At Sea - 6. AS Chapter 6

“If we can get Scuba gear to you, it should be a matter of just swimming up to the surface, wait…” and after a few moments silence another message could be heard, “Is there an airlock anywhere on the boat?” and Uncle Jay smiled and nodded his head.

“Yes, on open main deck, midway there are two doors to stairs, the portside door is to stairs down, another door, is located at the bottom of the stairs, and a third door about 5 metres from that in the passageway” was the reply message, and there was silence for some time, before another message arrived, “ok get ready to get wet”.

About fifteen minutes later we heard noises on the main deck, and this was soon followed by more noises, down the hallway near the stairs. Suddenly there was a large amount of water that came flooding into the passageway, as the final door was opened by a Scuba diver, as he handed me the spare scuba gear, which I passed to Uncle Jay & Aunt Jacq.

“Hello, I am Senior Constable Mark Dixon from Police rescue” the scuba diver said and we spent the next fifteen minutes explaining the procedures for scuba diving, before we kitted up in our scuba gear, going final checks with the gauges and air flow.

It was decided that I would take Aunt Jacq out first, and the others would soon follow, and so once we were ready to go, we entered the small passageway, closing the door behind us, the now water free stairwell, closing and securing the watertight door, before I had Aunt Jacq sit down, leaning against the door, to wait till the stairwell was full of water, before proceeding out the final door.

As I opened the outer door I held onto the side rail tightly, fighting against the sudden rush of seawater, but once it was filled, I turned to go and get Aunt Jacq, but she was already on her way up, and once outside, I closed the door, and tapped on it loudly with a spanner that I had with me, to indicate that we were out and the door is closed, and we slowly made our way up to the surface.

Spitting out the mouth piece, I leaned back and took in a deep breath of sea air, as I was lifted out of the water, followed by Aunt Jacq. I was relieved when five minutes later, Uncle Jay and the police diver appeared, and they too were hauled out of the water.

As I was given a thick blanket to wrap around me, and a hot cup of black tea, I began to look around my surroundings, and suddenly realised that I was on board a Naval Patrol Boat, as we were lead indoors, to recover from our ordeal.

When we arrived at Georgetown, soon after dark we were informed that a group of media had gathered at the end of the harbour, and that a car has been brought alongside the patrol boat to avoid the media. Uncle Jay thanked the Naval officer for their assistance, and made our way off the patrol boat, and into the waiting car.

By telephone shortly before arriving in Georgetown, Uncle Jay had arranged for hotel accommodation for the evening, and the following morning we caught the bus back to St Helens, and we spent the remainder of Saturday and Sunday relaxing.

During lunch on Sunday, we discussed what would happen now that the Trident was on the sea floor, Uncle Jay said that he would make some enquiries in the morning, about trying to salvage the boat, and decide what to do with it, once an assessment of the damage has been completed. I agreed to return to my university studies, and so I rested for the remainder of the day, knowing that I would have an early start the next morning.

Settling back into a routine at University I found quite difficult, but Amanda remained close to me for support and as backup to intervene if some people started getting too pushy with questions about what happened on the fishing boat.

At lunch time on the first day, we chose to eat out in the gardens, away from most of the other students, and we mostly remained quiet as we ate. “Thanks for all your help today, I don’t think I would have coped if you weren’t around, to step in” I said to Amanda with a slight smile. When I came home on Friday, after the first week back at university, Uncle Jay and Aunty Jacq were both sitting at the kitchen table deep in discussion, with lots of documents on the table.

“Hello there, how was things today?” Aunty Jacq said to me with a smile, “Not too bad thanks, A little easier than the start of the week anyway, so what’s happening here? A family meeting?” I said in reply.

“Yes, it is in fact, and you have arrived at the right time, have a sit down so we can fill you in on some of what we have discussed and what options were have come up with” Uncle Jay said to me, and dropping my bag in a corner, I sat down at the table.

“I guess you could say that your aunt and I have come up with a decision, when this season finishes in a few weeks’ time, we will be selling the cray fishing licenses, the cray pots and the other boats…” Uncle Jay said to me which was quite a surprise.

“We have decided that fishing is getting a lot harder, with long hours and expenses with sometimes very little reward, and with a young man’s future plans, we have decided to change tack slightly with a new business” aunty Jacq said with a smile, which confused me a little.

“We have organised for a salvaging company to re-float the Trident, and they have already dived down and done a survey of the damage, and they have sent a report to the insurance company, who have agreed to write off the boat as a total loss, they also recovered most of our personal belongings from each of the cabins, they are what is wrapped up in those large black bags” Uncle Jay said to me, as he motioned for me to look at the other end of the room, which surprised me a little.

I was glad that I would be able to get my music, books and clothes back, as I had taken a large amount of stuff with me on the last trip. “With the sale of all the boats, the licenses and cray pots, we will have quite a tidy sum, a lot more than we had expected, and we have already come up with a new plan for the future” Aunty Jacq said to me.

“Ok, so how about giving me more details instead of me trying to work it out from the clues you have given me so far” I said a feeling a little frustrated. “We have by pure luck, come across a sale of a 56-metre long, offshore Express 56 Catamaran, Australian designed and built, it has four decks, is 14 metres wide and can carry 23,800 litres of fuel, and can travel 3,000 nautical miles at 31 knots.

It was originally built for an overseas client, with some slight modifications, from the original design, and the sale contract was cancelled, and this is why the catamaran is for sale at a lower price,” Uncle Jay said, as he rolled out the layout plans of the catamaran.

