Friday 26 July 2013
Port Vila
After a busy morning of final clean-ups and stowing of gear, it was soon time to make my way out to the airport to meet three of the next crew – Andrew Latimer, Denis Flores and Dave Mears. (Rhod Cook and Martin Purcell will be arriving with the nedical team next Friday.)
I’d met a friendly taxi driver – Jerry, earlier in the day and he was more than happy to strike a good price to take me out to the airport, wait for everyone to clear customs and then drive us all back to the seawall here at the Waterfront.
Once all aboard – the three new ones and the three of us flying out on Sunday, it was a time of reflection and appreciation for the fact that the longed-for moment was now here; we were finally aboard the boat and preparing to assist with medical transport.
The weather has remained fine and after insisting that everyone admire the newly painted deck, we set about demonstrating how much of the deck gear works – in particular the halyards we use for lifting bulka-bags in and out of the dinghy and the dinghies themselves.
After a simple amount of instruction and activity, the two dinghies and the 4 large bulka-bags full of gear were lifted and lashed onto the deck – all ready for our “test sail” tomorrow morning; an agreed and important step in building familiarity with how everything works. Not that the new crew are short on sailing skills, it’s just that there are a few new bits of equipment on board which need some explanation.
We all went out to dinner tonight and it was agreed that an early night was a wise thing. Till tomorrow …
Smooth seas, fair breeze and welcome to the new crew.
Rob Latimerwww.msm.org.au
To read older Ships Log posts go to …
http://msm.org.au/category/
To see additional photos of Mission 1 go to …
http://msm.org.au/2013-