10 days out of Cork and only 3 days sailing to go before we arrive in Saint Vincent.
Many had dreaded the thought of 2 weeks at sea, but I think there are few onboard now who have not thoroughly enjoyed the past week as we have sailed further south and west.
The average day time temperature this week has been 30c and we have been blessed with clear skies and gentle seas.
On Monday evening, we had our weekly worship night up on the top deck and it was fantastic to praise God as we watched the sun set over the ocean.
The whole ships company is undergoing 2 days of training, split up over either Tues/ Weds or Fri/Sat. The training has included Caribbean orientation, Aids/HIV training, Crowd control, a presentaton on missions for church teams and ways to connect with visitors on deck.
At the same time, many of us are working hard to prepare for the changes that this new region will bring, with larger numbers of people expected to visit the ship. There have been numerous meetings as well as a lot of practical work to get ready, ie preparing a ticket box for the quayside, making new stands to run crowd control ropes, and building wooden partician walls for a new layout on the ministry deck.
It hasn't all been hard work. Some of the technical guys managed to use scrap wood, metal and plastic to make a small salt water pool up on the top deck which has been a big hit, especially with the kids. Liam and Kara were in the pool for at least 3 hours this afternoon & evening.
They have been having Pirate week at school and on Wednesday they all went up for a swim in the pool underneath a "Jolly Roger" flying from the mast.
Yesterday was our 16th wedding anniversary and I managed to keep a surprise from Heather for once, organising to eat out at a private table up on deck with a delicious M&S Indian meal that had come from Cork for the occasion.
Tonight we had a fantastic seafood bbq up on deck with tiger prawns and full size salmon that had been donated in the Faroe Islands. To get us in the Caribbean mood, we had Christian Regae music playing while we ate.
Some of us were left wondering whether we should feel guilty to be having such an amazing experience. But we have a wonderful Father God who likes to bless us so we need to appreciate it while we can.
On Monday morning, we sail into Kingstown, Saint Vincent to a whole new adventure which in many ways in unknown with this new ship. We will no doubt soon be very busy but it is great to have had the chance to relax and recharge our batteries a bit on this voyage.
