Antarctic merchandising and stuffed animals stored away together with the plywood penguins made for receiving visitors during open ship events, they were all spotted moving from cabin to cabin. Once the overhauling of one of the cabins is finished and we are about to start with a new one, they need to be re-stored somewhere else together with furniture, beddings, mattresses, and all kinds of implements. When we step outside the ship we are welcomed by colder temperatures and now and then decks powdered with snow. Jobs out there are often done wearing down jackets, hoodies, mittens and hats, while coldest days of the winter are at the gates, forecasted to come soon.

In different ways, it all bring memories to some of us from about a year ago when we were sailing in the Antarctic Peninsula. How could we even imagine how things would turn up, when first worried news about lockdowns and travel restrictions started by then. A sudden turn of events that affected the lives of all of us, and still does.

Postponed exciting journeys, long sails, ocean crossings and our trips to Antarctica, hopefully can be sailed again the upcoming season, whenever it will be possible to set sail again. If some of you plan to join us for any of those trips, many of the jobs that the crew is been busy with will not be so obvious at first sight.
Engine room got some overhauls. Behind walls, floors and ceilings, many of the pipes have been changed, some insulation as well. Provision storage areas are being also completely refurbished and galley ceiling got a couple of primer and paint coats. But other changes sure will look more obvious to the eye, like the new laundry room or new ceilings, new paint in cabin walls and varnish in the furniture.

While the jobs are taking place, the ship already have visited several Dutch harbours during the last months, and now she moved once more. Just a bit this time, still staying at Harlingen but in a quieter spot than the city-centric area where we were. On her new moorings, heavier and noisier jobs like steel rust-busting, grinding, cutting and welding can be done