We arrived back in Durban 28 July after a long flight and a delay in Jo'berg. Shipyard finished on time this year which was a blessing. Another blessing was that we had new floors in our cabin (timber laminate replacing old carpet), our bed was moved away from the wall and our broken cabin window was replaced (it had a steel plate welded over it in Madagascar). We sailed 1 August for Cape Town, arriving 4 August. It was a pretty bumpy sail but no sea sickness in our family.
Mick was watchkeeping on 4-8s which effectively means at work from 0300 to 0800 then 1500 to 2000. He would also generally do 3 hours maintenance each day from 0900-1200 so a pretty exhausting routine. Tammy's highlight was being woken up by a lighthouse the morning we arrived in Cape Town. It was actually one we climbed 2 years ago.
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| The Lighthouse we climbed in 2014 |
Tammy arrived back to an absent Supply Manager who had returned to USA for compassionate reasons. She is now acting Supply Manager again and having to very quickly come up to speed on lots of issues she was not tracking.
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| Mark and Harry |
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| Tammy and Jack |
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| Table Mountain |
We had a great little break in Cape Town, climbing Lions Head on the Saturday and visiting our pastor (Dave Meldrum) from UK who now leads a church in Cape Town. He and his wife Bev are truly inspirational. Mick got to ride his road bike up Signal Hill too.
On 4 August we sailed from Cape Town and the boys started school. Mick continued on the same watches and Tammy worked in Supply preparing for the upcoming field service start up.
Jack turned 15 on 14 August at sea and he and Mark had a combined party at sea. Mark turned 12 on 21 August just after we arrived in Benin.
On 18 August we arrived in Cotonou, Benin. We were scheduled to serve in Benin in 2014 but this was postponed due to the West Africa Ebola outbreak and we served in Madagascar for two years instead so it was great to finally return.
Since arriving we have all been very busy, meeting our locally employed day crew and setting up the ship and dockside for the field service. Patient selection has commenced and the hospital opens in 2 weeks. We have an enormous dock side area but the port is dirtier and less safe than Madagascar so we have to ride in vehicles in and out of the port - no cycling or walking. And it is hot and humid.
We have now served onboard 3 years and are starting our fourth. We have sailed 90 days, crossed the Equator 4 times, rounded the Cape of Good Hope twice, crossed the Prime Meridian 3 times (twice at the Equator) and visited Canary Islands, Congo, South Africa, Madagascar and Benin. Life is truly an adventure. You never know where God is going to lead you. We look forward to what God has in store for us.
Cheers, and Blessings,
Mick, Tammy, Jack, Mark and Harry
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