Ocean Research - 10. IOR Chapter 10

“You are on the right track there my friend, the question now is where, as I think our previous suggestion of Suomi Island isn’t right for that type of development, and we need to make sure that it is all as eco-friendly as possible,” Joshua said. “Right we need to get hold of some marine navigation and topographical maps of the whole Abrolhos Islands group, and we need to work out where we will work from,” I responded.

“You are the one who is best at planning and that sort of stuff, so what about if we turn the old gym on the Silver Cloud, all we need to do there is just add a desk, chairs computer, some shelving and a filing cabinet,” Joshua suggested. “That sounds good, and if we need space, we can always go across the hall to the lounge,” I added, and Joshua agreed.

We made a quick trip back into town, where we found a newsagency that specialises in mapping, and we found the maps that we needed, next we went to office equipment store, and two laptop computers, as they would be more suitable when we need to go out and about, plus a good quality printer, a flatpack large deck, two office chairs, a bookshelf and a flatpack filing cabinet.

With all of these supplies, we headed back to the Silver Cloud in a taxi van, so as to carry everything we purchased, and with the help of the crew, we carried it all onboard and up to the upper deck. Leaving Joshua to tackle the flat packs, I walked over to the road coach terminal, which is just 500 metres away to await the arrival of our sixteen volunteers, and I had arranged charter a small bus to transport them and all their luggage to the harbour.

Once all the volunteers had been offloaded from the coach, and they had retrieved their luggage, which was now being loaded into the trailer attached to the back of the small bus, I waited for the group to settle before speaking.

“Good afternoon, my name is Kip Ashburton, I am a 6^th generation Western Australian, from the Pilbara region, and I have a degree in Marine Science, and Paramedical Science, I also have a masters ticket and an open water scuba certification. Apart from working with Mr Alliston, I am also a member of the senior crew, with my rank being 2^nd officer.

Firstly, I wish to thank you for volunteering to spend two weeks with us to clean up, what the recent cyclone has done to the Abrolhos Islands. Our main task will be to collect and throw into large industrial bins, anything that is not natural to the islands. This will include all furniture and household goods, and the remains of the many fishing huts that once stood on the islands.

We will be staying on board a boat for the entire time that we are there, and all food and soft drinks are included, but there will be no alcohol on the boat at all, as the consumption of alcohol on the boat is forbidden, by order of the owner.

The crew will do their best to assist you in any way, but they will not be at your beck and call, that means, they will provide you with your meals and drinks, cook and clean for you, but they will not do anything beyond their assigned duties.

“Those of you who have been to Geraldton before know that the harbour is just behind and around the corner from this terminal, but with this warm weather, it is easier to organise a bus, so everyone climb onboard, and we will make the two minute journey to the yacht harbour to your home for the next two weeks,” I announced.

A few minutes later, I waited as their luggage is unloaded from the trailer, before thanking the driver for his time and patience, and after he left I turned to the volunteers. “Anyone want to try and guess which vessel is your home for the next two weeks?” I asked as we looked at the long line of yachts and boats on the two jetties.

“Well those are too small to fit all of us in, so none of those, that on the large jetty is way too big, so I am guessing the catamaran which looks like it has swath keels,” one of the volunteers stated, and I smiled and chuckled to myself, as I saw Joshua approaching from the Silver Cloud.

“Before I answer that, let me introduce you to my boss, Mr Joshua Alliston, who is working with the Department of Parks and Wildlife on this restoration project,” I responded, and most of the volunteers said hello. “Have you told them which is their home for two weeks yet?” Joshua asked me.

“No, I asked if anyone would like to guess, and this gentleman said the small ones wouldn’t fit them all in there, so that left the ship and the catamaran, and he said the ship was way too big, so it must be the catamaran,” I replied. “Well I am sorry to disappoint you, although the catamaran - Silver Cloud is owned by me, it is actually the ship - MV Researcher that you will be staying on,” Joshua announced to the stunned volunteers.

Suddenly a flash of colour flew low over us and circled around a few times, and I put my hand up to shade my eyes from the sun, as I realised that I knew that bird. “Hey isn’t that Isaac’s bird?” I whispered to Joshua who nodded yes, just as the bird came straight towards us, and much to my shock, landed on my raised arm, before walking down my arm and rested on my shoulder.

“Pieces of eight, pieces of eight” he squawked, and I smiled, as the volunteers looked in shock, “Sorry buddy I don’t have anything for you” I replied to the bird, “Walk the plank, walk the plank,” he squawk, which had everyone laughing, “Do I have too?” I responded, “Scrub the decks you lazy pirate, scrub the decks,” the bird replied.

At that point, Joshua produced a piece of nectarine, which he handed over to the bird, who immediately snatched it up in one claw and began eating. “If he is here, then his owner must be close by,” I said to everyone, “Captain on Deck, captain on deck,” the bird said and I spotted Isaac approaching.

