NB New Direction - 12. NB ND Chapter 12

We ended up spending 6 days on the Cocos Keeling Islands, because it is such a beautiful place, and there was plenty of things to do, or lots of time to do absolutely nothing. I spent a lot of time swimming in the shallows of the ocean, to try and improve mobility in my arm and leg. Even the crew was able to take some time off during our stay on the islands, and which left them in good spirits, as we sailed due south, to our next secret destination.

It was a fairly rough journey over the next three days, as we sailed along the edge of a large storm, but thankfully the seas calmed down completely, by the time it was daylight on day four, since leaving the Cocos Keeling Islands, Kyle wheeled me out onto the beach lounge on the main deck.

We had been enjoying an early morning breakfast on the beach lounge each day, since leaving the Islands, which is what we were doing, when James appeared and he was smiling. “Sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but the Captain would like both of you on the Bridge please” James said, so after a quick sip of tea and a bite of toast, Kyle wheeled me to the lift, and once on B deck, he helped me to walk up the stairs for the final two levels, with regular stops for me to recover a little.

When we finally arrived on the bridge deck, “Permission to come onto the Bridge Captain” I said as we walked in the door, “Permission granted, and since you are a part owner, you don’t need to ask for permission” the Captain said to me, “Ok, I will remember that for future times, now what did you want us both here for?” I asked, and the Captain turned and indicated towards the front windows of the bridge.

There in front of us was a brand new island, “Slow to quarter speed” the Captain ordered, as we came closer to the island, and Kyle assisted me to get to the spare helm seat, and I picked up the binoculars, located in a shelf near the seat, “I can see lots of birds, at least five different breeds, and seals” I announced when I saw the marine life on the island, as I handed the binoculars to Kyle so he could have a look.

“Captain, when you first discovered Deepdale Island, can you describe what you saw?” I asked, and Kyle looked at me knowing the connection with the name, and I just smile. “So, you have chosen a name, I like it, now back to your question, well as I said to you before, it was April last year when we discovered it, so about eleven months ago, it was very bare, with no sign of any wildlife on it.

It appears to have grown in height since we were last here, possibly from the recent earthquake, and as you have just stated, the island has wildlife on. I think now is a good time for the first people to step onboard. Navigator, all stop and set the anchors, 2IC, call the pilot and prepare for a flight to the island, with two passengers and the cargo that is already onboard the chopper” the Captain ordered.

Kyle and I walked down to B deck, where we could hear preparations being made for chopper take off, and the Captain appeared a few moments later. “Here is a two-way radio each, to keep in touch with us, the pilot will drop you off on the island and return to the ship, to await your call to be picked up.

On the chopper, there are two backpacks, with water and snack supplies, and I suggest that you use your mobile phones to record your events on the island, oh and the chopper has a flag pole, flag and some besa-blocks, to keep the pole in place” the Captain suggested to us.

The flight over the to the island took just a few minutes, and Kyle turned on the video on his phone and pointed it towards me, “I step onto this island, which I name Deepdale Island, on behalf of the Commonwealth nation of Australia, at 8.05am on the 4^th day of April this year, with Mr Kyle Davies, and Flight Officer Stephan Lentz, of the MV Southern Explorer, from Wagner International Investments, as witnesses” I announced.

I also had my phone on, and was recording, as I scanned the surrounds of the island, briefly showing the helicopter, with Kyle and the pilot sitting on the end of the cargo bay floor. Once I had done that, I pulled out the Australian flag, and stepping well away from the chopper, I lay it down on the ground, as part of the island claim ceremony.

Once the phone had been put away, Kyle and the pilot got to work to unload the bessa-blocks, bags of concrete and the flag poles, plus a few tools and some containers of water. The chopper had landed on a large flat area, at the highest point of the island, and as I carefully walked away from the chopper, using my arm crutches, I found a suitable spot that was clear of any vegetation that would be ideal for the lighthouse and the flag pole.

The chopper eventually returned to the ship, leaving Kyle and myself on the island, and I sat down on the flat hard rocks, and looked around, with a clear view of the ship, anchored in the distance.

