Good-bye Benin.

Last Tuesday, December 8th, we left Cotonou, Benin and we are on day 6 of sailing around the west coast of Africa.  Right now, we are somewhere around Guinea, about to head north towards Tenerife later this evening/ early morning.

In the days getting ready to sail, we needed extra eyes on the ship and around the ship to make sure no un-wanted swimmers or stow-aways joined us.  There were scheduled "swimmer's watch" from 9:00pm-6:30am every night for the last 2 weeks before the sail.  Becca and I did a 2:00-4:00am watch on the bridge (front) of the ship.  Although it was in the middle of the night, we had a fun time talking, watching the fishing boats that get an early start on the day, and knowing that we did our part to help the ship prepare for sail.

Another thing that had to be done before we sail is cleaning the coolers of the engine.  When a ship sits in one spot for 10  months at a time, there can be quit the build up.  In this picture... the right side is clean and the left side still has sand, shells and even crabs in it.  In order for the engineers to clean the coolers, the generators have to be turned off and the ship has a black-out day.  Unfortunatenly, the first clean out was unsuccessful, not even a week later it was dirty again, so another black-out afternoon took place.  But the good news is, it worked because we are having a successful sail.

The Land Rovers and Nissan Patrols had to be loaded...

They are strapped down on deck 8.

Kelly, Becca, Jesse and I Monday night... our last night out in Benin.  We are at Coin Grill, a place the 4 of us enjoyed going.

My last sunrise in Benin... it was a good one.

Tuesday Morning, 10:00am the Gangway being lifted.

Kelly and I watching the excitement of getting ready to sail.

The tug boats connecting.

One of the fishing boats waving good-bye.

And we are off... you can see the gaping hole between the boats of where we sat for 10 months.

The end of our dock...

Good-bye Benin...

I loved every moment of getting to serve with Mercy Ships during part of their field service in Benin.  There are many things that I will miss about Benin, Africa and even Mercy Ships, but I think i'm ready for my next "chapter" in life.

(A more detailed wrap-up blog to follow in the next couple of weeks).