MeghanIsMe

I made another trip to the channel today. I was there in the late evening and the light was perfect for sharp contrasts and saturated colors! I'll see about posting a few more pictures later.

I have a question though. Why does this ship have two Plimsoll lines? This is the indicator of safe load for the ship. I knew about these already because I am an infrastructure geek and my idea of a fun time includes web-surfing for information about maritime safety markings. (I'm tons of fun at parties!)

Seeing two on one ship, though, confuses me. The unpainted one may be an old line. Was the ship refitted or changed? But one of the information sources I found online notes that the mark is raised from the surface so that even if the paint wears off, the marks are visible. What if paint wears off the second one?

Anyway, this is the Baker River, a cargo ship built in 2005 and registered in Hong Kong, on her way from Amsterdam to Gdansk.

I took a 26 mile / 42 kilometer round trip by bike to a spot on the North Sea Canal about 12 kilometers from the center of Amsterdam. I'd scouted around on Google maps and it seemed like a good place to watch commercial shipping. Far enough west that basically all the ships going to or coming from the north sea should go by before stopping somewhere to load or unload.

It was evening by the time I got there so I didn't stay too long, but in about 20 minutes I saw a couple of large ships go by, as well as some other vessels. Here's the Cape Gavi, a 2008-built 184 meter oil/chemical tanker. Marinetraffic.com says that her destination is St. John, Canada. (When I told Danae that, she commented "Let us on! Let us on!")

There were a couple other folks there fishing along the bank, but it's a pretty quiet and unpopulated place. It's perfect for me. I need a set destination where I can go to to do something I'm excited about to keep me biking regularly. I'm daydreaming about biking out there in the morning with my cameras, something to read, and a packed lunch to spend a few hours reading and watching ships.

Admittedly, 26 miles is more than it was to me a few years ago, so I'm also going to scout some places closer to Amsterdam. Possibly less traffic, but more manageable until if/when I get more fit.

Biking feels so familiar. It took ten minutes or so to rediscover the combination of rhythm and exertion that suits me best, but that feeling like I could just keep going at that pace for hours was wonderful, even if deceptive.