On deck before the action. Phil stands on the far left while Nikki puts on her suit to the right of him

Update from Nikki, logistics/deckhand. 23 March.

As I awoke on Friday, I wandered out slowly onto deck and took in the stunning coastline. We had gone to anchor just west of Salerno, waiting for the target ship to come into port (Kwanza). We had averaged an estimated time of arrival, so we didn't think the ship would arrive until late afternoon, but anything could change at a moment's notice, as it often does within Greenpeace.

I took the early anchor/radio watch for a few hours, and danced around the bridge deck in complete anticipation, waiting for the day's events to unfold.

As the afternoon drew in, there was still no sign of the Kwanza, so the crew decided to go for a quick swim before lunch to work up an appetite.

The afternoon began to drag, and most crewmembers were beginning to get tired and decided to go for a nap. Every time so far when I've gone for a nap during prep for an upcoming action, I just doze off and then the general alarm sounds. It's sort of a custom that everyone gets into their action clothing at least three times before an action begins.

This action was a slight exception to the rule. I just began to get nice and cozy in my bunk, when Meghan and Kristina ran in, grabbed their suits and screamed 'It's time to go'. I jumped out of bed, still half asleep and began to scramble around for my kit. As I finally got my suit on, and ran up the stairs, I discovered that we weren't leaving for another hour. The Kwanza had just radioed in to let the pilot boat that it was about an hour away.

Most of the crew began to congregate on the deck, some running around, but most just sat around chilling awaiting the call to go.

A police boat began to circle the Warrior and everyone who was outside scrambled around to hide. We already believed that there would be a large police presence, but I didn't think that it would be before the action even began. The ribs started to be dropped into the water, first the Avon (with the climbers on board) and then the press boat (good old Piglet, which we brought with us from the UK). As both boats were launched, they raced off towards the Kwanza.

The police boat, which was still circling us, watched both boats take off and continued to watch us launch the rest of the boats. Dima, Eva, Kristina, Meghan, Rodrigo and myself were designated to be the canoeists. The wind was slowly beginning to pick up, and I was thinking there was no way we were going to be able to canoe to the mouth of the harbour in them. Especially since I've only been in a canoe once before in my life and that was only a few days ago.

It was decided that the two novas and lancer would take the canoes to the mouth of the harbour and then race off to do their respective roles, as discussed earlier in the day. Rodrigo and myself had the first canoe to be launched. We grabbed our canoe and threw it (well, not literally) into Bernard and Barbara's boat and waited for the other canoeists to be ready to go.

We cruised towards the harbour, one hand on the canoe, and one hand holding on as tight as possible to the rib. The canoe was bouncing all over the place, in fact so were Rodrigo and I. As we approached the harbour we noticed two police boats, one rib and the other a large speed boat vessel. Numerous swear words were voiced, but we had to go for it. The other main thing was we had no press near us, and it was inevitable that we would probably be arrested before it arrived.

Bernard dropped us in the mouth of the harbour, just after the breakwater. As we pulled the canoe into the water, I managed to pull the catch on the bow of the canoe so it began to deflate. ****. I jumped in and Rodrigo followed and began to paddle away.

As we launched, we noticed that Kristina and Meghan's canoe was already trying to be seized by the police. Over they flipped. The police managed to grab a hook and placed it underneath and were trying to drag the canoe (and yes them underneath it) towards the shore.

It was around this time that I noticed the large speedboat hurtling towards us. I have never felt so vulnerable before in an action. Where was the press boat? It continued to hurtle towards us at full speed (possibly not full speed, but it sure feels like it when you're sitting in a small inflatable canoe). A calming voice began behind me (Rodrigo) and said that he thought they were going to try and capsize us. As the boat veered closer to the bow, it turned quickly to port (left), resulting in a large wave entering the canoe. The boat began to circle us, and made its way back towards the bow of the canoe to continue to do the same over and over again.

The canoe, obviously, slowly began to fill with water; in fact we were probably about 30cm deep in water. Eventually the police boat slowly maneuvered away from us, and thought that its technique just wasn't going to work. Ha ha.... At this point Rodrigo and I had a team bonding moment. He was great calling orders from the stern but not in a panic stricken way.

I glanced around to see what had happened to the other two canoes. Meghan was swimming towards one of our ribs, but Kristina was still underneath the canoe. Dima and Eva were splashing around and were quite content (or so I believe, as they had no police harassing them as yet, anyway). Unfortunately, Kristina didn't manage to get out from underneath the canoe and somehow managed to get nicked. The police inflatable, with Kristina and the canoe, headed towards the harbour, whilst we continued to paddle around.