“Wow that is amazing, but are you able to afford it?” I asked my uncle and aunt, “Yes we can, and we have enough to do an internal fitting, because at the moment it is just the shell, with some internal walls” Aunty Jacq said as she unfolded a large plan of the catamaran. What I saw in front of me was just amazing, a very large aluminium catamaran, with three large decks.

“The bridge deck having a huge bridge, with two large work stations, as well as large Captain’s office and Captain’s Cabin, 1^st Officers Cabin, both with separate bathrooms directly the bridge, plus there are two additional large single crew cabins with separate bathrooms, and an officers lounge, plus there is a single forward elevator to provides access to all three levels, and a wide staircase down to indoor mid deck.

The upper deck has six large, 8 x 6 VIP suites, with bathrooms and small lounge area each at the front, just behind that is the elevator, stairs to both levels, and two crew small work and storage areas, opposite, along the sides, there is two single, 6 x 5 metre crew cabins, on each side, with shared bathrooms. Along the rest of each side are four-single guest cabins with separate bathrooms.

In the centre between the single guest cabins, there is a rear large formal dining room, two-day bathrooms, plus four-twin 6 x 6 guest cabins, with separate bathrooms, forward of that. In the centre back wall, there is a servery and galley, scullery and all the cold and dry stores, on either side of the servery there is doors leading to the rear formal lounge and entertainment lounge.

On the main deck, at the front quarter of the ship, there is another large open lounge area, that will become a library lounge, two-day bathrooms and some small storerooms. Behind this area, which was originally designed for carrying cars, which is 28 metres long and 12 metres wide, will become an open recreation area, while the rear loading ramp, will be replaced with a swim deck.

The large open area inside on the main deck, some of that area could also be split into two research work areas and two research offices. With your approval, we would like to purchase this catamaran, as a research and cruise vessel, that can be chartered out for various expeditions”, Aunty Jacq said to me.

I was very shocked that they were asking me for permission to do this. “Why are you asking me for permission? I said confused, “Because dear nephew, this catamaran will be your life and inheritance, once we have both gone” Uncle Jay said to me.

I was speechless and didn’t know what to say, as I looked at the layout plans of the catamaran again, and after a few minutes of studying the layout plans, I looked at uncle Jay and aunty Jacq. “Well if I am going to be one of the main crew, I would like to have the large cabin on the bridge deck with a double bed, and I suggest we try and get Amanda as a permanent crew member.

We discussed a bit more about the catamaran, before Uncle Jay made to telephone call to make an offer to purchase the catamaran, which was accepted. I decided not to tell Amanda about the new vessel that the family was about to purchase, only saying that my uncle and aunt are going to sell all the boats and equipment at the end of this cray fishing season, and to start a new venture, once a decision on what it will be.

During the next few weeks, while I concentrated on my university studies, uncle Jay and aunty Jacq made a couple of trips to Henderson, just south of Fremantle, to inspect the catamaran and to finalise the layout of each area of the catamaran, which we had discussed over dinner each night once I arrived home from university, with just one addition to the Main deck, that being a large conference room, next to the research labs and offices.

When I came home on the second Tuesday since the sinking incident, I found a letter waiting for me, and it was neatly handwritten, which made me wonder who it was from as I opened the envelope, which was posted early last week.

“Dear Carlton, I am writing to apologise for making you feel uncomfortable while I was on your uncles fishing boat with you, I thought that you had the same interests as me and I thought you might become my friend. When I saw you leaving the harbour a few weeks ago and ran along the beach waving to you.

I was hoping that you would be glad, but I guess you were not, as I didn’t see you wave back. I was shocked when I heard that your fishing boat had sunk in a wild storm, I hope you and your family have recovered from that ordeal. I will be returning home to Canada early next week, and I was hoping that maybe we could meet and talk. Regards your friend in hope – Jacob”.

I was a little surprised to receive a letter from Jacob, and I was feeling a little guilty with the way I had behaved, and I decided that I would go and visit him at the boat supply store. Since it was still well before closing time, I decided to go and see him now, instead of waiting for tomorrow, and so after leaving a note for Aunty Jacq on the kitchen table, I set off towards the boat supply store.

When I arrived, I was a little disappointed to see that the boat store was closed, on the door a note read “Closed early, apologies for any inconvenience”, going to a nearby newsagency, I purchased a post card, and wrote a note on it, “Jacob, I received your letter today, and I called in this afternoon (Tuesday) at 4.20pm, but the store was closed, I don’t get home till very late tomorrow, so I will try again on Friday, regards Carlton”. I slipped the postcard under the door, hoping that he would get it later today or early tomorrow, and I walked back home.

As we sat down for dinner that evening, I mentioned the letter that I had received from Jacob, which was postmarked Tuesday last week, and that I had gone to the boat store to see him, but the store was closed, at that moment the telephone rang, and Uncle Jay stood to answer it, and a few minutes later he returned.

“That was Jared from the boat store, he has just arrived back from a trip to Melbourne, and he just found your post card, unfortunately Jacob is on his way back to Canada as we speak. Jared said that Jacob was very upset, that you hadn’t replied to his letter, and when I explained that it had only just arrived today, Jared said he would telephone Jacob when he arrives home to let him know why he hadn’t heard from you due to a delay in the mail” uncle Jay said to me as he sat down to eat.