In case any of you were wondering, 14 days of sailing with
no land in sight is a LOOOONG time! I boarded the Africa Mercy in the Canary
Islands and on July 27th we said goodbye to Tenerife and our friends
in Spain and started our journey across the Atlantic Ocean. It’s been an
eventful sail, but we made it to the Congo and settled into our new dock
space/home for the next 10 months. It feels great to be on solid ground and
even better to be back in African.
 |
| Leaving Tenerife |
 |
| My cabin (I have the top bunk) |
I knew coming back to the ship after being gone 7 weeks this
summer would be different. It’s always difficult transitioning into something
new. People come and go from the ship all the time and at the end of last
outreach in Guinea, several of my close friends left the ship. So, coming back
for me meant finding my place and group.
It’s always kindof cool to see what groups form at the beginning of a
new outreach, connections that are made…. Being at sea for 2 weeks definitely
sped up that process and created some great bonds with friends!
 |
| flying kites on the top deck |
During the sail I did “a little” training. I completed BLS
(Basic Life Support), ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support), and PALS (Pediatric
Advanced Life Support). All of you
medical professionals out there can appreciate the amount of time and studying
that went into that. I spent the first week of the sail either studying or
sitting/rocking in a classroom. One of
my favorite things about sailing is that when dolphins or whales are spotted an
announcement is made overhead and whether you’re on a break in the café, in a
meeting, working, or in class everyone gets up and runs outside for the best
view. We might have had a few breaks for
dolphin watching during that week ;) My brain has been stretched this sail and
it feels great to learn and practice new skills.
 |
| Dolphins! |
One night, during a study session, a few of us started
talking and at the end of the conversation, for various reasons, 3 of us
decided to begin a 10 day detox diet based off the Daniel fast. What could we
eat, you ask? Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and lots of water to drink. We thought the sail would be a great time to
do this since we wouldn’t have the temptation of restaurants and such. However,
fresh produce doesn’t typically last 14 days and it wasn’t like we could go to
the market and find healthy alternatives. So, for 9 days we ate salads, a large
variety of fruits and vegetables, lots of almonds… On day 9 the ship ran out of
lettuce and fresh fruit and that coupled with me being sick I had to call it
quits. I’m proud of our willpower and
effort though. It amazed me how much of my satisfaction comes from eating good
food. The first several days weren’t too
bad, but after that I lost my desire to even go into the dining room because I
knew I wouldn’t be able to eat what I wanted.
 |
| hammocks on deck 7 |
And I can’t talk about this sail without talking about
crossing the line. Mariners have many traditions, but one of the bigger ones
revolves around crossing the various lines that crisscross the globe. These are
called “line-crossing ceremonies.” There’s a long list of them if you google
it, but the biggest is crossing the equator (on a ship). In the maritime world, someone who has yet to
cross the equator is known as a Pollywog and then once they do they become a
Shellback. And when you cross the
equator at the prime meridian you become what is known as a Royal Diamond
Shellback (or an Emerald Shellback as the US Navy calls it). It’s actually the rarest form of Shellback
there is. Kinda cool, huh?! So, Monday
night we crossed the equator and prime meridian at 0.00 and 0.00 and in
following mariner tradition, we had a “line-crossing ceremony” onboard the
Africa Mercy. It wasn’t exactly the same, there was no hazing or anything like
that, but it was fun. We played tug-o-war on the bow so that we could go “over”
the line, we limbo’d and went “under” the line, and then we did a little “line”
dancing ;) But that wasn’t quite enough for me and 2 of my friends (the same
two that did the cleanse with me actually).
We decided we were going to get piercings to commemorate this special
occasion. Two of us had our helix (top of the ear) pierced and the other had her
nose pierced. We don’t have a piercing artist onboard (I guess that isn’t a big
enough need on a hospital ship) so we recruited a few friends to do the job…and
gathered some hospital supplies to improvise.
A few IV needles later and we had new jewelry J It was a fun way to celebrate and definitely
the highlight of my sail.
 |
| The limbo |
 |
| Crossing the line |
So, that brings us to the end of 13 days at sea. We docked
in Congo yesterday and today I’m going to explore my home for the next year.
