Unexpected Journey - 8. UJ Chapter 8

“You mention that this is to be the new home base for the Eldorado, will the yacht and the business be affected in any way by the plans to develop this harbour into a full-size marina, with yacht pens, housing and public space” the reporter asked, and Grace said to be approaching, as I indicated that I will take that question.

“Good afternoon, my name is Matias Madsen, one of the owners of the Eldorado, and this facility behind you. To answer that question, the facility including this jetty was built by my Great Uncle a few years ago, soon after he purchased this magnificent yacht.

The freehold land was purchased over thirty years ago, and so, it is my belief, that any plans to develop this area, will have to be done not including this facility and the other land that our family own, that is all I have to say on that matter, thank you for coming today” I said, as I turned and headed back to the yacht, with Grace close behind me.

“Well done, probably a little bit too much information given out, but it is manageable,” Grace said to me quietly.

“So, you are accepting the job?” I asked

“I guess I have no choice since you are best friends with my son” Grace replied smiling, and I laughed at this.

“Did you relock the shed?” I asked Hugh once back onboard the yacht.

“Yes, when I saw all the media attention and public crowd, I shut everything off and locked it up tight again” Hugh Kingsley replied, as we stepped back onto the yacht and headed inside, so as out of the media vision. “So, what do we do now?” Curtis asked.

“We relax and wait, till most people have gone, then we can enjoy a delicious dinner onboard, and afterwards, maybe take a look at the building” I replied smiling, and I saw Mum nod her head in agreement. “Hey look, there is the headmaster from our school, and I think that is his wife,” Curtis said when he saw a couple standing on the beach, looking at the yacht.

“I also see your Aunt and Uncle Kingsley and Daniel there too” I added, “Oh yeah, so they are” Curtis added. I am going to invite them onboard if that is ok by everyone, and maybe Skipper, we can go for a sunset cruise, if we have enough supplies to do that” I said, and he smiled and nodded yes.

Heading up to the main deck, I stood at the aft of the yacht and waved for the Kingsley’s and the School Headmaster to come onto the jetty. “Good afternoon, Headmaster and Mrs Edmunds, Mr & Mrs Kingsley, and Daniel, please come on board and join us” I called out to them.

“Welcome to the Schooner Eldorado” I said as the visitors stepped onto the main deck, “Thank you for inviting us, to have a closer look, after watching the news the past few days, I must admit, I have been quite curious about this yacht, and a surprise to see you and Curtis onboard” the Headmaster said.

“It is my pleasure sir” I replied, “Sir, no doubt, you did not get to see the news this past half hour, as my mum was interviewed by the media, as the new Media Relations Officer for the company that owns this yacht” Curtis said, and I could see Daniel trying not to give away the surprise.

“What my best friend is trying to tell you, sir, is that this schooner is owned by Madsen Sailing Adventures and that this is its new home base” I informed those who had newly arrived.

“You family owns this schooner,” the Headmaster asked sounding quite shocked, “No Mr Edmunds, my son here owns Madsen Sailing Adventures, this schooner, and the freehold land where the shed behinds are located,” Mum said.

“Wow, that is a big bit of news,” the Headmaster said, sitting down on a seat, to recover from the surprise. “As you may have seen in the news, we have sailed from Singapore to here, with just 8 crew, including my Mum, Curtis and myself, we have all pitched in during the trip, and Curtis and I have completed a 14 day sail training course in Norway, before I even knew about inheriting this yacht” I said.

“Tom, Sue, Daniel, Mr & Mrs Edmunds, we have plenty of supplies, and we would like to invite you as our guests, to join us on a sunset cruise this afternoon, including dinner and drinks” Mum announced, “What now?” Daniel’s father said sounding a little shocked.

“Yes, right now, as soon as you all agree, and we will return at about 8 pm, giving us approximately 4 hours of sailing, if that is agreeable by you all” I said, and I saw the headmaster and Mrs Edmunds look at each other and smile, then nod their heads to accept the invitation, and eventually Tom and Sue Kingsley did the same, but Daniel didn’t seem too pleased, as he had no say in the matter.

“Excellent, Curtis and Mum will show you around the yacht, while the crew prepare to set sail” I said, and the Captain, who was standing at the doorway of the galley, chatting quietly with his wife, smiled, then walking up to the inside helm, he rang the bell three times.

“All hands prepare to set sail for an evening cruise” he called out, and Sven, Marcus and I headed outside, to release the mooring ropes, and pull them in, while the skipper started up the engine, and slowly manoeuvred the yacht away from the jetty, and started cruising out of the boat harbour.

Once clear of the breakwater wall and heading West, we pulled up both sails and the engine was turned off, as the wind filled the sails, and we silently sailed away from Ocean Reef.

When I entered the main saloon again, there was no sign of Daniel, while the other guests were enjoying drinks and snacks, and chatting. “You will find Daniel in one of the bathrooms, he is quite seasick, we had no idea that he would be like this” Mrs Kingsley informed me.

I found Daniel sitting on the floor in my bathroom, groaning, and not looking too well at all, and I retrieved a glass and poured some water, before giving it to him. “Sorry mate, I didn’t know you got seasick, here drink up, you need to stay hydrated when you have been throwing up,” I said to my good friend.

Daniel accepted the glass and took a few sips, before leaning back against the wall. “Sorry about this mess, who’s bathroom is this anyway?” Daniel said after another sip of water. “Mine actually, so no need to worry, I will clean it up later, my cabin is just across the hall, go and lay down for a while, and I will come and check on you a little later,” I said to Daniel.

