Veloma Tamatave, Sawabona Durban!

Our hearts were full as we wrapped up a successful, albeit shortened field service, in Madagascar in June. It was time to exchange one flag for another as we sailed across the Indian Ocean  to Durban, South Africa for the Africa Mercy's annual period of maintenance, or as we affectionately term it on board, shipyard! But more on this is our next blog post.


In this post we say veloma (goodbye) to the wonderful nation of Madagascar. But really it was not goodbye but just a "see you later" as we rested in the knowledge that soon we would return to this land we had come to love.
(Photo: Unknown)

The gangway goes up!
(Photo credit above and below: Jen Peterschmidt)



The berth may look empty in this photo but now it is bustling again with patients, land rovers, containers and crew. Just how we like it!

The guys on the tug gave us a little assistance with out stubborn anchor which had been dutifully securing us in place against the big surges battering the ship for a large part of last field service.

Back at sea where the sunsets and sunrises are God's masterpiece!
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(Photo credit above and below: Jen Peterschmidt)

Sailing is a great time for fun!!! With nowhere much to be, at no particular time, the crew bond together is some great activities such as the Captain's Dinner and Mocktail party! After a seafood feast we gathered in the café for some sweet and zesty delights!

Captain Tim grabs a Dolphin Colada.
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Durban on the horizon!
(Photo: Unknown)

Durban Harbour is one of the biggest in the world so the pilot does not come by boat but by helicopter. It is pretty cool!
(Photo credit: Sue Clynes)

Continuing with the theme from my last post....Dormac Shipyard, our home for the next few months!
(Photo credit: Patricia Royston)

From the Madagascar flag to the South African flag.
(Photo: Unknown)

Arriving in shipyard also brought about some inevitable goodbyes that we had been dreading for months. There was no more time left and the day we left for Australia, less than 48 hours after the ship arrived in South Africa, we said goodbye to over a dozen close friends, including our best friends on board. It was so hard for us to be the first to leave and to not be able to be there when each of our friends left to honour them and their journey with Mercy Ships.


One of the hardest goodbye was to Captain Tim Tretheway, his wife Sharon and their son Nathaniel whose combined service with Mercy Ships totalled over 50 years!!! They left the day after us to applause, as they descended the gangway for the very last time, and several extended honks of the ship's horn. Above Tim hands over his Captain's epaulettes of eight stripes to our temporary Captain, Jurryan.
(Photo credit: David Forrest)

(Photo credit: Patricia Royston)

The Mercy Ships traditional farewell lining of the dock. One last salute for the Tretheway family!
(Photo credit: Andrea Diallo)

Our hardest goodbye to date, our ship family, the Szarek family. Jess with Charlotte Forrest and Deborah Szarek. Jess and I cried in the van taking us to the airport, all the way to immigration. It was a sombre ride to the airport as we quietly reflected on all those we had just said goodbye to and how life on board was going to be very different upon our return from Australia!

The Szarek's left a few weeks after we left for Oz. That last walk down the gangway is very, very tough and I cannot imagine doing it ourselves, one day. Just as the first walk up the gangway is filled with euphoria and emotion (I cried), so the last walk is also filled with emotion and the weight of a thousand memories.


We left shipyard just 48 hours after our arrival into Durban and what a tumultuous time it was from when we left the shores of Tamatave to the moment we stepped into the van to go to King Shaka International Airport. Things would never be quite the same again.
(Photo credit: Patricia Royston)