Project Morpheus Part 1: Rethink, Refine, Recycle

The "Morpheus", formerly called "Pottwal" (Sperm Whale) is a fishing trawler built in 1954 in the former DDR area. This class was previously used for whaling. In 2020, Paul bought the ship in the Harburg harbor in Hamburg and started to restore it. The name was changed to "Morpheus", the Greek god of dreams, as he found it immoral to name a ship after its prey (sperm whales).

Upon arrival, I am picked up in a small boat by Theo, a young Frenchman who has already spent 2 days on the ship. Barefoot, Theo gives me a tour of the ship, which resembles a mixture of art project and construction site. From the cigar lounge to the kitchen-dining room to the jamming alcove to the old radio filled with soil from which plants grow - just about everything on this ship feels improvised, made from materials that others have discarded or found worthless. From the first second I know - this is exactly the right place for me!

Two hours after my arrival, a fisherman on the pier gave us some freshly caught fish, which Theo and I gutted and tossed onto the deck grill (made from a flexed exhaust pipe) - simply delicious! What a welcome gift!

The following days on on board I cook , scrub the deck, paint, clean, relax and do small project after small project - more on that later. I use my free time to plan how things will continue for me after Project Morpheus. The cargo ship idea is still dead on. Everyone who has anything to do with seafaring thinks that I should first gain experience. Fair enough! I get in touch with my acquaintances from Cuxhaven to pursue a job offer on the Cuxhaven-Helgoland ferry. A good opportunity to make some money and get a taste of the sea air! That's settled quickly, and I'm supposed to stop by in Cuxhaven next Monday to work out the details.

Sunday we visit Hanns, an experienced old sea dog and good friend of Paul's. He gives us a tour of his ship, the Sea-Eye. It is a ship of the same model as the Morpheus, but still in its original condition. After commercial fishing in previous years, the Sea-Eye was last used as a rescue boat for refugees in the Mediterranean. Having retired, Hanns now takes care of her and preserves her as a museum ship.

The Sea-Eye...allegedly in far better condition than the Morpheus was originally

The ship on its own is interesting, but the stories Hanns is able to tell are more than that. From sailing on traditional ships, across the Atlantic as in the days of North America's settlement, to restoring various ships - this man knows what he is talking about ! Especially for me this is probably the best person I could meet - among other things he talks about Seas Your Future, a charity company in which he has been involved for a long time. With two sailing ships, Seas Your Future regularly organizes trips with students where they should learn about the environment, the sea and sailing. Okay, so something where I could actually combine seafaring with my scientific and chemical education? Hanns and I agree - this is the project where I belong, even if I just start as a volunteer! I cancel the "job interview" in Cuxhaven straight away, my decision is made immediately. The conversation with the person responsible for Seas Your Future gave me the prospect that I would be welcomed to start there - and much higher than as volunteer - but more on that as soon as the whole thing is fixed!

For the sake of the length of a single post, I won't go into too much detail about the Avontuur. It's a cargo sailing ship that offers carbon-neutral trading to the Caribbean and happens to lay right next to the Sea-Eye - but of course i save that for future plans!

Life on the Morpheus for the next few days feels refreshingly different. A slight outlaw or dropout vibe, while in principle we don't lack for anything. Almost every evening, we have visits from couchsurfers, locals or people from the port community - the spirit of the project is attractive! Unfortunately, the extent of my stay on the Morpheus cannot be captured in one post, but there is a small tour at the end of this one. Sorry to all German-speaking fans, but since I now speak a standard German that is incredibly funny for my people at home, I simply escape into English for this purpose!

to be continued...