Marine Memories

It was a very strange experience - this time a year ago… I was awaiting the final confirmation of which day my cargo ship would be ready for me to embark at Tilbury Port on the River Thames, to take me to Dakar in West Africa. From there I would travel on by road to the Gambia (no such ships were able to take passengers straight to my final destination).

The world of shipping scheduling is clearly considerably less predictable than, say, rail or air travel! My Italian shipping line, Grimaldi, who would take me on their vast vessel, Grande Nigeria, had told me that my “estimated date of departure” was truly only an estimate - I should be prepared for it to change. Indeed, it kept changing! Shifting back a few days, then a few days more…

It was a surreal and unsettling experience. Almost all my things had been put on another ship (to go straight to the Gambia). My one big remaining bag sat with me at my parents’ house, as we awaited the day to say farewell. Thumbs-a-twiddling…

Boxes, guitar and surfboards entrusted to another ship...

As I look back now on that strange experience, a year on, I am still very glad that I chose to travel that way. “But why??” - you may well ask… If you’ve stumbled upon this blog more recently and don’t know my reasons, please feel free to go back to these posts I wrote around the time:

• Setting Sail - written just as I boarded the boat
• Voyage Stage 1 - written a few days in
• Unusual Journeys 1: The Boat - written afterwards to give more information and reflection 
• (Unusual Journeys 2: The Bus - not about the boat... but about the next leg which was also a bit of an adventure - for me at least!)

The reason I’m posting this is actually because I was recently very entertained by noticing that the Tucks, some of my fellow passengers from the boat, wrote a brilliant piece about the journey here - they capture really well how amusing and bizarre some of the experiences on board were! They have an amazing website about all their travels all around the world. Extraordinary.

Containers on board the ship

It made me laugh out loud, remembering and reminiscing! If you’re interested, you can continue reading their blog post and follow the boat journey as it continued from here in West Africa, where I got off, across the Atlantic to where they were heading in South America, on big and exciting travel adventures. I’d love you to read it - it gives an excellent insight into the unusual experience and how hilarious it was at times! (The equator-crossing ceremony is very odd!)

It was good recently to be able to hop on a plane and return to the UK in a number of hours for some ‘home assignment’ and holiday. It’s an amazing blessing to be able to do that so easily. But I am so glad that I took that boat when I did, enabling me to transition more gradually, with a bit more time to reflect, prepare and pray. So maybe, if God ever leads me to return to the UK for longer, I’d contact Grimaldi again - hoping to be reunited with Salvi and Captain Super Mario…