Drydock

On Tuesday evening, for the first time in 12 years, I stood onboard a ship going into drydock.

2 tugs pulled us out from the quayside, turned us round and then lined us up with the dock.

Earlier in the day, the previous occupant had left the dock. Then it had to be emptied so that all the massive wooden blocks could be precisely postioned on the dock floor for Logos Hope to sit on.

About 5 pm they began filling the dock again and by 7.30 the dock was filled up to the level of the sea and the huge gate swung open to let us in. A number of teams who had been out from the ship arrived while we were coming into the dock and so they cheered us in. However they weren't cheering so much 3 hours later when they were still waiting to get back on board. Until the water has gone down enough for the ship to be resting on the blocks, you can't put the gangways out.

As soon as the water had gone down far enough, the yard workers started cutting the hole in the ship side through which the generator would be taken. I don't know exactly what time the hole was finished but it was after midnight.

On Wednesday, the dock was completely dry. Large concrete blocks were placed next to the hole in the side and steel bars put on top to allow the generator to slide into place. This piece of machinary weighs 40 tonnes so it is no easy job to get it into position.

Throughout the day, the dock workers pressure washed the ships hull and began touching up the paint work. We were able to put on hard hats and go down into the dock. Logos Hope seems big at any time, but when you are standing right underneath it, she is massive.

Late afternoon the genny was lowered down onto the rails and the process began of moving it in to the ship. It took many hours of hard work but by the early hours of the morning, it was in place on the foundations.

Today - Thursday, the side has been welded back on and we are on target to leave the yard on Sunday.

We probably could have been out earlier but Saturday is a national holiday in Sweden - Mid-Summer so everyone is off.

Thankfully the yard have been very kind to us and are allowing all the families to move onboard on Friday evening as our on shore accomodation ends that day.

On Sunday, everyone not sailing with the ship, will be bused over to Koge in Denmark, where we will have a few hours to wait for the ship to arrive.

Meanwhile, back in Edinburgh, Heather and the kids are enjoying meeting up with friends and making the most of their last few days in Scotland. They fly out to Bremen in Germany on Sunday night and stay overnight at a friends house before driving our car up to join the ship in Koge.

ps - we have a nice new logo painted on our funnel now as well.

Birthday's, bbq's and back to Logos Hope

Well I'm writing this from my cabin back onboard Logos Hope in Sweden. The ship is STILL waiting to get into the drydock - we now hope to get in tomorrow evening and be out by Saturday, but we have heard that before. This is the ship that is currently occupying the dock which we hope will leave tomorrow.



This morning I caught an early morning flight from Edinburgh to Copenhagen and then the train over to Landskrona in Sweden. Heather and the kids will spend another week in Edinburgh before flying back to Germany next Sunday and driving up to Denmark to meet the ship on Monday in Koge, just south of Copenhagen.

Looking back, the past week has been a very busy time but a very enjoyable one.
After feeling somewhat unsettled during our first week back in Edinburgh, the past week I was starting to feel more at home just in time to return!
Highlights this week included -

• Spending many hours editing video to make a presentation to show at our churches missions update night on Friday - a great evening for all those there
• Meeting up with an old Doulos friend for a few hours in the city while Heather took the kids to the zoo - they loved seeing the new Ape house
• Visiting RBS (Royal Bank, my former employer) and talking to a good number of friends and former colleagues about what we have been up to
• A fantastic Indian meal with the friends who leant us their car and house for 2 weeks while they were on holiday - Thanks so much Iain and Morven!
• Climbing up Salisbury Craggs above Edinburgh with the kids and seeing the great views of our beautiful city.

On Tuesday, we found out that the ship was delayed a week getting into drydock so it was decided that I would return as planned and the family would stay another week in Edinburgh. The kids were very happy to get another week playing with their friends.

Saturday was a very special day. Heather's granny was 99 on Thursday so we had a celebration meal with a lot of the family getting together for lunch. She is a much loved old lady and everyone was very pleased to be able to celebrate this event with her. Liam and Kara were delighted to be able to play with their Scottish cousins for the day.







Later we had a bbq at Colin's house with some of the family and a few of the people that we had not had chance to meet up with. Although it did start to rain, just as I was about to start cooking, it soon cleared and we had a great evening with friends. It was good to be able to get behind the grill again.

Sunday we were at Carrubbers and it was the Sunday School's anniversary service. The church is 150 years old this year and the kids did an amazing job telling the history of our church - it is quite a story.



Later on, I had to say goodbye to the kids for a week, which was tough as they headed back to their granny's for the night.

My last night in Edinburgh finished around the fire pit in Colin's garden, enjoying the fellowship of our best friends over a nice fire until after midnight.

Looking back, it has been quite a busy and rushed time in Edinburgh but so good to catch up with family and friends. It will probably be next year before we return.

So now it is back to work. Just 12 days until I leave for Trinidad.