Trip's end

Tomorrow sees the end of my two weeks on board.  As ever I have learnt more about the trade and how the ship works.  Certainly I am a lot more confident about the job, in particular the loading of the car deck.  I find this to be the hardest part of the work as the navigation to and fro isn't too challenging, other than when the odd yacht or fishing boat launches itself at you on the way past.

I have loaded a few near or maximum cargoes in the last few days and it is quite satisfying when it comes together and everything gets squeezed in with the ship upright and of a reasonable trim.  The "lift" cars with their elderly occupants near the lift, the dangerous goods separated and no wasted space on the deck so that we were able to take all of the standby vehicles across.  Oh and on time as well.

Hopefully I'll be getting my own boat in the water soon and then I can keep you up to date with visits to ports other than Oban and Craignure.