Sleepily we went to breakfast of a pepper, onion, mushroom and two fried eggs concoction, with the usual fruit juice and Nesquick. Post breakfast ping-pong then took place, and Jenny really is getting better. We watched the first part of ‘Up’ before lunch of brussel sprouts, mashed potato, asparagus and slices of some white root vegetable. Dessert was caramel pudding, plus the chief engineers slice. They obviously make it better in Deutschland.
Another half hour of table tennis after lunch, finished the DVD, Jenny started sorting files on the computer and then I got absorbed in ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’.
For the first time all the Europeans were present for the evening meal, but the engineers and captain seemed a bit fraught. Apparently there’s not that much of a problem, it’s just that the engineers like to discuss work while eating. The ‘shits’ and ‘scheisses’ were perhaps held back a little due to the presence of the captain. We ate potatoes, carrots, sweet corn, salad and spinach.
After dinner we conversed with Max for a few hours. Martin told us to take a seat, which was sound advice. Topics included the Canadian North, Alaska, gold mining, racist Americans, military service, Vancouver, Germans cleaning their shoes on Sundays, the engineers buying expensive cars but shopping in LIDL and ALDI, the money in shipping, unions and gardening. We learnt that the engine is meant to go at 24knots, but to save thousands of euros NSB likes the freighter to go slower (fortunately this also reduces the carbon emissions!). Most of the problems with the engine occur because it is not designed to run at this reduced power.
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