Memoirs of a Royal Diamond Shellback

At sea there’s plenty to keep you busy, especially when you are heading to a new port in a new country getting ready for a new field service.  There’s meetings & planning, as well as a lot of computer work.  After all, what else would you be doing for 2 weeks when you can’t get off ship?

Dolphins come to visit

Of course, it’s hard to get any work done when there’s the overhead announcements of “dolphins off the bow” happening throughout the day. 

We left the shores of Tenerife after another 2 months of shipyard work following our Guinea outreach.  Major changes happened in the hospital.  The wards got a new floor when the old train tracks started coming through the old floor.  (Our ship used to be a train ferry in Denmark & the hospital is on the train deck)  We also got another ward to help meet our patient needs.  The ORs got some work done too, the moveable wall between ORs 1 & 2 became permanent & OR 1 became the new PACU.  Its hard to imagine what everything will look like once we unpack & set up, but it should be a nice change.

Worship on the bow is a special time

Sunset from my front porch

During the sail is the only time the bow is open because all the mooring lines are stowed & out of the way.  On nice days, the bow acts like our front porch.  In the evenings, we gather to enjoy the end of the day, watch the sunset & watch for dolphins, flying fish, whales, sharks & sea turtles.

Ok, I bet you are asking yourself, what is a “Royal Diamond Shellback”?  Well, in marine time lore, someone who has crossed the Equator is known as a “Shellback”.  Those new to the sea & haven’t been that far south (or north) are called “Pollywogs”.  When a ship crosses the Equator, there is an initiation of sorts, often involving ropes, sea water, fish & other interesting traditions.  Anyhoo, to become a “Royal Diamond Shellback” (also known as “Emerald Shellback”) one has to not only cross the Equator, but also the Prime Meridian at the same time.

Crossing the Line

Tina & I getting ready to cross the line

Going under the line

A heated tug-of-war on the bow

It just so happened that on our voyage from Tenerife to Congo, we crossed at 0, 0 thus making us “Royal Diamond Shellbacks”.  In order to do it correctly, we had a Line Crossing party, complete with Tug-a-War (being pulled over the line), Limbo (going under the line), Line dancing (self explanatory) & a Congo (get it? Congo!?) line.  Then at around 9 pm August 5, we crossed over to the Southern & Eastern hemispheres.  Unfortunately, the promised dotted lines were not visible because it was night time, but we have proof via GPS.

Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Crossing over to the Southern hemisphere meant that we went from summer to winter & who would have thought that a few degrees of latitude would make that big of a difference in temperature!  Brrrr!  It also didn't help that a big storm by Antarctica was stirring up the waters & causing our big ship to rock & roll!  

These last few days have been a little rough.  I don't get sea sick, but I think I would be enjoying the rocking if I didn’t have to sit in a rolling chair at a computer all day.  I have found myself only 50% productive because I have to wait for the ship to roll the other way to bring me back to my desk!  I finally resorted to strapping my chair to the desk, a wee bit uncomfortable, but at least I’m not playing bumper chairs in the office anymore!

Ready or not, here we come!

Soon we’ll be arriving in the Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville- not the bigger neighbor of the Democratic Republic of the Congo)  A new outreach will start in a country where Mercy Ships has never been before.  Please pray for us, Congo & her people.

Blessings