Shortly the inflatable returned, I suppose it was inevitable, and made its way towards us, along with the large police boat. Rodrigo began to shout directions to me, 'paddle forwards, paddle back, etc'. The large police boat began to use a boat hook to try and grab the canoe, but they weren't successful. We continued like this for a while, but whilst doing a turn to get away, they managed to hook on to the side of the canoe. We began to be slowly dragged closer to the boat. Rodrigo and I both nodded towards each other, and began to slip our oars inside the canoe ready to flip over. Over we went, well not quite. By the time we had tried to capsize we were at the side of the police boat. The hook stopped us capsizing, so we were being held horizontally at the side. The police were trying to pull the canoe up (with us both in it) and we were trying to pull it away from the ship. As we slowly began to get raised, we both untangled ourselves and swam for the nearest Greenpeace rib. Marco and an Italian activist picked us up, and headed toward the last canoe. Eva and Dima had successfully managed to capsize, but the police had managed to use the same technique again and were slowly struggling to drag them and the canoe to shore. Both swam out, and we picked them up. Oh dear, what a disaster.

The canoes were great in the sense that it tied two police boats up for around an hour, but our role in blocking the harbour was completely unsuccessful. Anyway, the Kwanza was still nowhere in sight.

The boat we were in was completely overloaded with people, so we headed back towards the Warrior to disperse the canoeists. The other two novas were in the process of maneuvering the NATO pontoon into the harbour. Marco dropped us all off on top of the pontoon. The ribs continued to maneuver the pontoon into place, getting ready to anchor it into position.

The Avon raced up to the pontoon, and Frank called me into the boat. They had lost Piglet (the press boat) and couldn't find it. Piglet wasn't answering the radio. They both (Helen and Frank) seemed extremely worried. We raced back out towards the Kwanza, continued straight past it on a search mission to find the press boat. In the far distance, we spotted a police boat. Behind it looked like there was a rib. The result was full throttle ahead. During approach we noticed that Piglet was being towed very slowly by the police boat back towards the shore. In a way it was a great relief to see that they were okay, but how did the press boat managed to get nicked so early? Maybe they had engine trouble or something. Normally, the press boat doesn't get nicked.... We later found out that the police did exactly the same thing during the action here two weeks ago.

We did a U-turn and headed back towards the Warrior. The pontoon was in sight, and a banner was held across it, 'Stop destroying the rainforests'. Another small press rib had appeared, so at least some images would get out. I clambered back onto the pontoon, but only for a few minutes.

The Avon picked Rodrigo and myself up off the pontoon. The Kwanza was hurtling into port; it didn't look like it was going to stop. The Warrior was also heading straight into port just behind it. The ribs continued to be chased around by the police. The Kwanza made its way past the pontoon towards the key side. Each of the ribs lined up to try and push the boat away from the key. It slowly made its way closer and closer to shore, as it got nearer, our ribs raced out, so not to get squashed (an Italian boat got squashed two weeks ago attempting the same thing). As we raced out, a police rib managed to hook on to the stern of the Avon. I tried to pull the hook off but it wasn't working. So I began to pull the hook towards me so that it would be released from the boat. And that's exactly what happened. They now were after us. But Helen was just too quick for them.

As the Kwanza docked, we took Frank to shore to liaise with the police about the climbers. Chris and Janine had set up camp on the hinge of the ramp. The ship was threatening to offload its cargo regardless, which would have endangered the climbers. Frank, along with Eva (Italian activist) defused the situation and it seemed that the climbers would be safe for a while. As we attempted to pick Frank and Eva back up from shore, the police boat that I took the hook from began to chase us away again. They wanted the hook back, which I suppose is fair enough. One policeman tried to lasso the Avon, which was highly amusing. After going around in circles which seemed like forever (it was probably only about five minutes), we passed them back their hook thinking they'd let us go to shore. No such luck. Everytime we approached, we were chased back out again. Sorry Frank and Eva, looks like you're staying there for a while longer.

As the Warrior maneuvered away, it anchored just outside the breakwater. The ribs slowly began to be lifted onto deck, whilst the pontoon was trying to be rescued. That's a story in itself, and I don't think any of the crew want to see that thing ever again!!!!

The arrested press boat, with Karl, Daniel, Christian and Kristina was escorted back to the Warrior, and they were released without any charge. Frank and Eva had been taken in for questioning, and the climbers were getting comfy in their hammocks for the evening ahead. The ship was still a hive of activity, which it will be probably for several days. I dragged myself to my bunk for a short nap before my anchor/radio watch. I lay there letting the day's events unfold through my mind. What could we have done better? My mind slowly began to die, my eyes became heavy and my dreams were mainly of the action (that's probably very sad, but heh...).

On my watch, I spoke to the climbers, and they seemed okay. The police had refused to remove them due to their insurance, so it looks like they could be up there for a while. Therefore, the action was a success, it looks like the Kwanza will not be able to unload any of its cargo in Salerno whilst the climbers are on board.

As the winds slowly pick up throughout my watch, I become concerned about the climbers, but I'm sure that they are fine. As my watch draws to a close, there is no news, which is good. Frank and Eva have arrived back on board, also without charge. The action continues....... Watch this space.......

Nikki

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