Kyle got to work to prepare some concrete to set the flagpole into place, with a decision to make a tower of the bessa blocks, that are four blocks thick at the base and one block at the top of the one metre high tower, that will have the four-metre high pole set in the middle. About twenty minutes later, the chopper had returned, and this time, the three deck crew members, the 1^st Engineer, plus Judy stepped onto the island, and began to unload a large supply of bessa blocks, bags of concrete, containers of water, and bags of blue metal gravel.

When the helicopter had returned to the ship, work began on building a solar powered lighthouse, that will only stand four metres high, with just a narrow hollow area, only big enough for wiring to go from the battery room at the bottom, up to the light at the top.

The lighthouse will have solar panels attached to the wall, on all the sides of the lighthouse, at a height of 3 metres above the ground, and the chopper made two more trips to the island to bring more building supplies, and extra crew members to help with the project. When it came to lunch time, the chopper delivered a galley cook and two galley hands, with a picnic lunch for everyone on the island.

By the end of the day, we had completed the flag pole support, plus 2 metres of the new lighthouse, which is 3 metres in diameter at the base, and will be 2 metres in diameter at the top, when completed. I suggested to the Captain, that all the crew dine in the formal dining room on the A deck, as a celebration of today’s events. Over the next two days, the seas remained calm, as the team worked hard to get the lighthouse constructed and operational.

With a new storm approaching, the work was completed just in time, and a plaque was secured to the lighthouse wall, that the captain announced was made in Singapore, especially for this purpose. “This lighthouse was constructed on the 6^th of April, by the crew of the MV Ocean Explorer, two days after this island, named Deepdale Island, by Mr Huon Devonport, was declared a private island as part of the territory of the Commonwealth of Australia”.

During the three days on the island, Kyle and I had spent a little bit of time each day, exploring the island, which has 4 varieties of seals, 2 varieties of penguins and 5 types of birds, which we videoed on our phones. I was pleased that for an island that is so young, that it has a good variety of wildlife already established, also there were a variety of grasses that had established themselves in the rocky shores.

The island has a large lake in the middle, that is about 3 kilometres in diameter, with one side being lower than the rest, with it being just three metres above the ocean, and it looked like there has been a waterfall at one or two times, in the islands short life.

Back on the ship, as the storm was fast approaching, the Captain ordered the raising of the anchors, and to set sail for Fremantle, which is a 3 ½ day sail away, and we hoped to stay ahead of the storm. While this was happening, Kyle and I were in the Storm lounge, with the laptop computer on, and we transferred all of our video clips onto the computer, before sending a skype call to Sebastian.

“Hey cousin, how was the adventure on the island, I’ve already had a message from the captain to say you have named it Deepdale Island” Sebastian said when he answered to face to face call. “Hi mate, yeah it just came to me suddenly, thought it was a better name than Wagner Island or Southern Explorer Island” I replied cheekily, and Sebastian just laughed.

“We have completed the lighthouse and it is operational, the Australian flagpole is up, and is flying the flag, and we have secured the plaque onto the lighthouse wall, so now I am wondering how do we make this officially recognised on an international basis?” I added. “I have been thinking about that, and I have spoken to the company lawyers and accountants in Switzerland, to get their point of view.

After a long discussion, we decided that the company lawyers will send a letter to the united nations to notify them of the official declaration, I presume that you made a video recording of the event” Seb said to me, “Yes, we did, both Kyle and I recorded at the same time, with Kyle filming me, and I was filming the island. We have just finished loading it onto the computer, we were going to do some editing, before sending it to you” I replied.

“Well send it directly to the law firm in Switzerland first, then send a copy to me. I will be at Fremantle Harbour when you guys arrive in a few days’ time, enjoy your journey, the twins have been asking when you get back home, and I will let them know after school today, see you when you get here” Sebastian said to me and he ended the call.

We joined Jai and Judy for lunch in the formal dining room on the main deck, and they mentioned that they were not use to having so much luxury, and being looked after so well, and that it has been wonderful to just relax, and not have to worry about anything, even with all the disasters happening back in Bangladesh.

