" Tomorrow the delivery truck with our ' provision ' is coming! ". I hear the word all the time.
The word simply means, ' The act of supplying or providing food ' It can also mean ' providing beforehand '. ( Late 14th Century )
You can imagine how important it is for the crew to ' be provided before hand '. I always see trucks driving up to the ship or gangway to be unloaded. You should see how many pallets of food go on board in order to feed 20 - 24 crew members! Without ' provision ' on board you cannot survive!
As you may have read in my previous blogs, the cause way to birth # 1 was severely damaged on December 8, 2012. For exactly two months there was no access to the birth and no ships were being loaded. Exactly two months later the loading has started again but you can only get to the ship by walking a temporary walkway.
How then shall the ship be supplied with food etc., when a truck cannot drive up to the ship? Good question!
The simple answer is that the truck has to back up as far as it can go and after that every box has to be put on a dolly and pushed and/or dragged to the ship. What a job for the crew! But what do you do when you soon depart for an other sea voyage of two to three weeks! - You have to be 'provided beforehand '.
As the chaplain I was ' directly ' involved in ' supplying ' two ships with bread and vegetables. Both ships had received their ' provision ' while at anchor in English Bay. That is, basic provisions, only the necessary. I can imagine how much it must cost to send a barge loaded with supplies to a ship anchored at English Bay.
During the Easter weekend there was a lot of bread and vegetables available. Perfect timing! The cooks were very eager to walk with me to the car and take all the ' freebies '. Have a look at the following pictures!
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| This is the reason why a truck with provisions can't drive to the ship. The repair crew tells me that it will be open again at the the end of April! |
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| The crane is there since early December! |
