Beyond Frontier - 30. BF Chapter 30

“Good. I want you to plot a course from our current location to Kuala Lumpur, passing through Indonesia into the Java Sea and into the Malacca Strait,” the Captain said to me, as he pointed to our current location.

“Very well, sir. I will have it for you shortly,” I replied confidently. I got to work to plot the course, stopping a couple times to walk over to the satellite navigation console to check on its readings, before returning to the chart table.

“When you are ready, sir, I have a course plotted for you,” I said to the captain who was chatting quietly to his 1^st officer. Both of them walked over to the table. I stepped back to give them some room. The 1^st officer looked at the chart closely and smiled. “Sir, it is slightly different to the course we intended, but I highly recommend that we follow this course that Joe has plotted,” the 1^st officer said to the captain.

“I agree with you,” he replied, as he turned to face me. “Joe, we lost our navigator a few hours after we left Fremantle, due to sudden illness. We won’t have a replacement till we get to Kuala Lumpur. How would you like to take over as ship’s navigator for the rest of this trip? You will be well fed. We will sort out some more clothes for you and you will be paid for your work,” the captain said to me.

“You have already done so much for me just by rescuing me. I will accept, but only on half pay,” I replied.

“Very well. If that is what you want. Go with the 1^st officer and he will get you sorted. Be back here by 1100 hours to start work,” the Captain said.

“Yes, sir, and thank-you,” I replied as I followed the 1^st officer off the bridge. Instead of heading down we walked further back along the small corridor till we stopped at a door that had a sign on it – “Christos, Navigator”.

“Strangely enough, you look a little bit like Christos. This was his cabin, which is now yours for the rest of the journey. I have already packed up most of his belongings and stored them away. There are a couple of his company uniforms in the cupboard that may fit you. Those you can use. We have a small store on board, so you can get some personal things like deodorant, soap, shampoo, boxers, socks, boots, and also snacks and soft drinks,” the 1^st officer informed me as he opened the door. The cabin was almost double the size of the one I slept in the previous night.

“Right, let’s get you down to stores so we can get you kitted out. I will show you the officers wardroom, the crew recreation room, and laundry, and after your shift, we will need to get you familiar with emergency procedures, as per company rules,” the 1^st officer said to me.

“Yes, sir,” I responded.

“It is Steve to you, when we are not on the bridge,” the 1^st officer said to me.

“Ok, Steve. I wish I knew what my real name is. I guess Joe will have to do for now,” I answered, as I followed him down the corridor and down the stairs to B deck.

Once Steve had my arms full of new clothes, including overalls, boots, rain jacket, and helmet, he informed me that he would see me later, as he needed to get some sleep. He returned to A deck, while I took my time heading that same way, but looking into different rooms as I passed them. Once I had put all my new belongings away and made my bed, I continued to explore the ship some more, before heading back to my new cabin to have a quick shower and dress in a uniform, which did fit me fairly well. Then I headed up to the bridge to report for duty.

“Ah, good! You are here, and early too. That is a good way to start. Marco here is our helmsman. You are now the officer of the bridge. I am going to my office to do some work in there. If you have any troubles, Marco can give me a call,” the captain said to me.

“Yes, sir,” I said confidently, and with a smile, as I took a look at the satellite navigation console before taking a seat beside the helmsman.

Time seemed to go by very fast, as when the captain entered the bridge again, it was shortly after 1600 hours. “How is it going, Navigator?’ he asked me.

“We are on course, and about 45 minutes ahead of schedule, sir,” I responded.

“Very good! Now I have spoken to company head office, and they have given me the go ahead to keep you on as navigator for as long as you want, but on full pay. When we arrive in Kuala Lumpur, an Australian consulate official will meet us to try and resolve this issue about your identity,” the captain informed me.

‘Very good, sir,” I responded.

“Right! I will do your last hour of shift, so go and rest, and get some sleep, as you will be back on duty in 13 hours’ time. Between the three of us we do 6-hour shifts on the bridge, so you will take over from the 1^st officer at 0500 tomorrow morning,” the captain said to me as I climbed out of the chair and nodded my head and left the bridge. Back in my cabin, I changed out of the uniform and seeing that I had two more clean uniforms, I decided that I can wait another day before I need to do some washing. I headed down to get some food.

As I entered the dining mess I saw that it was empty and just the cook was working in the galley. “Hello, Joe. I hear you work on bridge,” the cook said to me with a big smile.

“Yes, just finished my first shift. I see on the deck plans on the walls that there is the name “orizzont u lil hinn” written at the top. What does it mean and what language is it?” I asked.

“It is Maltese as we sail under the Malta flag even though it is a British ship. I think it means ‘Horizon and Beyond’,” the cook replied.

“Ok, that sounds familiar to me. I will have to try and remember that. Thank you,” I said as I was handed a plate of food and a set of cutlery. Once I had eaten, I headed for my cabin on A deck, and stripping down to my boxers and t-short I climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep.

For the next 4 ½ days I continued working a six-hour shift on the bridge, with a 12-hour rest period. I enjoyed the work very much. When we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, the Australian consulate official arrived once we had cleared customs, and while the cargo was unloaded I sat with the official and we discussed my situation.

By the end of the meeting, it was decided that since she could not find out my identity after doing a number of enquiries, that I would be issued an emergency passport under the name of Joe Horizon until I got my memory back and we knew what my real name was.

After the Australian official had left Steve took me onshore and helped my find some shops, so I could buy some more clothes and a few extra personal items that I couldn’t get in the ship store. I returned to the ship with a lot more than I planned to buy, but now I was able live a little more comfortably. About an hour after getting back a call came. “Navigator to the bridge please” came an announcement over the ship’s PA, and being in the wardroom I dashed upstairs to the bridge.

