing.

Since we had to be back on watch again at four, we went to bed early. Lights out at ten. Of course, the two other shifts could not go to bed at the same time. So I can totally relate to what the link below refers to as "dog sleep". It is really unfair waking up in the morning - feeling like shit - when you did not have one drop of alcohol the night before. I also regret packing too light. There was a couple of hours during that night that I regretted packing my fleece sleeping bag liner to allow space for more shoes, instead of bringing my proper sleeping bag. Brrrrrr.

In spite of the lack of sleep, the morning watch was still better. The sunrise was stunning. Otherwise, I spent most of the morning pretending that I was working on something or other (which is a special talent of mine) - while struggling to stay awake. To illustrate what an excellent team player I am, I volunteered to help scrub the decks. Haha. Don't tell my husband that I CAN actually clean. Then he will get rid of our maid immediately.

Yawn.

For explanation of the term "dog watch", please refer til this link in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_watch