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The following is a report by Michael Ningi on the progress of the repairs of the Evangelos.Greetings from Bowen in the wonderful name of our Lord and Master Jesus. This is a brief report on the trip from Port Moresby to Bowen and the progress on the repair work of the sailing vessel Evangelos The Yacht The Evangelos is a 44-foot Catamaran built in Port Moresby in 1988 and was launched in December 1993. This is the first opportunity for a major refit and it was timely for she really needed a new coat of paint and the dry rot repaired. The Trip The trip from Port Moresby to Townsville took 5 days and four hours. It should have taken us less than that but we had an unreliable gearbox and 16 hours of flat seas meaning we were unable to motor or sail. We cleared customs and rested in Townsville before the final day trip south to Bowen. The Church in Bowen The Bowen Christian Family Centre has taken us into their hearts and is really supporting us well. The senior Pastor, John Robertshaw, is a very missions minded man and is the founder of Coastlands Ministry, which provides a communication gateway for the pastor from the sending church to the crew of the boat. This is done through their modern HF long-range communication base in Bowen, North Queensland. Ps John is also the founder of Reef Rhema a 24-hour FM radio station that brings the Word to the Bowen and Whitsunday region. The Volunteers Bro Don Lamb sailed up from Nelson Bay with his wife and two daughters on their boat to help with the work. Don is a master grade 5 seaman and a shipwright. Bro Maarten Ryswyck, a tradesman, and his wife Susan sailed up from Victoria on their boat and are also helping us with the repairs. They are on their way to PNG to use their boat in missionary work along with Evangelos. Bro John Luscombe is an engineer. He owns a very well equipped mobile workshop and is head of the Coastlands Ministry maintenance department. He will be doing the welding, engine installation and engineering work. Please pray for these men. The repair work Evangelos is constructed of marine ply and epoxy. The cancer of a wooden boat is dry rot and requires careful attention. As is standard in boat maintenance more rot has been uncovered than was first expected. Patches have been cutout and rebuilt in the deck area, the bow and stern. Seepage from the water and fuel tanks revealed damage had traveled further than at first anticipated and are the worst affected areas. The tanks have been decommissioned and the area has been grinded and re-layered with new ply and fiberglass. John will commence the engineering works this month starting with the relocation and construction of two new stainless steel fuel tanks. Both hulls have been sanded and prepared for painting. The onset of the tropical wet season has meant painting has been intermittent but the hull topsides have been given the final coat of gloss, leaving antifouling and a boot stripe to be painted. The new finish looks so good it showed up the rest of the boat so the paintbrushes are also traveling further than first planned. There are myriad small jobs to do with many of them already completed. We are on track at about 35-40% of the way through the project. Currently Bro Maarten and Sue are working on the house, so when John Luscombe and Maarten join us then I believe work will speed up. With everyone in 2001 it should go as planned and we should be on our way back home by April. So friends please stay tuned with us as I will be keeping you more up to date as we go on. Coastlands Ministry and the Builders are committed to the project. Will you help? Please do your part by praying and supporting with your giving so that we can put the boat back in the water, for the field is white unto harvest. Please don’t delay For more information please see Ps Kevin Hughes or Ps Barry Silverback or contact Coastlands at admin@coastlands.net Ps Michael Ningi |
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