27 December 2004
The
Roll on, Roll Off, Roll Over Ferry
By Annie Warmke
You can visit with Annie by going to http://www.bluerockstation.com
As the overnight ferry from Hull England left the dock to
take us to Zebrugge Belgium for the next leg of our adventure Jay decided to
tell me a story. I am not
especially afraid of water, although my mother, over the years, has tried her
best to change that in me.
I believe we are safe, but just in case, every time I take
off in a plane or head out to sea in a boat, I try to imagine the vessel
completely surrounded by a circle of protection. And I NEVER want to need those
attractive yellow vests that blow up automatically.
So it was no help at all that Jay had heard an interview
with Terry Jones, the Monty Python Flying Circus comic, and decided to share it
with me at this particular moment. Apparently
the crew of this ship (or rather a different crew - I hope – on a different
ship) that was leaving for Zebrugge with our precious family and the rental car,
had forgotten to close the loading doors properly and during the night the bays
with all the cars had filled with water and the boat tipped over.
Terry Jones called this the “Roll on, Roll off, Roll over” service.
The North Sea is freezing cold, and I could not imagine jumping in to
save my life.
Despite Jay’s story, we were excited about spending 12
hours crossing the North Sea on a ferry, and having our own sleeping room.
I had searched the Internet to find us a private room, complete with its
own shower. What luxury!
We had a long wait in the car as all the heavy semi-trucks
were loaded. We sat patiently in
our assigned row, waiting our turn. Our
plan was to visit our room, and then eat dinner before the ship left port.
After parking the car down in the hull (still dry, by the
way) we made our way up several flights of stairs to the deck that was listed on
our ticket. Cat skipped down the
narrow hallway to the door that was to be our room for the night.
She was sure the place would look just like the brochure, with a giant
double bed, a TV, and a window to watch the ocean.
Her face fell as the door opened to reveal a room the size
of her Barbie house. There were two
sets of bunk beds, a tiny stainless steel sink and a round window between the
beds. Behind a narrow door to our
left was a tiny toilet/shower room.
We dumped our luggage on the beds (Cat claimed the upper
bunk) and made our way down to the deck with the dining room.
Everything was really crowded, especially the bar and casino, but we
patiently waited in line behind the Brits.
Dinner was a marvelous buffet of several good vegetarian choices, (there
was meat as well for carnivores) and loads of desserts.
After dinner, we made our way outside up on the top deck,
found a bench and watched the sun set as we slowly pulled away from the shore.
The sky was clear and bright, but the wind made it feel quite chilly.
We sat, bundled against the cold, and watched the skies
darken. The stars were so bright it
seemed we ought to be able to reach out and grab one. Jay, the son of a son of a son of a Norwegian sailor spent
every moment he could outside on deck, watching the sky and enjoying the wind in
his face. When he returned to the
room, I swore he had icicles hanging from his nose.
I was smart…I read a book on the comfortable bed.
The boat rocked and swayed all night long treating us like
babies in a giant rocking chair. At
the first drop of light we jumped up to eat breakfast and watch the sun climb
into the sky. The ship pulled into
the Zebrugge dock right on time…a great way to travel!
We rolled off (fortunately we did not roll over) the big
boat and consulted our maps. We
were on our way to Germany… to the town of Mulheim.
In a place where history is a part of daily life, where the past –
present – and future are often a part of the same breathe… I hoped to find
my grandmother’s birthplace. I
had only known her through photos, but now I was about to find her and link my
future and her past.