“Yes, sir,” I said when I arrived.

“Joe, can you plot a course for Gladstone, Queensland, Australia please? We will be leaving in about two hours’ time,” the captain said to me. I got to work to do as requested, and just over two hours later I supervised the helm steering us through the Malacca Strait and into the Java Sea.

For the next 28 months, I worked on the cargo ship travelling through Asia and Australia, and I met lots of interesting people at each place we went, including Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and the Philippines. When we were about to sail out of Kuala Lumpur late one afternoon, the Captain, 1^st Officer and I were all on the bridge, when the first officer spotted something.

“Sir, there is what looks like a research vessel with a similar name to ours, Beyond Frontier,” Steve said to the Captain. As soon as I heard that name, I looked over in the direction that Steve was pointing as I recognised that name. Grabbing the binoculars, I looked at the vessel closely and I smiled, as memory of the vessel flooded back to me. I had tears running down my cheeks.

“Joe, what is it? Why are you crying?” the captain asked me.

“My name is not Joe. It is Anton, Anton Hamilton from Jurien Bay, Western Australia. I know that vessel and I remember who I am,” I announced.

“Helm, all stop, and pull over to the portside,” the captain ordered. He picked up a phone and dialled a number.

“Hello, this is the captain of the Horizon and Beyond. Joe has his memory back. He just told us his name is Anton Hamilton from Western Australia,” the captain said when the call was answered. A few moments later he handed the phone to me.

“Hello, Anton. It is good news that you finally have your memory back, and I do know who you are. You are listed as missing, presumed drowned,” the Australian Consulate official said to me.

“I would appreciate that you not report anything to any one, until I have spoken to my family,” I replied.

“Very well. I will sit on it for two weeks before I need to send in a report to Canberra. So, can you remember anything about how this all happened?’ the official asked me.

“I think I was sitting on the back of my yacht, and luckily I had the sense to grab a life jacket. After putting the jacket on and falling in I realised that I was caught in a strong ocean current. I stopped trying to swim against the current, and lay back and floated for a while. Then I realised that I was in the path of a large cargo ship. That is how I got the hard knock on the head. I was knocked unconscious and when I woke up there was no sign of the ship and it was all quiet. I think I drifted off to sleep till late afternoon when this ship was approaching and slowed down to the starboard side, and rescued me,” I explained.

“Well, at least we know you are alive and well. Good luck with contacting your family. Bye for now,” the official said and ended the call. I turned to face the captain.

“Well, I presume we will be losing you when we land in Australia,” the captain said to me.

“Sir, I am very thankful for what you have done for me for the past 2 ½ years, and yes, now that I have my memory back I would like to return home,” I said to the captain.

“Very well. We will miss you. I will let head office know that you will be leaving us, so they can arrange for a replacement. Our first port of call in Australia is Darwin. Will that be ok for your departure point?” the Captain said to me.

“Yes, sir, that will be fine thank-you,” I replied.

Over the next four days we sailed towards Darwin, and on the evening before we arrived I went online to check out the company website to see if I could get an idea what the family and crew were doing. When the company website came up I was shocked to see a large notice.

“To all of our past guests, it is with regret that we inform you, that due to the loss of my grandson, Anton, that a decision has been made to close down the company. The Family and crew wish to thank-you for your patronage, and wish you a safe and happy future. Regards Marcus Harrington, Neal & Jedd Hamilton, and crew of the Frontier and Last Frontier”.

I was wondering what the family was doing and what had happened to the two yachts. I was trying to think of what to do to discreetly find out what was happening. While online I booked a flight from Darwin to Perth for the day after we arrived. I would be arriving in the mid-afternoon. My only belongings consisted of five sets of jeans, long shorts, t-shirts, boxers and socks, as well as two spray jackets, some books, a lap top computer, and my toiletry kit, which I now had packed in my sports bag.

We arrived in Darwin in the late afternoon a little behind time due to some rough weather on the last two days. Once we had cleared customs I said farewell to all of the crew and officers and made my way onto the wharf. I walked into town where I had booked a room at a hotel.

After a shower and change of clothes I went for a walk around the city and found a little restaurant where I had some dinner before heading back to the hotel to get some sleep. The next morning, after a quick shower, I headed to the airport to catch my flight to Perth. 3 ½ hours later the plane landed and I caught a taxi into East Perth to check on the apartment. From the outside it appeared to ok.

Knowing that there was a key hidden under a pot plant on the patio, I climbed up the side of the building with the help of the drain pipe. I was pleased to see that the pot plants were still there, as was the spare key to the sliding patio door. I opened the door and went inside where everything was just as it was last time I was there.

In my bedroom there was still my clothes including a suit, various pairs of shoes, and plenty of casual clothes. There was also a large suitcase in the wardrobe. I unpacked the clothes that I had with me before going to the kitchen drawer to retrieve the spare set of keys for the apartment. I headed outside to get some food to restock the fridge and pantry. When I had returned I put everything away before heading outside again to get some dinner at a restaurant, as I was in no mood to cook anything.

The following morning, I decided to travel down to Fremantle, taking the spare set of keys for the two yachts, and presuming that the old car probably had a flat battery I decided to walk to the train station to catch a train to Fremantle, which is a 45-minute journey. From there I walked to the fishing boat harbour where we usually moored the yachts when they were in Fremantle.

I was a little surprised to see both of the yachts in the harbour with a “For Sale” sign on the catamaran. I decided not to go on board either of the yachts, and instead I headed back to the apartment in East Perth. I thought about what to do. I still didn’t know what was happening with the family.

I decided to ring the police station in Jurien Bay to speak to Anita first, to let her know that I was alive and well and that I was back in Perth.