Part 3

Report 21: Sailor’s yarn? In the first 12 hours of my one week vacation, I had to confront myself with hair-raising assertions. Initially I wanted to pay the Capitan of the School for Ships youth in Bremen a short visit. As I walked toward him in the back aisle on the “Sail training Vessel”, he greeted me with the words: “You have a true sailor’s walk.” This was probably what he saw but the truth was something else. ….
Report 22: Ice Pants as designer cuts Though things happen on ship sailing, they actually cannot happen. On Thursday I returned from my vacation back to Bremen port. There the Pamir was loading coal for Montevideo, and I was immediately selected for the night watch from midnight to 6 a.m., a frosty night being expected. Shortly after the shift started, destiny took its course: because of the cold, I dressed using everything I owned. And on top of this, I put on my canvas designer dungarees which were quite wet and thereby stiff because of an afternoon rain shower while I was working at the windlass. ….	Report 23: The blue ribbon of the North Sea ….The deal was about nothing else than whoever arrived at the high Dover Jetty the fastest, should have the honor and the right to wear a blue bandana on his left suit sleeve with the name of the winning ship .This was crazy.. Our captain explained: „This will not be easy, but it is possible. It is a distance of around 600 nautical miles (1’100 km). We have the best west wind and because we only have half their draft, we can ideally use currents and tides, in some parts, we could use a speed of about seven nautical miles in one hour and we could make it. “kids” he continued disrespectful, ……
	Report 24: Air Mail ….Whoever thought that silence would prevail, was soon annoyed and upset, because we found out that the mail-buoy at the mouth of the English Channel had been towed to a port for maintenance. We valued our service on our last trip and we assumed that we could take care of our Christmas mail from here. This time the radio operator came with a surprising offer. “Yes,” he said somewhat sedated, “I contacted the Chief Editor of the “Falmouth Morning Times”, an enthusiastic amateur radio operator,….
Report 25: Rough farewell to Europe and Doctor’s Trip After days of rain and cold, we departed about 8 hours after successfully shipping our airmail at the height of “Land’s End” and changed course from west to southwest. Although a large area of low pressure over the Atlantic had formed since the day before yesterday, it should be moving to the mouth of the English Channel by tomorrow, with around five to six Beaufort winds. Until Falmouth, everything was in balance. A breeze from South with 3-4 Bft winds. …….
Report 26: In great demand – contact to the galley …..Sometimes the hot plate was used as a sporting field. It was either about loudness or velocity. Starting position was that we had an awful lot of cockroaches, also known as kitchen bugs, on board, especially in the galley. A real nuisance. There were only two things to do, to flatten them or having them participate in a sporting contest…….	Report 27: Scrubbing until the planks laugh and – Encounters with the Passat 1955-1957 The deck planks that “can laugh” are made of African teak. If they are scrubbed white and preserved in honey bright, glowing amber linseed oil they smile and radiate. I was the reason for which the planks would not glow nor smile, because that meant scrubbing, scrubbing and rubbing again, until you feel completely insane.
Report 28: Visit on Christmas Eve 1955 ….and then all of a sudden a ship on port side and right after that    another one on starboard side disturbed our songs with a powerful toot. On our left a Russian and on the right side there came an American warship – with us sailing in the middle with 3 knots. The second officer came in contact using a signal lamp in Morse-Code with the U.S. Navy – the radio operator contacted the Red Fleet. ….	Report 29: Shark in the Babtismal pool. It was out of question. Baptism had to be at the equator. We had a few unbaptized newcomers on board, but those few must also arrive clean in the Southern Hemisphere. As had been achieved on the morning before baptism, the baptismal tub on hold no 2, port side, has been built. It also happened to be the first day in 1956,………