Traveling the World by Freighter

Iron Lion · Posted: Wed Oct 19 05, 6:55 pm Post subject: Traveling the World by Freighter

Traveling the World by Freighter
A Firsthand Story

AS FEATURED IN MARIS FREIGHTER CRUISES

"It was a trip we had talked about for years, but when we decided the time had come, we could find very little information about such journeys ... no more than a page or two in any of the travel books I consulted. So here is what we found out through experience".

BY VIVIENNE KNAPP

"Lew marked out a square meter on the floor in front of the fireplace and we piled our luggage until it was half a meter high. We could have taken twice as much! And that was our introduction to freighter travel.

On June 23, '97 we went to the Red Hook pier in Brooklyn NY, where we embarked on our freighter. On October 6, '97 we left the Contship Italy at Red Hook after having the vacation of our lives. We had gone around the world and visited 20 ports in 15 countries.

The first question is one of time; for how long and when to go? We have chosen a longer Around-the-World itinerary and decided to leave in June, thinking that the weather on the Atlantic would be good with no hurricanes, and that the hurricane season would be over once we crossed back in October. Also by the time we get to the Indian Ocean, the monsoon season would be over. We didn't account for typhoons however, and spent one day drifting and another going at half speed, 100 miles to the north of Typhoon Vinnie in the China Sea. Even with that, there was some damage as a life raft was torn from its support, and several iron railings at the bow were smashed. That was the only day the captain instructed us not to walk up to the bow. And well he did! Other than that the trip was completely uneventful weather-wise.

Before we reserved the cruise, our agent at Maris Freighter Cruises provided us with a deck plan. This is a diagram showing where the dining room, lounge and your cabin are located. It also showed that there is no elevator on the Contship Italy. We took a cabin close to the dining room, two decks apart, which meant that we had to climb four flights of stairs for every meal. At first it was daunting, but after a few days it became routine, and the improvement in the shape of my thighs by the end of the trip was worth it all! On an average day I climbed up or down thirty flights of stairs.

Most freighters take twelve or fewer passengers, and for a very good reason. When they carry more, they come under a different set of health regulations and must have a doctor on board. That is why there is an age limit, and all passengers are required to provide a medical certificate of good health. Because we were going through the Suez Canal, we had to be immunized against cholera and yellow fever. Our doctor took care of the cholera shot, but we had to visit a local health department for the yellow fever shot, which cost us $60 each. So part of your preplanning should always include the medical aspect.

You need a passport of course as well as visas for Australia and Egypt. The Australian visa was free, but the Egyptian one cost us $30 each.

Our cabin had two rooms. The main room contained a pullout sofa, coffee table, desk, two armchairs, refrigerator, glass cupboard, bookshelf, and some storage space. The bedroom had a bed we thought too small for two, so I slept on the sofa. There was a hanging closet and plenty of shelf space in the bedroom. Two windows in the main cabin looked aft, and the one in the bedroom opened on the port side. The beds were made up European-style with a sheet and duvet. The bathroom was tiled, with a shower that had a pull-down seat. There was an adequate medicine cabinet. The cabin was cleaned by the steward once a week, when fresh bed linen and towels were provided.

Meal times were at 7:30 A.M., 11:30 A.M. and 5:30 P.M., and coffee was served at 10:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. The meals are more then ample and nourishing as they are prepared for hard-working sailors. For breakfast eggs are always available, as well as some kind of breakfast meat, several kinds of bread, fruit, juice, cheese and cereal. The noon meal is the main meal of the day, usually including soup, meat, a starch dish, vegetables, salad and fruit. Wine is included. The evening meal is usually a ragout of some sort, often over rice, with platters of cold cuts, crudit?s and cheese.

Serendipity played an important part in making our dining experience more enjoyable. When we first boarded meals were adequate but completely uninspired and boring. In Hong Kong we picked up a new chef, and what he could do with the same ingredients was a revelation. His garlic and broccoli soup was scrumptious, and the German officers said his konigsberger klops reminded them of home. Passengers and officers shared the dining room, but sat at separate tables.

As for wardrobe, take one ?very nice outfit? to wear ashore and put it in your closet immediately. Then wear all your oldest clothes. We quickly found out that we were on a working ship where the men are constantly washing, scraping, painting, and greasing cables. Unless we were willing to remain in our air-conditioned cabin, we had to cope with all this activity including smudges of whatever was being used on the ship, as well as occasional soot deposits from the smoke stack. The crew always washed the ship the day after leaving any port, but while the ship was unloaded and loaded there was no way to avoid some dirt. We wore T-shirts and cotton pants for most of the trip, and were able to donate a bundle of cleaning rags to the oilers in the engine room when we left. That left us plenty of luggage room for the great souvenirs we picked up all over the world.

The ?very nice outfit? for going ashore was pants and shirt in lightweight silk. After a day in the hot sun, you can walk into the shower carrying your silks, wash everything, hang your clothes on a plastic hanger, and they're ready to wear the next day. We also brought several soft hats that either sat down well on the head or were tied on in some way as a ship running at 18 knots an hour creates its own wind. A few heavy sweaters and two pair of lightweight wool pants took care of the cooler weather in Australia and on the Atlantic in September. We wore boat shoes constantly since the decks are frequently wet and slippery.

