Paul just sent me through a link to this video – showing what OM is doing through teams from Logos Hope.

Logos Hope is in the UK this summer! The scheduled port dates are listed below:

Edinburgh 1-14th April
Belfast 29th April – 12th May
Cardiff 27th May – 9th June
London 11-29th June

More info can be found at http://www.hopestartshere.info/

It’s well worth a visit if you get the chance. It’s very unlikely that Logos Hope will be in the UK again in the near future – don’t miss out!

Today is my final (at least for now) day aboard Logos Hope. In the morning devotions there were more briefings about making ready for sea and safety when sailing. This included (and I kid you not) the instruction not to vomit into the wind! In some ways I am rather jealous of those that are going to be sailing for Sweden in a few days time. Obviously it would have made my journey home a little more complicated, but it would certainly have been exciting. Another time perhaps. As the ship leaves from Køge, it marks a real change in focus – from all the project work that has gone in to converting and fitting out the ship from being a ferry to an OM ministry ship. There is a real atmoshpere of excitement and anticipation on board, as well as a hint of aprehension! Still, OM doesn’t run ships for the sake of it – ministry is what they do.

I’ve really enjoyed my time on board – it’s been absolutely fascinating and a really good insight to what a huge project Logos Hope has been, and continues to be. I wish all the crew and volunteers a safe and enjoyable voyage!

As I said at the end of yesterday’s post, I have been struck down with a horrible cold. I guess it’s a bit like the dreaded ‘freshers ‘flu’ that you tend to get with a large number of people coming together from all over the place and living together in close proximity in a large community. I ran out of pills during the night, so this morning I went to see the ship’s doctor. Since I hadn’t actually lost a limb, I was seen by the nurse, who issued me with a ration of paracetamol. This really reminded me that whilst the ship is in port, it’s perfectly easy to pop ashore and go to the shops, but when at sea, it must be completely self-sufficient. Apart from anything else, this is pretty large logistical challenge – there are a lot of mouths to feed, clothes to wash and stuff like that!

Many of the volunteers aboard have not yet sailed on Logos Hope – they joined the ship in Køge. There are daily reminders to begin securing items in cabins and a ship-wide effort to lash down anything large that can move around and cause damage or injury if it gets loose. It’s going to be a whole different environment when the ship is moving about!

Today, there was a follow-up inspection by the surveyor from Lloyds register to check that some issues previously highlighted had been sorted out. One of the bigger (literally) things to sort out was the starboard anchor windlass. It had been discovered that when the brake was let off, the anchor wasn’t able to fall freely into the sea as it should. When the team was trying to fix it, the crane that they need to use to lift bits of it (weighing a couple of tonnes) broke. Late Tuesday night, the team working in the cold and snow completed the re-assembly of the windlass and watched the anchor drop into the sea without hinderance, just as it should.

I’m back in my cabin once again, reflecting on what an extraordinary place to be Logos Hope is. I have spent most of the day in the engine room once again. Most of the team know who I am now and are very tolerant of me being around, and everyone is being very friendly and patient with me. I spent most of the day helping Erik (who is from Faroe, which is where LH is registered and spent her former life as a car ferry. He says he (as have most people from the Faroes) has been on the ship many times as a passenger, which is rather nice) to put a temporary patch on a leaking portion of the exhaust manifold of main engine number 3, and replace the insulation on some other bits. This has resulted in me getting little bits of fibreglass down the sleeves of my overalls which itches horribly! I’ve also started a cold, so this post will be short so that I can get to sleep early. I thought that I would post a few more pictures from yesterday and today.

Wow! I’m struggling to find the right words to describe my first full day aboard Logos Hope. I always knew, intellectually, that what OM are doing with the LH project is a massive undertaking. Today, I got a taste of what it really means and to experience it first-hand has been such an eye-opener.

My alarm went off at 6:20 and I got up and showered (first mistake – more of this later!), then Paul came by my cabin and we went for breakfast. Right from the get-go, people were wanting to talk to Paul and have technical discussions with him – I was starting to realise just how many plates he and the other team leaders are having to keep spinning. Breakfast done, we went to the morning devotions. Listening to the director of the ship speak, I was struck by the vision and commitment of all those who are, and have been a part of this project. It’s already having a great impact – local people and dock workers are saying that there’s something really different about the ship – the atmosphere and sense of purpose are really noticeable.

After devotions we went down for the engine room team briefing. That done I was given my engine room induction (basically safety drills and what all the different alarm signals mean). The engine room is an amazing place – I’ll try to get some photos posted, but they will never be able to convey how noisy it is – and that was without the main engines running. There’s also the heat and smell of oil, diesel and heavy oil everywhere.

The first job I was given to do (and this will make my wife laugh) was to vacuum up a load of collected soot from a leaking exhaust manifold and then to tighten up the bolts on a newly replaced section. This I managed to complete without dropping any spanners into the bowels of the engine, which I was rather pleased about.

My next job, which as it turned out, was to take most of the rest of the day, was to try to find a leak in the emergency bilge system. This, Paul said, would give me a real taste of life in the engine room! The bilge pipes run under the floor plates of the engine room, so the only way to look for leaks is to get a plate up, and crawl into the space below. This is dark, dirty, smelly and cramped. I discovered that I am rather less keen on small enclosed spaces than I thought! We weren’t able to find any obvious leaks in the first section we checked, nor the second, but in the auxilliary engine room, we found a place that had been temporarily patched and that had started to leak again. The patch was removed and the pipe cleaned and prepared for welding. One of the welders then set to work to weld on a patch. While he did this we got on with trying to fix a stuck water valve. While we were doing this, the welder came running in to tell us that whilst trying to weld on the patch, the pipe had burst and was leaking bilge water all over the place, which was obviously bad news! We then spent most of the rest of the afternoon clearing up the mess and collecting 50 or so litres of filthy bilge water up from the leaking pipe. By the time we’d finished that, it was time to stop work for the day and go and get cleaned up for dinner.

After dinner, Paul took me on an extended tour of the ship – it’s amazing how much is going on – I’ll post pictures when I can and I’ll try to describe it all a bit tomorrow. Right now I’m going to try to get some sleep. Something tells me that I’m not going to have to try too hard!

The journey to Copenhagen was pretty straight forward (more so than I expected). My flight left and arrived on time and I was able to negotiate the train journey to Koge. The ship is immediately visible on arrival at the train station – it dominates the skyline and is brightly lit. Paul was waiting to greet me in reception, after I had climbed up the gangway. I was pleased to discover that there was a cabin waiting for me – I was expected!
After a quick coffee and run through of the essential safety stuff (what to do if the ship catches fire or someone falls overboard) it was time for bed. Breakfast at 0700 and then a chance to see round the ship…