(By Dr Julia McLean) I have just returned after working for 2 weeks on Jubilee Hope on Lake Victoria in Tanzania which was an amazing and very rewarding experience. There were 3 doctors (including a very experienced Vine Trust volunteer) and a pharmacist from Scotland and as soon as we arrived we were made to feel very welcome on the boat. Before commencing work, we were given a tour of the boat and an introduction to tropical medicine by Dr Simeon, the national doctor, which proved to be indispensable. On the boat, we consulted upstairs under a canopy. We saw…

Good evening and final greetings from MV Forth Hope and its delivery voyage! We are now at anchor some 8 miles from the Amazon City of Iquitos where we will be arriving at 6.30am later this morning 7th September. We will have covered just under 6800 miles in 42 days. (40 at sea). Already plans are being made for the ships deployment and a high level visit to see the vessel at work in just over a weeks time from various Government Ministers, the Vice President of Peru and our Patron HRH The Princess Royal. Tonight however is about the…

Perhaps hard to imagine but basically, wash down all paintwork that you can safely get to, cover in soapy water, then rub with a polypropylene scourer and some Jif or Cif or whatever it's called these days and rinse. Bill and Martin have been enduring just that today as we remove the brown streaks from the Atlantic crossing.  Thereafter it's a touch up job before we start using a drone to capture some river shots etc ahead of an official visit to inaugurate the medical work on the 17th September south of Iquitos. In the meantime Robert Cavanah who joined us…

Wednesday 00.49 sailing at 6 knots across a moonlit stretch of the Amazon, like the closing scene of the film The Hunt for Red October. The big difference, we still have 1120 miles to run until we reach Iquitos. We are however on the home straight even if there are potential challenges due to the main river levels.  That being said, their is a new Peruvian navy ship BAP Castilla on its way to Manaus and it has a deeper draft than Forth Hope, so we are not anticipating any big issues! Corned beef has made a couple of appearance…

What a difference a day makes, well actually two days and the change from ocean to river. No swell, no wind, and barely any rolling around when trying to get to sleep! We're now some 200 miles from the start of the river heading towards Manaus having cleared customs at Macapa and got our passports stamped. We now have two pilots aboard, the first of 8 who will be guiding us all the way to the Peruvian border. Hot, hot, hot is by far the best description as everyone including our Brazilian pilots perspires our way up the river. It's 1am and…

Monday 21st August - 555 miles to Amazon number one buoy, and the start of our river journey! With only a few days left of our Atlantic voyage, we are all eager to see land after 12 full days at sea. Over the past 12 days since departing the Canaries, we have encountered just two ships - a Japanese fishing boat and a freighter en-route to New York. It's amazing what technology can tell you! First and foremost, however, the ship is sailed by people, not computers, and it is the constant efforts of our three watches that keep the ship safe. That…