"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29: 11



Sunday, October 29, 2017

August 2017 Update - Better Late than Never

We wrote this update in August but never got around to posting it on the blog so here it is. As they say, better late than never.

We finished the Benin field service in early June and sailed for Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. The sail north was smooth sailing but challenging work wise for Mick. We had a number of difficulties with the port shaft control and clutching and had to operate much of the port shaft and associated engines in manual override. Our fuel economy was terrible primarily due to the fouling on the hull after 10 months sitting in port. But we made it safely only for a large seawater line to fail 10 minutes after finished with main engines was rung down from the bridge. The ship was then blacked out for 5 hours however God is good. We were safely moored at a shipyard.

We departed on holidays 2 days later flying to England. We spent 2 weeks in England being spoilt by Mick's cousins, aunt and uncle before heading to Germany where we spent a weekend with Tom and Angelika Kern who used to live in Newington and occasionally attended Bayside. Whilst in England we also got to catch up with Tim and Sharon Tretheway and their son Nathanael.

Hanging out with cousins

Catching up with Tim and Sharon Tretheway

Harry and Nathanael reunited

We then picked up our motorhome and spent three weeks adventuring in France and Switzerland. This included white water rafting, canoeing, canyoning, zip lining, acrobranch, mountain biking, hiking, visiting the start of Le Tour de France, velo rail, rail museum, Swiss Army knife making, chocolate factory and for Mick road bike riding up Alpe d'Huez. We also caught up with our good friend Myriam in Geneva. Fortunately Mick had received a small inheritance from a great aunt that allowed us to take such an awesome holiday. Overall we had a great time and returned to the ship thoroughly refreshed for another year.

The boys with Myriam in Geneva

White water rafting on the Isere River

Alpe d'Huez

We rejoined the ship in Las Palmas as shipyard was finishing. A very special event then was the visit by Tam's parents to the ship as guests for a week. We had kept it as a secret from the boys for 5 months and they were thrilled to see their grandparents. Shipyard never quite finishes on time and work continued right up to when we sailed on 4 August which was on time. We are currently on passage to Douala, Cameroon and have crossed the equator today - back in the Southern Hemisphere! We arrive in Douala on Wednesday to start our 5th field service. Amazing.

Boys with Nana and Bapa in Las Palmas


Harry is now ten and can roam the ship unaccompanied. Jack turns 16 tomorrow and is now 163 cm tall - 3 cm shorter than Mick. Mark turns 13 next Monday. School has started (yes, at sea) and the first week has gone well. The Academy is fully staffed again this year which is another blessing.

We have made the big decision to commit to a further 3 years with Mercy Ships. We discussed this throughout the summer and prayed about it. The boys are all very happy onboard and this was what they wanted. This will allow Jack to complete his schooling onboard. Then it will be seven years and we think we will take a break and come home. Of course with Mercy Ships building a new ship in China we do not know where we will be for those three years. We will leave this and the finances to God.

So that's about all the news. Mick is still Second Engineer and Tammy is now the Creative Coordinator in the Communications Department. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Blessings,

Mick, Tammy, Jack, Mark and Harry

Monday, October 23, 2017

Itinerant Bike Rider

Anyone who has followed me on Facebook or our journey on our blog would know of my passion for cycling. So over the last 5 years I have been lucky to borrow bikes most places we have visited thanks to some generous friends and family. And I have had the opportunity to ride in many of the countries we have visited. Here are a selection:

My trusty Focus MTB purchased ex-hire from Bikepoint in Tenerife in 2013.
Ridden in Canary Islands, Congo, South Africa, Madagascar, Benin and now Cameroon.

Murray Crawford's parents helped me find my
Africa road bike in Cape Town in 2014 for a bargain price

Borrowed this one from Jim Sibson in the summer of 2014.
The family rode from Bath to Bristol

Jack Parker's deadly "treadly" folding bike in 2014.
He should use it as an anchor for his canal boat.
Deadliest bike I have ever ridden.

Tom Kern borrowed this one from a friend for me
to explore the forests and mountains around Heidelberg in 2014.
Had a blast.

Ed McLeod from South Shields Velo Cycling Club lent me his beautiful
Bianchi whilst I was studying at South Tyneside College in 2015-16

My trusty trundler for getting about South Shields in 2015-16.
35 quid at Chichester Op Shop

My mate Peter Faase who always lends me his lovely Cervelo when we are home.
I think he likes to leave his Garmin on it, especially when I ride hills.

Riding in Mada in 2015.

Our good friend Viv who took me out riding Glenbrook to Waterfall
when we were home in 2015.

My trusty Cannondale Scalpel at the Highland Fling back in 2012?
Now hanging in Simon Moore's shed waiting for me to return.

Perhaps the nicest bike I have every ridden. I hired a bike
 to ride up and down Alpe d'Huez in 2017 and got an upgrade to a
new Scott Foil with Di2.

In summer 2017 we hired mountain bikes (Velo Tours Terrain) when
we were in the Vosges Mountains. With Jack and Tracy.

Riding VTT with the Unity Velo Club in the forest at Dibombari in 2017.


Friday, October 6, 2017

B2B - Togo to Nigeria

At the end of Benin I got to ride across Benin from the Togo border to the Nigerian border with my Bestest Benin Biking Buddy - Sharon.

Sharon was a pharmacist from Canada who was onboard for the Benin field service. Together with Saulo, Courtney and Tertius she joined me on several cycling adventures. In January we came up with the idea of riding border to border (B2B). Because of her on call schedule she was limited to one of two dates in April and May. Then in March I mentioned the idea to a friend, Hanno from South Africa, who works for MTN in Benin. Hanno had been onboard for Easter with his family and we had ridden to Ouidah and back (about 80 km) on Easter Monday. As we recovered in his pool we discussed the B2B ride and how to do it. He had a driver and was keen so we set a date of 21 May. Due to the distance - about 132 km we estimated - we decided to do it on roadies rather than MTBs. Tertius had left his roadie onboard so I asked if Sharon could borrow it and Hanno said he would try and borrow one as he only had a MTB.

Everything fell into place and Hanno picked us up with his driver - Mr Edwardo - at 0500 on Sunday morning.

Loading up at 0500 on the dock

We made it to the Togo-Benin border by about 0640 and were on our way by 0700. Lots of strange looks from the locals.

The three amigos at the Togo-Benin border

Sharon at the Togo-Benin border

Sharon and I feeling fresh at the Togo-Benin border

First break - Mono River

Just after our first break Hanno dropped back to take a phone call and said he would catch us up. Well, we soft pedalled for a while and then stopped when he did not appear. Ten minutes later the car appeared with Hanno's bike on the roof. He had snapped his chain and thought his day was done. No such luck. I had a chain breaker in my tools and quickly knocked out the damaged link and reconnected it two links shorter.

Ouidah

Up to Ouidah the riding was really scenic and the traffic light. But after Ouidah and into the outskirts of Cotonou the traffic became heavy and chaotic. Plus it was seriously hot by now - 40 degrees.

Outskirts of Cotonou - crazy traffic

Crazy hot - 40 degrees C

Our three trusty steeds

Last break - toll gates outside Cotonou

We did it - Nigeria-Benin border

Job done

Happy but exhausted
Final stats - 134 kms, 5 hours and 20 minutes, 25 kph, average temperature 33 degrees C, max temperature 44 degrees C.

The Garmin link:

B2B - Togo to Nigeria: Distance 133.82 km | Time 5:20:49 | Speed 25.0 kph | Elevation 326 m

The Strava link: