At Sea - 14. AS Chapter 14

We had passed over the ship wreck “Eva”, in Hazard Bay, just off the coast of Temma, and passed by two other ship wrecks – “Wild Wave” and “Yolla” in Kenneth Bay, and the “Ethel Cuthbert” and “Dolphin” in the Hardwick Bay area near the Pieman River. With a total of eight shipwrecks, now with GPS locations of each wreck, I was very keen to explore some of these sites, and I called Amanda up to the bridge to come and see all the information that I had gathered

She too was keen to put her Scuba training into use, and we took the second dinghy with scuba gear, a GPS and wet suits and headed downstream to the Pieman Heads, where the schooner “Dolphin” is located. Leaving the dinghy on the beach, we kitted up in our scuba gear and set off towards the wreck, located just 70 metres off the beach, with the help of the GPS we were able to locate the ship wreck easily, and using a waterproof camera, we filmed the amazing wreck and all the sea life around it.

After twenty minutes, we returned to the beach to have a short rest, before going back for another twenty minutes to record some more of the ship wreck. Arriving back at the catamaran shortly after 5pm, we noticed that the other dinghy had returned, and as we lifted the dinghy back up onto the Catamaran, Jay came up to us, “the lads have said you went on a shipwreck scuba dive” he said to us.

“Yes, and it was absolutely fantastic, I enjoyed every moment of it” Amanda said happily. “We have video and camera footage of the two dives, so you can check it out” I added. “Good to hear, when we heard that you went on a ship wreck dive, His Highness expressed an interest in going scuba diving tomorrow” Jay said to us, I smiled pleased to be able to do another dive tomorrow, “Yes I can do that” I replied and we finished securing the dinghy.

A little later, on the bridge office, I loaded the video footage onto the computer, and watched both sections, before saving it onto a thumb drive, and taking it down to the television in the dining room, to allow Amanda and Jacq to watch it while working in the galley.

After dinner, Amanda asked me to load the photos and video footage onto the office computer, so she could add it to their company website after Christmas, and she would include some photos of Jay and the Prince fishing upstream on a sand bar, on the Donaldson river earlier this afternoon.

The following morning at breakfast, His Highness expressed an interest in travelling further down the coast, with possible stops for more ship wreck diving, and I let Jay know that Amanda and I would be happy to do that.

Once breakfast was completed, Jay headed up to the bridge for us to set off, and an hour later as we approached the mouth of the river he slowed right down, and called me to the bridge. “What’s up skipper” I said as I reached the bridge, “I just wanted your expertise, as we pass through the mouth of the river” Jay said, and I heard a laugh behind me, and turned to see the Prince coming up the stairs.

“Maybe you would like to try it, Rear Admiral Sir” I said with a big grin on my face. “I agree with the skipper, you have the experience, so I suggest you take it” the Prince said to me, with an equally big smile, nodding my head, I took over at the helm, and guided the catamaran through the mouth of the river, until we were in open water.

Once in the open, not having touched the bottom this time, I handed over the helm duties to Jay, who gave me a frowned look as he turned towards the shipwreck, and we set anchor between the beach and the wreck. The Prince, Amanda and I headed to the main deck to prepare the scuba gear.

“Your uncle didn’t look too happy, when he took over the helm just now, Nav” the Prince said to me, and I just smiled, “It may have something to do with high tide, I checked the tidal chart yesterday, and it as nearly low tide when we went through the mouth of the river the other night” I replied, and the Prince just laughed.

When we returned from a half hour of diving, Jay set off further down the coast, as we refilled the scuba tanks, and stored them away.

When I arrived on the bridge some time later, I asked Jay what our planned destination was, “How about you have a look at the navigation maps and make a suggestion” Jay said to me.

“The Prince enjoyed the dive skipper, so I’m thinking of going to another dive site further down the coast” I replied. After spending some time studying the maps carefully, I made the decision that our next stop be at Trial Harbour, just over 40 kilometres south of current location, as it has a protected harbour, plus there are three ship wrecks in the area.

When we arrived at Trial Harbour, we found it to not have any jetty, just a couple very small beaches, so Jay positioned the catamaran just off the beach and we set the anchors. While Amanda, the Prince and I prepared our scuba gear, Jay, Sam and Marcus prepared the dinghy, and we were soon on our way to the closes of the dive sites, using a GPS to get its estimated location.

It took us nearly fifteen minutes to located the wreck, so we only had fifteen minutes to do a quick look at the Excelsior, a 10-ton ketch built in 1873, which was wrecked where it lies in 1882. When we reached the surface, we found that we were about 30 metres south west from the dinghy, and I marked the spot on the GPS as the actual location of the wreck.

Once back on the catamaran, lunch was served to the guests on the deck, as it such a nice warm day, with calm seas. I was in the galley talking to Amanda when the senior security officer appeared.

“We have arranged to be picked up from Ocean Beach which is due west of Strahan, from there it is a 3-kilometre long gravel road that goes directly to the Strahan airport, where a plane will be waiting for us. On a personal note, I wish to thank you for your hospitality, it has been a great adventure, and my boss hasn’t looked so relaxed in so long” he said to me with a smile before leaving.

