2013 Ships Log – Page 15

I think we need a bigger trolley…

With one sleep to go it suddenly occurred to me, FOOD !!! … that’s right, we’ll need some food aboard !! Can’t just tell all the volunteers to eat before they leave home?!

Rest assured, our planning had extended to the purchase of food, and lots of it, it’s just that with the boat resembling something of a construction site for the past few months we had nowhere to store it.

So it was that yesterday afternoon, armed only with a supermarket trolley (that looked like it needed drug testing) and one serious credit card limit, Linda combed the aisles of Campbell’s Cash and Carry in Clayton for everything on her list. (No ice-cream, sorry volunteers) And maybe you can help me, (a topic of discussion that held the trolley up for some time in aisle 12) … how much toilet paper should we load aboard for 4 months, really? Apparently having women aboard makes a difference? I must check what Captain Cook had to say on the topic.

Smooth seas, fair winds and just one more sleep to go.

Rob Latimer

www.msm.org.au

She Floats!!

After five months of intensive activity aboard, (during which time Chimere has been parked up on the high and dry) including a re-build of the cockpit, new diesel generator, sails and a very long list of other things, we finally got Chimere back in the water late Monday afternoon!!

2013-chimere-floats
Greetings from MSM

It’s just 5 sleeps till we set sail from Westernport, initially bound for Sydney and from there to Pt Vila, Vanuatu in time to meet the first medical team in early July.

2013-chimere-dry-dock

With most major jobs having been completed we are now in a position to tidy up in preparation for the stowing of food, dental equipment, spectacles, spare parts and donated goods – not to mention 1,400 litres of diesel and 1,000 litres of water.

Thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement.

Smooth seas, fair breeze and She Floats!!

Rob Latimer
www.msm.org.au

Mud, Mud Glorious Mud

They say if you throw enough mud some of it will stick. Well, on Sunday there was a lot of mud being thrown around and fortunately a lot of it did stick – in the shape of a Low Smoke Stove; the theme of the afternoon’s workshop at the back of the Latimer’s house in Ringwood North.

In this case, the making of mud pies is all about the making of mud bricks which can then be made into “Low Smoke Stoves” for household cooking in the remote villages of Vanuatu where Medical Sailing Ministries (MSM) will be transporting medical teams in July, August and September this year.

Visting Ni-vans, (“Ni-van” is a term used for people from Vanuatu, much like Australians are called Aussies) Patrick, Alec and John, who are here on temporary farm-worker visas, got down and dirty during the demonstration with the making of stoves being a useful skill they will take back upon their return. It’s a sad fact that most village cooking in Vanuatu and in developing communities around the world, is done on open fires where smoke inhalation causes a range of medical problems; particularly for vulnerable women and young children.

In fact it’s estimated that more people die each year of smoke related illnesses (and we’re not talking cigarettes) worldwide than die of malaria. The building and use of Low Smoke Stoves helps to reduce smoke inhalation. It also produces a more efficient heat resulting in less wood being used – a direct saving for the environment.

Thinking of making your own stove, then download the Low Smoke Stove Manual here http://msm.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/2010_3SLS_Stove_Easy_Guide.pdf

and view photos of making bricks in Vanuatu villages here http://msm.org.au/2010-mission/2010-photos/2010-mud-brick-stove-ministry/

And as we say in the stove making business… “don’t treat mud like dirt.”

cheers and thanks for your interest

Rob Latimer B. App. Mudbrick Making