Hola! Greetings from Granadilla, Tenerife. In many ways a lot has happened operationally since my last post two months ago, but personally not much has transpired. Here are the highlights.

• Since May 1^st our crew has reduced from 239 to 115.
• It was announced that our new “Target Date” or the earliest date we would re-enter Senegal, is January 25, 2021. We plan to stay in Tenerife performing maintenance until we depart to Senegal.
• I officially became Supply Manager onboard the ship
• We are still confined to the ship and our 300 yard long pier we are docked at. As of today we have been quarantined on the ship for 121 days.
• Since my last post I have officially been away from home more than a year. (June 10^th)

The change in the target date has forced me to review my own future plans.  As it stands I am committed to staying until mid-December. In the coming months if it appears the January return the Senegal is likely I may extend a couple months to provide continuity as we start a new field service.  I think the return to Senegal could be an exciting and rewarding time.  

Since my last post I have officially become “Supply Manager” aboard the ship.  So far so good. The job is certainly not boring.  We receive weekly orders of local produce and some specialty items for our kitchen and store onboard. Our local delivery company has a habit of providing us “bonus” items. The first few bonuses were very welcome items (Tortilla Chips & Salsa, Chocolate Bars, Tubs of icecream). The most recent “free item” was not as welcome, 40lbs of Cow tongue… Hopefully we can get creative and make some tacos or something…

Another perk of being supply manager is I am now in charge of all the paper goods on the ship. In light of the “Global Toilet Paper Crisis” I believe this now makes me “unofficially” the richest person on the ship.

Overall the ship is so different now from how it was even 6 weeks ago. The reduction of crew has resulted in the ship becoming much more quiet.  First of all, most of the families have left, meaning less kids running around playing. Secondly there are less people per cabin resulting in many people having access to much needed solitude.  By about 8pm each evening approximately 90% of the crew are either watching a movie, playing a board game, or reading a book. 

I myself am enjoying the solitude and quiet time.  At the same time there are plenty of friends to spend time with doing the above activities, as well as cooking group dinners/desserts and the occasional round of Mario kart. We are all anxious to be able to get off ship to enjoy the beaches and hike the volcano right outside our ship. We still remain optimistic we will walk on dry land someday soon.

I know many people back home are still restricted in their movement and social activities.  Though we are stuck on the weirdest cruise ever, we are blessed right now to be able to be in a community of our 100 closest friends. I am enjoying the solitude but I always enjoy hearing from people back home, so do not hesitate to reach out via email or WhatsApp.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayer! God bless and stay safe out there!