There was a comfortable lounge and bar, usually empty during the day, with games and a small library of paperbacks. The floor below had an indoor swimming pool which was filled with sea water every day. It also had a sauna, ping-pong table, dart board and self-service laundry. And then there was the bow! By walking all along the main deck, we would reach the bow, where peace and isolation reigned. There was no sound from the engines, only the occasional creaking of the container lashings, which made one think of the rigging on a sailboat, and the empty, endless sea.

As no hairdresser was available for over three months, I took headbands and combs and let my hair grow, which took away the temptation to hack at it myself. The ship has a limited amount of items for sale so we took our own toilet soap and kleenex aboard. Later on we discovered that Lux and washing powder for the laundry could be bought and best of all, so could liquid refreshments! Twenty-four bottles of Beck's beer cost $8.95. Australian ?Plonk?, red or white, was $6.44 for four liters. Jim Beam was $6.15, Gordon's Gin $8.56 and Chivas Regal $20.68.

The final question to consider before you go is your own attitude and temperament. Lewis and I owned a sailboat for years, and we have crewed on sailboats in the Caribbean, the North Sea, and in Alaska. We get great pleasure out of sitting and watching the water go by. Once we had decided we were too old to climb the rigging, we tried a conventional cruise. While it was very nice, dressing for dinner every night, eating a sumptuous meal, watching a lavish show before the plentiful midnight buffet did not excite us. On the freighter, we would mix our own Scotch and soda, take it out on the deck right outside our cabin, sit on a deck chair, and watch the sun go down. Preference is a very personal thing!

Unless you enlist some friends to go with you, the passenger list is in the lap of the gods. Upon leaving the United States we were six: a delightful couple from Paris, who left in Tahiti, a lovely lady who had worked in London for many years and was returning to her native New Zealand, and a retired German sea captain. From New Zealand to Hamburg, our only companion was Captain Gerhard Reichelt. He had spent his life at sea as a captain on cargo vessels. But in all those years traveling all over the world, he had never made an Around-the-World voyage, and had never transited the Panama Canal. So this was his retirement gift to himself. After the trip he returned to his beloved Anne-Marie, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. To us, he was a pearl beyond price. He answered every question we asked about the ship's cargo and navigation. He had sailed on most of the waters we were passing through and knew them in detail. Besides, he was excellent company, with many stories of life at sea. We were lucky beyond description to travel with him. We took on more passengers in Hamburg, so for the last 10 days our companions included three Germans, two Austrians and two French. A polyglot group, but all pleasant company.

English is the lingua franca of all these ships. The senior officers are German and use their mother tongue among themselves. The crew is Filipino, and they speak Tagalog. But when speaking to each other, or to the passengers, they all speak English. Some are fluent, others are not, but they all can answer any questions you may have.

An important thing to keep in mind is that this is a working ship. The officers and crew were always very friendly and polite to us, but they were hired to run the boat, not to entertain passengers or act as tour guides. When we arrived at a port, there was no tour bus carrying thirty passengers or a lady holding her umbrella in the air to show you the sights or guide you to souvenir shops. From the moment we walked down the gangplank, we were on our own. So again, it's a question of whether you like to be led or you like to explore on your own. Undoubtedly, we probably missed some great things we should have seen. On the other hand, we'll never forget the shop we walked into in Keelung hoping to buy postcards only to find it was a dental extraction office. We walked out empty-handed, but with all our teeth intact.

In other ports the entertainment was more conventional but just as interesting. In Tahiti we had three days' shore leave, so we walked through Papeete the first day, took a bus around the island the next, and the ferry to Moorea the third. By way of contrast, the cruise ships Club Med and Windsong came in one evening and left the very next. We also had two days in Noumea. When we reached Melbourne we jumped ship, took the train to Sydney, and spent two delightful days there before the ship caught up with us. So you can make adjustments. In most ports, we had one day for sightseeing.

The overriding and exciting part of the trip is loading at each port. And every port is different! From the few cranes in Tahiti where the men manhandle the monster containers from the end of the hoist into position on the ship, sometimes riding the line down to the spot, to the miles of docks and gantries in Singapore with immense equipment reminiscent of Star Wars, and where several bus lines run inside the port area to get workers and passengers back and forth. Each port has its own character; fast and efficient or slow and disorganized.

We provided the rest of the entertainment ourselves. Lew brought his new PC and unraveled most of its secrets. I brought plenty of crosswords, my knitting and a large stash of paperbacks, mostly murder, mysteries and intrigue. I also brought the collected works of Henry James, a burst of inspiration. While the ?popcorn? books quickly palled, there was plenty of time each day for a long satisfying read. Another time I might bring stacks of Dickens or Trollope.

In the evening we often went down to the lounge for a Campary and soda for 59 cents, and watched a video which had been chosen by the crew. If the Filipinos chose, it was English. If the German chose, it was dubbed in German. Hearing Bruce Willis moan ?Ach, mein Gott!? as he crawled the ventilator pipes made quite an evening.

We've discovered a wonderful way to travel and we hope it catches on. But please leave room for us to go again on your freighter"!

Freighter itineraries in Africa, Australia, Europe, South America and around the world; also a great magazine for planning a freighter trip from the comfort of your home.
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