Bye bye Appelsbosch

Last night was our last sleepless night at Appelsbosch (whining dog ALL NIGHT LONG outside our window). Today we finished packing before breakfast, left the Bosch about 10ish, and arrived at the ship early afternoon. And how great it is to be back onboard! It's hot (no a/c yet on Decks 5,6 & 7), and still only partly lit, but we're back in our own cabin with carpet, our own toilet, wi-fi, and only a short walk from the facilities. Slowly life will return to normal over the next couple of days as more generators are turned on and I get my office space back. Then I'll be able to get back to blogging, with photos. Meanwhile, the kids are very happy to be reunited with their toys and shoes, and spent an hour making a mess with them whilst Sally and I tried to unpack and bring order to things. Then we went for a very refreshing swim in the pool - yes, it is open at last! Olly

Beard update

2nd Officer Charles and I have stopped shaving, and aren't going to shave again until we sail. Every day we are delayed in Durban is being reflected by the length of our facial hair. Olly

Update update

Things are pretty crazy here. The ship is moving into a new phase of "almost being completed". This coming week the engineers will test one of the new generators - please pray for that. The test will show what further work needs to be done, and will give a better indication of when we can all move back onboard. Meanwhile, 30 or 40 of us are travelling daily to get the ship into shape before we sail - cleaning, loading, unloading, stacking, preparing for sea, etc etc. My team and I are converting 3 of our oldest Land Rovers (333, 482 & 784) in to patient transport ambulances, so we can shuttle patients between the ship and our Hospitality Centre in Sierra Leone. And over the last week the number of crew staying at Appelsbosch has grown daily - I reckon we must have gained another 30 or 40. So, please pray for a speedy and safe conclusion to the dockyard phase, and successful tests and trials, and a prompt departure from Durban. Thanks, Olly

Family photos

Here are some of the photos we took whilst my parents visited over the last 3 weeks...

At the waterfalls at Harburg:

At a crocodile farm outside Ramsgate:

On the beach:

At our holiday home:

At the garage:

On the river:

At Oribi Gorge:

On the beach:

Sadly, today we returned to Appelsbosch after a fantastic 2 weeks living in a real house like a real family...and surprise surprise, the place was shrouded in mist and rain, yet again. It was good to see friends again, but we CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO SIERRA LEONE! Olly

Advertisement Feature

So, yesterday the clutch on our little Citroen Picasso broke. Here are the guys that helped me in the Ramsgate/Margate area on the South Coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa.

Roedolf Fourie of Giorgio Express tow-trucks: 039 317 3534. Provided friendly service and great local advice about where to take the car, and even took me there the next day. And a Christian too - very interested in what we are doing here.

Johann van der Merwe and Etienne Goosen (100% Boer), ProTech Auto: 082 493 6873 and 076 889 6714. Worked flat out to get the clutch fixed in less than a day! And they've got a extremely cool Land Rover Defender 300 tdi tow truck.

May God bless them all. Olly

Cheeky monkeys!

Vervet monkeys, typical to many parts of South Africa, are really cute. A troop of them hang out in the garden of the house we are staying in, and it is fun to see them moving around with their tiny babies clinging to their mummy's tummies.

However, today we came back from the beach only to find a load of them had raided our house, and stolen most of our fruit and bread, and made a BIG mess in the process! My parents even had to throw a couple out! Bless 'em! Olly

Merry Christmas

It's been a while. I've not blogged for a couple of weeks, simply because there was nothing worth blogging about. Life at Appelsbosch stays the same: it remains misty and cool. Life on the ship stays the same: slowly the engineers are finalising the refit. Meanwhile, my parents arrived in South Africa a week ago, and we are now staying in a beautiful house in Ramsgate, about 3 hours from Appelsbosch on the south coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal, having a great time in the sunshine, playing on the beach etc etc. Anyway, Merry Christmas! Olly

Africa Mercy update

Thanks, Chuck, for another great photo. So, the new and improved Africa Mercy, still moored at the repair wharf: note the new and huge "URL" down the side, the new and huge logo on the funnel, and the new and smaller exhaust pipes coming out of the funnel, and also the frame for the Deck 8 canopy. Great. Progress continues...

Olly

I'm having another breakdown

On Saturday one of our Nissans broke down. The beast weighed 2400 kgs compared to a Land Rover's 1943 kgs...nevertheless I towed the Nissan 11kms back to Appelsbosch in a Landy. On Monday a tow truck came to take the Nissan to a workshop, and the driver boasted he would have no problem towing it, until he tried to lift it! His truck nearly took off at the front, whilst the Nissan barely cleared the ground for the long tow to Pietermaritzburg. The photos hardly do it justice.