I headed up to the bridge to pass on the information to the skipper, as he prepared to continue the journey, and after looking at the navigation display, he set the course and started up the motors, I stepped out onto the rear deck and I saw Sam and Marcus starting to raise the anchors, so I headed back inside.

“Anchors being raised as we speak” I said to the skipper who slowly started moving the catamaran out into the open seas, and for the next two hours we made our way south with just a slight swell, and we arrived at Ocean Beach where a limousine and two cars were visible.

Sam and Marcus had the two dinghies already partly lowered, as we came to a stop just twenty metres off the beach. Like a rehearsed event, the security staff carried all the luggage, following the VIP’s onto the two dinghies, which Jay and I steered to the beach.

A few minutes later the guests had landed on the beach, and quickly thanking us for a wonder holiday, the Prince and his family were making their way to the waiting cars. By the time we returned to the catamaran, the cars were gone, as Sam and Marcus loaded and secured the two dinghies. “What now skipper” I said as we arrived on the bridge, along with Amanda and Jacq following behind us, “well, we head for Strahan, to get Amanda on a flight to the mainland, so she can get to her family for Christmas.

“Also, the lads can get a flight home to Launceston, and we will also pickup my sister in law, so we can spend Christmas as a family on Macquarie Harbour” Jay said. “That sounds great, I’m looking forward to seeing Mum again” I said with a big smile, and Amanda set off downstairs to start packing her luggage for her trip to the mainland, while I remained on the bridge.

Less than an hour later, we arrived at the main jetty at Strahan and once we were moored, we noticed that Elizabeth was standing there, waiting for our arrival with her luggage at her side, and I jumped off the catamaran and rushed to her.

“Hello Mum, it’s great to see you again” I said as we hugged, “Hello son, my how you have grown since I last saw you” mum said to me as she returned the embrace. A few minutes later I had Mum’s luggage on board, and she was greeting Jay and Jacq, while I said goodbye to Amanda, Sam and Marcus, wishing them a happy Christmas.

While Jay and Jacq kept mum entertained in the lounge area, I went to the guest and crew cabins, where I stripped the beds, cleaned the bathrooms and remade the beds, and vacuumed the cabins. With the dirty sheets in hand, I headed down to hull deck to do the laundry washing

After a solid two hours of hard work, I had all the guest and crew cabins clean and prepared, before heading down to the laundry to finish up there, passing Jacq on the stairs as she headed to the galley to prepare lunch. “The crew cabin is ready for Mum” I said to her as I passed Jacq and she just smiled and nodded.

Down in the laundry I sorted the sheets and towels, before starting the next load. By the time that I had the cabins and the bathrooms cleaned, including my own, it was time for lunch, but I had a quick shower and changed into casual clothes before heading to the dining room.

“Sorry about disappearing from you mum, but I had a heap of work to do before lunch time, and I still have a little bit more too complete” I said to mum as I kissed her on the cheek and sat down beside her. “So, what is our planned itinerary for the next week, if I may ask” Mum said as we began to eat.

“Well I thought we would stay in the area, where the waters are a lot calmer than if we went out to sea, so after some discussions with my navigator, we decided to explore the Birch’s River at the south end of Macquarie Harbour” Jay announced.

“That sounds very isolated, are you sure we can get down there” my mum asked curiously, “Yes mum, we have checked and double checked, if we wanted to, we could go 38 kilometres up stream, to the junction of Hobbs Creek, were there is a walk trail, known as the Lower Rocky Point Track.

It gets too narrow from then on, but it does widen out a little at that point, enough for us to turn around” I said with a smile, “How about we just stay in the Macquarie Harbour, I hear there are lots of places to explore” my mum suggested, “Yes we can do that, if that is what you prefer” Jay said.

Once we had finished lunch and cleaned up, Jacq and I headed into town to so some food shopping, and I wanted to do some Christmas shopping has I have not had time to do any, apart from a small gift I found for Amanda, back in Launceston, and I managed to keep it hidden until today, when I slipped it into her luggage.

We went Christmas shopping first, agreeing to meet back at the supermarket in an hour, and although it wasn’t really enough time.

I managed to get a gift each for Jay and Jacq and also one for mum, and I had them gift wrapped, so they were ready to be handed out tomorrow at Christmas morning, and I had arranged for one of the articles to be delivered to the catamaran at 4pm this afternoon.

When we arrived back at the catamaran nearly three hours after we left, I was tired and exhausted, as we brought all the shopping on board, and got to work putting it all away, and I sat down and relaxed for half an hour, before making my way to the main deck to await the arrival of my delivery, a large box, which contained Jay’s present.

As we retreated to the lounge room for a late afternoon tea, I saw that a Christmas tree had been erected in one corner, with all the decorations included, and Mum admitted that she had arranged for it to be delivered while Jacq and I were out shopping, and with Jay’s help she set it up, and I noticed that there were already a number of presents under the tree.

Before dinner, I managed to get the presents that I had bought, to the lounge room and under the tree, including the large box, and while the ladies relaxed, Jay went to the Bridge and I went to the main deck and released the mooring ropes, and we set off out into Macquarie Harbour, with a heading of due south.

About twenty minutes later we turned west towards the Swan Basin, where there are a number of small islands, that would provide plenty of weather protection, and we stopped on the western side of Cat Island, where we set the anchors just before sunset.