Washbasin

…When you make your first steps on board of a ship, there are a number of things you need to learn in the beginning.
This is something you will do automatically through experience.

You should never fill your washbasin full of water.
I did.
One swing of the ship and half of it was splashing on the floor.

That also happened when the ship made a fetch while sailing and you had not closed the porthole.
The sea spouted in and you could start mopping again.
If we went sailing on a jop, someone would pass by to close all the portholes with a special key.

Through live and learn you know how to deal with such circumstances.
That was certainly the case at the ‘Utrecht’.
The other ships had air conditioning and due to that, the portholes could not be opened.

Sanitary facilities in your hut.

You always put your towel on your washbasin to let it dry.
If you had to vomit, you had to remove it first.
The vomiting did not happen to me.

When knock up the next guard you first tapped the door, opened the door, light on and shouted that it was time to wake up, possibly with a cup of coffee.

The washbasin was next to the door.
There lay a towel with the vomit and exactly in the middle an artificial tooth.
The men had taken something to eat before they went to their bunk.
Fried brown beans and I could observe that completely soberly.

A loosing tooth.

Your sober stomach would bounce for a while.