May 28, 2012
A Day in Stockholm
This time we dropped anchor in Stockholm. The ROV team receive the visit of a technician for maintenance of this delicate and extremely expensive instrument. Others go out for a walk and to visit the city. I meet a Swedish colleague whom I hadn’t seen in 3 years and who is a good family friend. We met many years ago in the Canary Islands and my wife and I have travelled with her to such exotic destinations as Egypt to dive in the Red Sea.
I take the opportunity to spend a few hours with her and have a few beers, and she tells me about her diving adventures in Sweden. We both agree that, in such freezing waters, the worst part is the cold in our hands. Even though we use gloves, this is the part of our bodies that suffers the most, and I can’t use thicker gloves because I wouldn’t be able to operate the cameras.
Stockholm is a beautiful city, and the streets are overflowing with people enjoying the good weather. We visit some nearby areas while we walk, and in the evening the rest of the crew joins us. Most of them feel like some drinks, so we go to a pub. We have some laughs with the rest of our mates – when we are all partying together, things are really fun.
I walk my friend to her hotel, not too late, and go back to the ship. A colleague has lent me a film, which I don’t watch to the end as I fall asleep. I really wanted to take some hours off and catch up on my sleep. It was something I badly needed, as the long days in the Northern Baltic had left me quite exhausted.