Once Daniel was settled into my cabin, with a full glass of water and a bucket to throw up if he couldn’t get to the bathroom in time, I returned to the main deck to assist with work, and I noticed that the skipper had changed direction to a South South West, and I smiled, knowing where we are heading.

“Where are we going?” Curtis asked me when he appeared about ten minutes later. In this direction, I would say Rottnest Island, and we will be there in about two hours” I replied. “Great, it has been ages since I was last over there,” Curtis said happily, “Just keep it a surprise for our other guests, ok,” I said to my good mate, and he smiled and nodded his head.

“I need you to do me a favour, I need all the guests, plus all junior crew, except your parents and my mum, up on deck, so I can have a chat with them, can you arrange that and keep them entertained for about half an hour?” I asked Curtis, after looking around to make sure no one was listening in.

“Yes sure, I will just get the chef to serve up some more drinks and snacks, and take them up on deck” Curtis replied, and about ten minutes later, there was just the skipper, chef Anna, as I have started calling her, Curtis’s parents, Mum and I below deck.

“Can I get everyone that is here to take a seat please, as I have somethings to discuss” I announced to those present, and soon everyone was seated in the saloon area of the yacht, and I remained standing, as I placed a pad and pencil on the desk close to Grace Kingsley.

“Right, I call this executive meeting of Madsen Sailing Adventures to order,” I said, which brought some shocked looks. “Since I am still underage, I wish to nominate Mr Hugh Kingsley and Ms Mary Madsen as directors of the company, does anyone oppose this?” I stated as I saw Grace Kingsley grab the note pad and start writing down minutes of the meeting.

There was no reply, so I continued. “Good that is settled, now as you already know, Grace has become the media Liaison for Madsen Sailing Adventures - MSA, as of today, and skipper Hans and his wife - chef Anna have agreed to remain with us long term.

The other three international crew, Sven, Marcus and Ingrid, are on a 6-month working visa, so we will have to see what happens with them when the time comes. We currently have one vacancy for a steward, which I hope to fill that position as soon as possible, with someone local.

I have been doing a bit of research and planning, and I would like to propose a number of low-cost cruises based on Ocean Reef. Morning and Afternoon cruises, that are 3 hours long, sailing down to Trigg and back, that will cost $45 per passenger, with a maximum of 32 passengers, including drinks and snacks.

Evening cruises, that are 4 hours long, sailing to Two Rocks and back, that will cost $95 per passenger, with a maximum of 12 passengers, including drinks & snacks and a two-course meal.

Overnight Cruise, lasting 18 hours, sailing to Rottnest Island and back, with a cost of $195 per passenger, including drinks and snacks, dinner and breakfast, and a two day cruise up the coast to Lancelin, as the overnight stop, with a 2 hour stop at Guilderton, and back again, with a cost of $370 per passenger, including, drinks & snacks, lunch and dinner on day one and breakfast and lunch on day two” I announced.

“Well, it sounds like you have put a lot of work into this. Hans and Anna, what are your thoughts on this?” Mum said, after a long period of silence in the room. “I think that I will need to look at those figures, to see if it is financially doable, but I like it I hear,” Anna said.

“I agree with Anna, it sounds like that with some good publicity, we could be kept very busy, especially with low costs to the passengers,” Hands said, as he continued to steer the yacht at the helm. “From what I believe, it costs from $69 to $99 per person, including light refreshments, for a three-hour sail on the STS Leeuwin, and for a 4-day voyage, they charge $2350 per person” Mum informed us all.

“Well, I think you should bump up the prices just a little bit in that case, make the 3-hour cruise $65 per person, the evening dinner cruise, can be $125 per person. I think that if we look at the cost of staying overnight at a hotel with dinner and breakfast, most guests would pay on average, about $220 per person, so I think we can increase it a little bit to $205 per person.

For the two-day cruise, I would recommend it be increased to at least $420 per person, to cover all of our costs properly, and we could even do a 4-day cruise to somewhere like Jurien Bay, for about $900 per person” Anna said, and I waited for everyone to think over what had been discussed.

“Does everyone agree with Chef Anna’s recommendations?” I asked, and all present said yes. “Very well, we will go ahead with everything agreed on. I call this meeting closed till the next one when required” I said, and I headed outside and smiled to Curtis, who was standing near the door to the mid-deck.

I noticed that Daniel was now on deck, and he appeared to be looking a bit better, no doubt the fresh air on his face was helping. The Edmunds & other Kingsley family were happily chatting when I arrived. “Where exactly are we heading to, young man?” the Headmaster asked me.

“Rottnest Island sir, Porpoise Bay to be exact, we should be arriving in just over 1 ¼ hours, just enough time to have a walk around the area before dinner” I replied, “Oh lovely, I have always enjoyed my visits to the island,” Mrs Edmunds said in response.

“Before we arrive, Chef Anna will give you the menu for tonight, so you can decide what you want for dinner, which we will have while we are anchored at Rottnest, so your dinner doesn’t go sliding off the tables,” I said, which resulted in some laughter.

“What was happening inside?” Daniel asked me, “Just a short staff and senior crew meeting, and it is all done, so for those who want to return inside you may, and I apologise for having you spending time out here, where it is a bit windy” I replied, loud enough for all to hear me.

The evening cruise was a big success, and Daniel managed to keep his dinner down, which even surprised him a bit.