MV Londonbrook

During the mid-term break I decided to put in some more sea time and to that end crossed the Thames to Greenhithe where the Londonbrook was tied up on the Greenhithe buoys before heading to dry dock in Dordrecht, Holland. The dry dock was on the outskirts of the town and the two local bars, although pleasant enough, were not really my scene, besides which there was a fair bit of work to be done in the engine room. Dordrecht was not Amsterdam or Rotterdam; it was a smaller provincial Dutch town with provincial—almost puritan—attitudes. The inhabitants looked like the Boers of the nineteenth century, even down to the beard sans-moustache. So for once I had a quiet one until on the last day of August, I loaded up with illegally ample supplies of Van Nelle and Douwe Egberts tobacco and we fired up the five cylinder Smit Bolnes two-stroke diesel and set out for the Botlek terminal at Europort. We tied up at the bean wharf and loaded soy beans for Erith, where, on arrival on the 3rd of September, I paid off and returned to Custom House.
Life at Custom House continued in pretty much the same vein as it had prior to the break. There was an advanced first aid course to do, which took place in mid November, and then it was exams and finish in December. When it was all over I finally bid my Glaswegian mate farewell. We’d had some three and a half years of fun and games together, but our paths never crossed again. I then departed for home. All in all, although I did have the occasional good time, I was happy to see the back of Custom House!