Sailing Away

Hello Everyone!

We have left Ghana! After 9 months of serving in this wonderful nation, on Sunday Feb 25th we pulled up our anchor and set sail for our next destination - Liberia. We originally were intended to leave berth 10, Tema Port at 4pm, however due to some engine trouble we were postponed. When we went to bed on Sunday no one was sure whether we would wake up in Ghana, or in the middle of the ocean! When this photo was taken at 3.30pm on Sunday - we all thought we were going in the next half hour.

I was woken by my room mate at 1.30am to tell me that we were leaving. Half of the ship were out on the deck in their pyjamas, and it was hard to wake myself up enough to focus on what was going on! Pretty shortly after we got up to the deck where we could see, they lifted the gangway onto the ship. Our mooring lines were removed and we were tugged out into the harbour by two friendly tug boats. They let us go, and with a lot of shouting our goodbyes and waving, we were on our own, sailing off into the deep blue sea.

The next day we woke up about 60 miles south of Ghana, tied up beside a fuel bunker. We spent the day there - loading enough fuel to make the 3 day sail to Liberia. It was great to just hang out on the ship, and feel free!! We saw dolphins, squid and even turtles swimming by! Just in case you are wondering what we do with our twenty or so Mercy Ships vehicles and our post op unit - we loaded them into the holds, and those that didn't fit - onto the decks!

The next two days (Tues and Weds) we sailed up the West African coast, from Ghana past the Ivory Coast and into Liberian waters. We had an awesome time on the sail, and to my suprise I was not even sea sick! We had lunch and dinner outside on the decks most days, and would stroll up to the bow to look over at the ocean.

One evening we even had a worship service on the bow - the musicians had organised all the amplifiers and instruments, so we could woship our creator in the middle of the ocean whilst the sun set in front of us. It was the most amazing experience hard to find words to describe how magnificent it was!

During the sail we were allowed up onto the bridge (where they sail the ship from) and to observe the officers and helmsmen at work. It was great! When we were up there we got a chance to look out for oncoming ships and storms on the radar. We spotted a large storm and about 10 minutes later it hit! Wind, rain and thunder and lightening. It was truly awesome to be on the bridge at that time. This plaque here is on the bridge and it made us all laugh - something to keep in mind when you are sailing around the seas.

I had a great time sailing - even those annoying lifeboat drills were worth it! This morning we spent our last couple of hours on the bow (front) of the ship before we were banned from being there due to us arriving in Monrovia. The other important thing I must mention is that it was the Anastasis' last ever sail with passengers. This beautiful ship is now out of date and will be scrapped in June. It is then that the brand new 'Africa Mercy' will take over and continue the work we are doing.

So not only was the sail something to remember forever, but it was also making history. Anastasis is the Greek word for 'Resurection', and I am priviledged to have been one of her many crew members over the last 25 years. As the T-Shirt says - 'Her service is finished, but Gods legacy lives on.'