Olly

Ghana bans second-hand knickers

BBC: Market traders in Ghana will be banned from selling second-hand underwear from next February, trade regulators say. According to the Ghana Standards Board, used pants - and other second-hand goods like handkerchiefs and mattresses - are unhygienic and could pose a health hazard. Some traders in a market in the capital, Accra, told the BBC they were unhappy the move might affect business.

The BBC's David Amanor in the city says there is a lot of consumer demand for second-hand clothing, often imported from Europe, as it is cheaper than locally produced items. It is the same in many African countries. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11845851

Shame! If you've lived in West Africa for any length of time you'll know how important quality 2nd-hand clothes from Europe and the USA are to the people - they will last way longer than the locally made or cheap imports, and will be passed down, literally, from kid to kid until they fall apart. Olly

Logo completed

It's bigger; it's better (etc etc). Thanks, Chuck, for this great photo of the newly installed bigger and better Mercy Ships logo on the Africa Mercy's funnel (and note the new configuration of exhaust pipes on top). The two white things at the bottom of the photo are the containerised oxygen plant (left, covering part of the logo) and one of my trailers containing Land Rover parts (right). Olly

Ground Hog Day

Appelsbosch update: same old same old.
Ship update: same old same old.
Weather update: same old same old.
Olly

Hair lock

Over the years Sally has tried many different styles with Libby's hair, from simple Afros to elaborate braids and extensions. But each style takes ages to do, and costs money, and only lasts for a couple of months. Enter Nanita: she has two Liberian daughters too, and has braid-locked their hair (like small dreadlocks), which will stay in the girls hair forever with minimum of maintenance, and will even grow as their hair grows. So today Nanita locked Libby's hair: it took over 8 hours, during which time Libby watched five movies whilst Nanita put in 187 braid-locks. Thank you so much, Nanita. Below, Libby with a simple 'fro before the braiding began:



Below, half way there:

Below, Libby and Nanita:

Below, the finished product.

It's a bit short at the moment, but as the hair grows the new hair can be locked into the original braids using something like a darning needle, and will get longer and longer. It is very low maintenance, and she can even shampoo it like real hair, which she couldn't do with normal braids or extensions. Great. A significant weight off Sally's mind! Olly

Pool's progress

The pool's wave catcher has now been installed. It looks good, but only time will tell if it will be effective. Olly

Haircut!

Sing hallelujahs! Noah was persuaded to have his hair cut yesterday. A great improvement from previously, don't you think? Olly

Harburg Waterfall*

(*I think that's what it is called). On Saturday we visited the neighbourhood's best kept secret - a hidden waterfall and gorge, only a few miles from Appelsbosch, just outside the settlement of Harburg. It was fantastic. Our walk involved a long climb down the valley side to the bottom of the falls, on a path that hadn't seen other walkers for a long time. And most unexpectedly, there wasn't one drop of litter anywhere to be seen.

Magnificent views, eh? Olly

Uncle Ben

No, not a fat man with his own brand of rice. Or a bear who lived in the Everglades (or was that Gentle Ben?)...Last weekend my brother came to visit whilst on business in East Africa and the Middle East. It was lovely to see him again after 4 years apart, and we had a great 3 days together. He is now a big fan of Appelsbosch. Olly

Happy Libby Day

On the 11th November 2005 we picked up Libby from her orphanage in Monrovia. And what a beautiful strong Liberian girl she is growing into!

Thanks, Uncle Ben, for this lovely new family photo. Olly

Guy Fawkes Night

Today, 5th November, is Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night, in the UK. Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators tried to blow-up the British Houses of Parliament on 5th November 1604, but were caught red handed, and sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered (drawn by horse on a wooden hurdle to the place of execution, and once there were ritually hanged, emasculated, disemboweled, beheaded and quartered (chopped into four pieces).) Fawkes managed to jump from the scaffold and broke his neck before the full sentence was executed. I am surprised to see that here in South Africa, Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated too. Any excuse for letting off fireworks and having a big fire, eh? Olly

Shipyard update 5th November

Work continues. The funnel now boasts four new "aero-dynamic" exhausts (currently painted red), for each of the four new generators:



The funnel now looks very different, with a total of 6 newer and smaller exhausts, and four remaining big old exhausts for the four main engines.

The deck-plates in the engine room are gradually being replaced, as are the miles of pipework:

The Deck 8 canopy frame has been put up, with the help of the shore crane:

Welders are creating a wave-catcher in the pool:

It's bigger; it's better: a new Mercy Ships logo is going onto the funnel, twice the size of the one that was fitted ten months ago in Tenerife:

Jeff and Bowie are busy replacing sinks in the galley. The washing area will now have a triple sink in it:

Lastly, contractors are replacing much of the original flooring in the Deck 7 corridors, which involves removing the old lino and cement, and grinding or needle-gunning the deck before applying paint, new cement and lino. Very messy though: look at the red dust on everything in the photo:


S'all for now. Olly