It is rather late to write a blog about Christmas at Sea but you probably know why.Christmas was different this year.
Father John Eason of the Apostleship of the Sea (RCC) spent the month of December in The Philippines and I in The Netherlands was for 12 days due to the passing of my brother. However the staff and volunteers did a fantastic job wrapping, sorting and distributing the presents to the ships.
The total number of presents this year was more than 3,000!
As difficult as it was for me during this time the highlight of the Christmas at Sea campaign was on Christmas Eve Day. A water taxi company made a generous donation to take chaplains and presents to the ships that were at anchor in English Bay.
The response was overwhelming. The seafarers did not know what to expect when a boat loaded with christmas presents came along side their ship.
A captain from Germay wrote us a very nice thank you letter. He had never experienced this in his life as a seafarer. The weather that day was absolutely perfect. I had to climb a rope ladder in order to board a car carrier. I found this a scary experience and was reminded that pilots have to do this kind of thing many times when they board a ship, often in bad weather conditions. I hope you will enjoy the pictures.