We chatted as we ate, and Judy mentioned that although it was hard work, she found building the lighthouse on Deepdale Island a challenge but also very rewarding. Jai said that although he only helped in a small way, he also found it a rewarding experience. “I am not sure what my cousin wants to do, now that we have officially claimed the island, I presume that a company meeting will be held as soon as we get to Fremantle, but as a company executive, I am inviting you both to stay with us, and be part of the Southern Explorer team, for as long as long as you wish” I said to my guests.

“Wow, that is something that we have not expected, we will think and discuss it, and get back to you before we get to Fremantle” Jai replied, with Judy nodding her head in agreement. After lunch, Kyle and I went down to the lower deck, to watch a movie in the cinema, After the movie ended, I went to the nearest intercom phone, to make a call, “Jai and Judy, can you please meet us in the Beach lounge, on the main deck” I said over the intercom, and Kyle assisted me to the next level up.

A few minutes later, Jai and Judy arrived, “Since my statement at lunch time, I have decided that it is time that you both see a bit more of the ship, since you are going to be part of the team, so if you will follow us, we are going to give you a bit of a tour” I announced, before looking over my shoulder to Kyle.

“One deck down to the crew day lounge and galley please chauffeur” I stated and Kyle chuckled, and muttered “Slave driver”, which I ignored. From the lower deck, we went up to the pantry area on the main deck, plus the large hanger area, which we use for cargo storage space, that covers two decks, then up to B deck which was new to our guests, which is the executive recreation area, with a large aft deck, and the executive dining area.

The owner’s suite, which was previously used as the administration centre for Wagner International, is currently bare, with it being back to being a large open area, plus the walk-in wardrobe, ensuite bathroom, and study. From there we went up to D deck, and we showed them one of the vacant executive suites, plus the storm lounge, which they were very impressed with, plus the helicopter hanger and landing pad.

Back in the storm lounge, I pickup up the phone and pressed the number to the bridge, “First Officer speaking” I heard James say, “Its Huon here, I was wanting to show our guests the bridge if that is ok with you?” I stated, “Yes sir, that will be fine, the captain is sleeping at the moment, so now is a good time” James replied.

A few minutes later we arrived on the bridge via the crew access stairs, “This is the brains and controls of the ship, with 1^st Officer James Andrews at the Helm at the moment” I said as we entered, “James, this is Jai and Judy from Bangladesh” Kyle said making the introductions, and after a few minutes on the bridge deck, we headed back down to the Storm Lounge.

“Just one thing, I presume we have seen most of the ship apart from the engine room and other mechanical operations areas, where are all of the crews living areas?” Judy asked, which made Kyle chuckle a little, “Good observation, yes there are living areas for the crew, of which there are 28 in total. There are five decks of crew living space, of which you saw just one of the three crew day lounges.

All of the crew areas are in the forward section of the ship, Deck C which is between the Executive Accommodation and Storm lounge, on Deck D and the Executive Recreation space on Deck B, has the officer’s accommodations, while the B Deck crew space, has most of the remainder crew accommodation, plus the ships hospital, and crew gymnasium.

Deck A crew area, has the crew’s galley and dining room, another crew day lounge, and a couple of crew cabins. The main deck has the last crew day lounge, the provision store rooms, laundry, wardroom, incinerator room and garbage store room, and the final two crew cabins. Even though I am a part owner, I rarely enter the crew areas, as it is their work and living space” I announced to Jai and Judy.

“Dinner will be ready in about two hours, so go and relax, and we will see you in the dining room for dinner” Kyle said to the guests, who set off down to the main deck, where their cabin is located. The following day, in the late afternoon, when we arrived in Fremantle, the customs and quarantine officers boarded as soon as we were moored in the late afternoon, and soon after Sebastian arrived.

“Hey cousin, how are things going in Claremont?” I said when I saw Sebastian arrive on the main deck, where Jai, Judy, Kyle and I were seated, “All going smoothly thanks mate, I like the edited video that you recorded on your phones, and the feedback from the company lawyers was the same” Sebastian said before Kyle introduced the guests to Sebastian, who was pleased to meet them, and he suggested that we all move up to the executive dining room, for a meeting to discuss the future of Deepdale Island.