Embarkation Day. Start of the voyage to Easter Island. First night on board alongside the harbor at Talcahuano.  

First in the dry dock, then at anchor, and now alongside in the port of Talcahuano. Like that the Europa has spent the last three weeks.  

The city is home to a well-known shipyard, where any kind of vessel can be repaired and run their maintenance, playing a crucial role in the country’s naval operations. Our ship sure has made good use of these facilities. The headquarters of the Chilean Navy are located here too, making Talcahuano an important naval base. All this, together with the large fishing industry, thriving metallurgy, and industrial plants based here, makes the city an important mercantile hub. 

Certainly, we could see it all for ourselves when this afternoon we got to the ship through a busy commercial port where containers, tonnes of steel, and other goods were carried around by heavy machinery. 

By 17:00 hours her gangway saw the new ship’s complement boarding, eager to sail her into the waters of the Pacific Ocean, though the first night of the voyage we spent alongside.  

That gives the time for readying everything for tomorrow morning’s early departure. An evening to get to know each other also makes for casting off the mooring lines and leaving with the full day ahead of us. It is always a busy first day at sea, packed with information, familiarisations, and instructions, which in fact already started this evening and will continue tomorrow.