By Air or By Sea

The man came out of the office slowly and intentionally.  He was squat and serious and somewhat toad-like.  He looked around to the small group of us, somehow still looking down on us despite his small stature and announced quite self-importantly, “All flights have been cancelled today.”

Our son at the small airport on the small island

Someone in the crowd said, “Why, what’s the problem?”  He paused in his announcement to glower and then went on as if he had never heard the question. “The agency will be contacting you about future flight options.”

Bummer.

That was this morning at 8am.  Megan and I and our youngest son had flown out to the small Island to visit our colleagues there.  The weekend had been great.  It’s been years since we’ve been to the small island and it does wonders to see people at home, in their everyday environment.  It draws you closer to them and you understand them better.  The weekend had been a great success, but it was only meant to be the weekend.  There is a lot of work to do this week because next week our kids come home from boarding school and we want to be less busy. So we were front loading our schedule to open up the following week.  Most pressing were the teacher training exams scheduled for Tuesday morning.  But with no flights on Monday to return to Clove Island, it seemed like I would need to reschedule.

But as we walked back to our colleague's house, she mentioned that I could take the vedette…

Vedettes are the motorized fishing boats.  Equipped with outboard motors, they are the cheapest form of inter-island transport of goods and passengers.  They are about 16ft long and perhaps 4ft wide (that’s a total guess).  The ones that take passengers between islands are regulated somewhat—Everyone is required to register on a passenger list.  Everyone is given a life vest.  The boat must be equipped with 3 outboard motors.  Launches and landings are monitored by the island coast guard.

The beach the vedettes leave from

Our friend lives just a 5 minute walk from where the vedettes launch, so I walked down the beach to assess the possibility.  I soon found someone to talk to.  They let me know that the boat to Clove Island had spots available, and that it would be leaving shortly.  He pointed out to sea and I could see the boat coming in.  If I wanted to take the boat, I would have to decide quickly.

So, without much reflection, it was decided.  Tom would take the boat and Megan and David would wait for the airplane.  Hefting my bag down to the beach, I paid for my ticket and waited to load up.  When the time came, we all waded out into the waters and boarded the boat. 

What was immediately clear to me was that, though these boats are regulated for passenger transport, no one gives any thought to passenger comfort.  The boat has only the simplest, hardest, wooden boards to sit on.  There is simply nothing to hold onto except the side of the boat or perhaps your seat.  The bottom of the boat has been filled with goods (mostly bunches and bunches of green bananas), which means there is no foot room to be found.  We sit four people across on 4 benches.

Tom with colleauges

The thing about the sea is, you can never be sure of what your trip will be like.  Though my nautical knowledge is quite limited, I was able to pick up on two things.  One, the wind was at our back.  This seemed like a positive.  It meant we could go quickly and the spray did not come in the boat much.  The second was less positive: The ocean was choppy.  Choppy is a good word to describe a wavy ocean from the perspective of a vedette, because every time you cut through the top of a wave, the boat slams down and chops the next wave like a knife on a chopping block, making a load smacking sound, jarring your whole body, and making your backside dream of padded seats and pillows.  This happened every few minutes for the first hour of the journey.

Having never traveled this way before from the small island, I don’t know how typical today’s trip was.  I imagine somewhat average.  I never felt unsafe and no one seemed overly concerned—though it was clear no one else was really enjoying themselves either.

On the surface it might seem idyllic, a open air boat ride between two tropical islands, but in reality it is hard to actually appreciate that in the moment.

As we rounded Clove Island, I think we were protected a bit from wind and waves by the island itself, and so the jolts were far less frequent.  But nevertheless it was with joy that 2 1/2 hours after departing we neared the landing beach.  

After a shower and some rest and some lotion on my sunburned skin, I can now think back to some of the good moments of traveling by boat—like flying fish skimming away from the boat.  Or seeing Clove Island suddenly loom up in front of us where a moment before I had seen only a hazy horizon of ocean.  Or coming close enough to Clove Island to see the beaches, mountains, trees and towns that dot its coast and hills.  There was so much beauty, but my fellow passengers and I were blinded and preoccupied with our own discomfort and general misery.

Overall, I am thankful for vedettes. It isn’t an experience I want to repeat anytime soon, but it got me where I needed to be and as with lots of uncomfortable things in life, there is beauty and blessings mixed in if we have eyes to see them.

PRAYERS ANSWERED

We made it to the small island and had a great weekend with our colleagues there. We are excited by the prospect of new workers coming there and a new team starting there next year! Our daughter had her end of term Christmas concert, we could only watch a few clips so far, but it went well. Praise that Tom was able to make it safely back to Clove Island and that he will be able to do his exams as planned. We are also very thankful for our colleagues on the small island who continue to host and take care of Megan and our son. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Pray that Megan and our son can make it back to Clove Island tomorrow (Tuesday). We have heard that the pilots are sick with typhoid, and we haven’t had any confirmations that flights will happen tomorrow either. The studies with the women didn’t happen last week and with Megan stuck on the small island, it is starting to look like they may not start this week either. Pray that in this delay that the desire to meet together and study would only grow and that these women would stay encouraged. Pray that we would be able to get lots of work done this week so we can have a freer time with our kids when they get home from boarding school. Pray for our two kids as they have final exams and have to pack up and deep clean their dorm rooms before traveling home. Pray that they wouldn’t be stressed. Pray also for their travels. They didn’t get direct flights to the islands, and will have an overnight connection in mainland Africa before coming to the big island. We are hoping that after that they will be able to make a same-day connection and not have to spend another night on the big island. Pray that after a long term that they would have the energy and patience for the long travel home and that all the logistics would go smoothly. Pray that this Thanksgiving week would be a week of gratitude, family and thankfulness!