We are back in shipyard! It seems like we just got through wearing hard hats and closed-toe shoes and seeing our home out of the water. Our time in Madagascar flew by, which seems to be no exception to our time with Mercy Ships! Last year this time found us at the almost very north of the African continent; this year finds us in the almost very south.
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| We are the purple dot--Durban! |
It’s winter in the southern hemisphere, which looks different all over the continent. In Madagascar, it’s still a very tropical country so the “winter” just means that the rainy season and dry season are flipped from the northern hemisphere. South Africa is southern enough that it does get fairly chilly. Durban stays warm during the day though because it is right on an ocean channel that has warm water. The temps are anywhere in 70s during the day to down to the 50s at night. It’s been beautiful and fun to pull out the few sweaters and warm clothes that we brought!
The sail over here went very well. The first two days were a little rough but the last three days were so smooth that it was hardly noticeable! I actually really enjoyed the sail this time around which was a huge blessing. There were some beautiful sunsets and views.
Photos: Sunset over the Indian Ocean; Jordan and our good friend Robert watching the sunset.
Shipyard life started pretty fast once we arrived in Durban and it hasn’t slowed down much since. There has been so much different stuff going on that the whole time has just flown by. We arrived on 15 June and can't believe that it's August already!
One of the things Jordan got to do was to take an advanced firefighting class. He has been the leader for one of the three fire teams on the ship since last fall so he was glad to get to learn some more about how to lead a team while fighting a fire. We have fire drills every other week on the ship and on the off weeks, the fire teams themselves have training/drills so there is always some sort of training going on. Because Durban is a big port city, there are lots of trainings geared toward ship life. He and four others from the ship got to go to participate in this particular training.
He has also been made the dive team leader. The dive team goes under the ship every other week to inspect and clean the grates. There are 26 steel intakes about 20 inches in diameter that bring in seawater to cool engines and air conditioning systems. These intakes get plugged with marine growth and garbage so they need cleaned periodically. Here in Durban, he has been working on getting the equipment serviced and ready to go for the new field service. While we are in dry dock, there isn’t much of a need for diving under the ship. :)
And some days he even gets to be a carpenter! This time of the year is actually busier than normal for him with carpentry work; as the focus changes to maintenance he gets called on a lot. There are lots of improvement projects, big and little, that go on all around.
One project in particular that Jordan was involved in was the refinishing of the cafe floor. All the tables were taken out and he and a friend, Larry Mast, got to work. The area around the cafe was covered with plastic to keep the dust in but it also served as a cool drop cloth to reveal the finished bit. The whole project took about 9 days.
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| Lots and lots of sanding. |
The finished product is absolutely beautiful!
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| Sorry for the major glare! Phone picture. |
We also had the huge blessing of Luke coming to join as crew for the month of July. It was so good to have some family on the ship! He helped Jordan a lot—they put up handrails all over the ship to make it safer when we sail. They also did some work on the gangway and the gangway doors.
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| Jordan and Luke working on the dry dock gangway. |
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| Working on the gangway doors. |
While Luke was here, the ship went into dry dock as well. You may remember that last year we went into dry dock and said that this only happens every other year. That's usually the case but there were some big projects that needed to happen this year that necessitated us going back into dry dock. Last year the whole ship was put onto a huge platform that was then lifted out of the water. This year, we floated into a full bathtub basically (the biggest bathtub in the world I think), the way out was blocked, and then the water was drained.
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The "door" getting closed by two tug boats. The whole dry dock process took about 8 hours.
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| Cement all around us! |
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Also while Luke was here we took the opportunity to see a bit of the country. We drove three hours north to Hluhluwe game reserve (it’s pronounced Shushluwe, which took me about 2 weeks to figure out) and spent the day driving through and keeping our eyes peeled for wildlife. The reserve was huge and it was awesome to see the animals in their natural environment—absolutely nothing stopping them from going wherever they pleased! We saw elephants, water buffalo, a wildebeest, rhinos, zebra, giraffes, wart hogs, impala and lions. The next day we went horseback riding and saw crocodiles and hippos. The third day we went shark diving further south. I was pretty animal-ed out by the time we got home. It was a great weekend though and so fun to see the country. Durban is a fun city and beautiful in it’s own way but being in the shipyard is pretty much like living in a construction zone. It was fabulous to get out, breathe the fresh air and enjoy God’s beautiful creation! Just the break we needed. We had spent one night off the ship since Christmas so it was very refreshing to get off for three days.
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| Pumba! |
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| Impala, so numerous they are known as the "McDonalds" of the land--note the "M" on their hind quarters! |
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| Horse riding on the beach was spectacular! |
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Hippos. They are crazy! Did you know they can run 40 km/hr on land??
Pretty fast for looking like a bunch of boulders!
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| Shark diving. |
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From my side, I have changed jobs a bit; in June I accepted the Chief Steward position. Basically I added the Food Services areas to my responsibilities as well as the Crew and Guest Services areas that I was responsible for last year. I was hesitant to accept as I knew the job would be a stressful one and I wasn’t sure I was up for it; I have really enjoyed this last year as the Crew & Guest Services Manager and would have been just fine staying there. After a lot of doubt on my part and some pushing on God's part, I really felt like He was leading me forward. I was absolutely right though; it has been very hectic so far and I have definitely been stretched! Most of the stress has to do with shipyard though and not actual “normal” job stuff. Because we are in shipyard, water and electricity are limited which makes feeding 150—250 crew a little challenging. Thankfully I have FABULOUS team leaders that are much more familiar with the job and have been great in helping me get more familiar with the job. It's getting easier day by day and I am enjoying the challenge. I've seen my relationship with God grow a lot even in these short 6 weeks and I'm excited to see what the next year holds.
And now forward and onward to Madagascar! We were scheduled to set sail tomorrow (3 August) but there have been a few delays due to some of the maintenance work going on. Since when does fixing something ever go completely according to plan?? :) Please join us in praying that all of the projects can be finished up with good time so we can be on our way. We love Madagascar and its people and are so ready to get back there.
To God be the glory!
