The hole in the side of the ship is closed now, the new generators have been moved into position and are now in the process of being installed along with the new air conditioning units. (Below are photos of the hole in the ship and a new generator in the warehouse before installation.)
It was amazing to see how they moved the four huge 30-ton generators into place with jacks, blocks, rollers, wenches and lots of manpower - it was kind of like watching well orchestrated performance complete with conductor. It is amazing all of the stuff going on in such a relatively small space. Sparks fly down in the engine room from the acetylene torches and welders weld all over, even under the floor so you have to watch where you step. I got to talk to a fellow who was inspecting welds with dye penetrant and magnetic particle methods of non-destructive inspection (NDI) similar to the work I did on helicopters in the military. That was fun for me since I understood the processes well. Most of the work has been happening while the ship is in dry dock. 
It is really cool to see the ship from the bottom of the dry dock. There is a huge hull down there about 18 feet high that usually only the divers get to see. 
Everyone is encouraged that things are moving along pretty much on schedule at the moment.A few weeks ago we had open house at the Academy. 
School is going well for the children. This year volunteers are teaching "life skills" classes for the students. I am teaching a photography class for the next few weeks and I have six junior high and high school students in my class. Others are teaching cooking, gardening, and being a good neighbor (community service). Last month the kids were offered their choice of cheer leading, which Bethany very much enjoyed, outdoor survival skills - Joey's pick, auto mechanics, and dress making.
School is going well for the children. This year volunteers are teaching "life skills" classes for the students. I am teaching a photography class for the next few weeks and I have six junior high and high school students in my class. Others are teaching cooking, gardening, and being a good neighbor (community service). Last month the kids were offered their choice of cheer leading, which Bethany very much enjoyed, outdoor survival skills - Joey's pick, auto mechanics, and dress making.Also this month Jenny, Bethany, David, and I helped to clean up and paint a local parsonage. 
Bethany had a lot of fun mopping with a local girl her age named Namagugu, Zulu for "precious". 
Joey helped in the galley that day to prepare for a braai (South African barbecue) that we were doing here in conjunction with a church some crew had been attending in Ballito. To braai is a very popular past time among the white South Africans at least. Hardly a gathering goes by without a Braai, even in rainy weather. Joey and I went to Durban to Northside Church http://www.northside.org.za/ for a men's get together on the 15th. We had a braai and played rugby in the fellowship hall. The pastor spoke briefly on courage. Afterwards we spent the night at the home of one of the families in the church because of our curfew of 6pm at Appelsbosch (it has since been extended til later since we now have a shuttle service - using the land rovers was too expensive and difficult in terms of maintenance so we now have shuttles going to a few locations in Durban). I was able to pick our hosts' brains a bit about living in South Africa. The following morning we had an English breakfast at a burger place called Wimpy - wonderful. It was a great time. Joey really seems to enjoy the fellowship at Northside.
Bethany had a lot of fun mopping with a local girl her age named Namagugu, Zulu for "precious". Joey helped in the galley that day to prepare for a braai (South African barbecue) that we were doing here in conjunction with a church some crew had been attending in Ballito. To braai is a very popular past time among the white South Africans at least. Hardly a gathering goes by without a Braai, even in rainy weather. Joey and I went to Durban to Northside Church http://www.northside.org.za/ for a men's get together on the 15th. We had a braai and played rugby in the fellowship hall. The pastor spoke briefly on courage. Afterwards we spent the night at the home of one of the families in the church because of our curfew of 6pm at Appelsbosch (it has since been extended til later since we now have a shuttle service - using the land rovers was too expensive and difficult in terms of maintenance so we now have shuttles going to a few locations in Durban). I was able to pick our hosts' brains a bit about living in South Africa. The following morning we had an English breakfast at a burger place called Wimpy - wonderful. It was a great time. Joey really seems to enjoy the fellowship at Northside.I have been spending a lot of time hanging up laundry here and keeping things running smoothly in the household. I've done a bit of photography and a bunch of other stuff that has come along, like the photography course. I'm learning a bit of Zulu with it's many clicking sounds. That's fun, but not particularly easy considering that my mouth is not used to producing some of the sounds necessary to communicate. Jenny is plenty busy working on writing policies and procedures with no immediate end in sight. We have been living the country so we have had great opportunities to see and play with some cool creatures. David and his buddies find all manner of small critters, from very friendly chameleons
to large moths, 
to snails, very odd caterpillars that carry their homes around with them, 
and even a small snake. 
I spend some time documenting the collection in photos. The boys are loving being boys and exploring I just hope they don't find any puff adders or black mambas! The Academy had a big camp out this past weekend in the soccer field here. We had a big fire with songs and s'mores. What a nice opportunity to be outdoors! I finally got a few good photos of the Jacaranda trees that bloom here in the spring. What lovely color!
It's nice to be in a place where we can experience Spring again! It's a little weird that its Fall back home, but still very, very nice.
to large moths, to snails, very odd caterpillars that carry their homes around with them, and even a small snake. I spend some time documenting the collection in photos. The boys are loving being boys and exploring I just hope they don't find any puff adders or black mambas! The Academy had a big camp out this past weekend in the soccer field here. We had a big fire with songs and s'mores. What a nice opportunity to be outdoors! I finally got a few good photos of the Jacaranda trees that bloom here in the spring. What lovely color!It's nice to be in a place where we can experience Spring again! It's a little weird that its Fall back home, but still very, very nice.John