“Holy crap, it’s Blue Beard!” one of the volunteers said sounding alarmed and shocked when he saw Isaac approaching, and the bird flew over to his shoulder, still clutching the piece of fruit, and continued to eat. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please meet our local Captain Blue Beard, who will give you some instructions,” Joshua said smiling broadly, and I chuckled realising that Joshua had set this all up.

“Arr, we have some sailors with us now do we matey? They don’t look like much eh?” Isaac said, “No Captain,” the bird responded, “What should we do with them?” Isaac asked, “Walk the plank, walk the plank,” the bird replied, and there were a few worried looks on the faces of the volunteers.

“Nah they are too good for that, how about we make them work on a deserted island for two weeks, with just food and drinks, maybe let them do some swimming and snorkelling and such,” Issac said. “Too good, too good,” the bird replied, and by now the volunteers started to relax a little after that last statement from Isaac.

“As Captain Blue Beard and his first mate have stated, you are here for two weeks of conservation work, during that time, you will be fed, have a place to sleep, and you can swim and snorkel during your plentiful free time. You will be in twin-share cabins onboard the MV Researcher, she is quite comfortable, and we ask that you take care while onboard. All of the lower deck is off-limits, as are the owners and bridge decks, which are the top two decks.

The main deck has an outer aft deck with a spa pool, outdoor dining table, the main saloon, formal dining room, a 12 seat cinema and a fitness gym, for you to use. Also on the main deck at the front are the two main suites currently occupied by the Parks and Wildlife rangers, two of the smaller guest cabins are also on this deck.

The pantry and galley on the main deck plus all areas clearly marked crew only are off-limits to you all. The next deck up, which is the boat deck, has a Sundeck lounge, and aft outdoor deck, and the remaining two medium and four large guest cabins, that have been made up with twin beds.

As you see there are a number of industrial bins on the deck above that, which is usually the helideck. Tomorrow when they are offloaded, that helideck space will be available for you to use, with access from the stairs on the aft boat deck.

The aft is the rear of the deck, while the fore is the front of the deck, the port is the left side of the ship when facing forward, and starboard is on the right. Any questions?” Joshua explained to the volunteers before he set off to do other things, and I continued on with the volunteers. “How many crew are on board this ship?” one of the female volunteers asked.

“We have a total of seven permanent crew from Australia and New Zealand, and seven casual crew who are all internationals, mostly from commonwealth countries, so they all crew speak good English and some know two or more other languages, depending on where they are from.

You are expected to keep your cabins clean and tidy, and the bedsheets and towels will be changed over every fourth day, we will be casting off shortly and it will take us 4 ½ hours to reach the Abrolhos Islands, shortly after dark, where we will anchor in a bay away from any reefs for the first night, relocating to another position in the morning. Dinner will be at 1900 hours, that is 7 pm, Breakfast is at 0700 hours, that is 7 am, and lunch is at 1230 hours.

We will start working from 8 am and finish at noon, for a two-hour lunch break, and start again at 2 pm, and finish at 6 pm. We will work half a day on Saturday and all of Sunday is yours to relax and explore. Natalia our chief steward and her two stewards will show you all to your cabins, so grab your bags, and make your way on board, and up the steps to the main deck,” I announced.

I followed the last of the volunteers onto the ship, and informed the bosun to prepare for departure, before heading inside to let the captain know that we are ready to leave, by internal phone, before heading up to the bridge, where I assisted with departure procedures out of the harbour, before heading north-west for the northern end of the Abrolhos Islands.

We were about thirty minutes out when the sat phone on the bridge rang, and the first officer answered it. “Oh really, yes he is here, ok, just a moment,” we heard Adam say, as he switched it over to loudspeaker. “Kip my friend, did you forget something when preparing for departure?” I heard Joshua say.

“No, I am sure that I covered everything, where are you and why are you calling the ship’s sat phone? Unless… Oh shit, I didn’t leave you behind did I?” I replied in a shocked tone, as the bridge crew were now smiling broadly at my huge mistake. “Yes you did, I was on board the Silver Cloud, in my cabin sorting through all of my new purchases when you left, I was expecting to be notified when it was time for the ship to leave,” Joshua replied.

“Rule one, never leave the boss behind”, the Captain said out loud for all to hear, and I heard Joshua laugh at this. “I am so sorry mate, it was not intentional,” I replied. “I am guessing that you are now about twenty or more minutes out to sea now, so it is too late to turn around, I will come over tomorrow onboard the Silver Cloud, and we will talk about this some more, bye for now,” Joshua said before ending the call.

“Someone is in very big trouble,” Adam stated and he and the captain laughed at my expense, ‘Yeah I know and you don’t need to rub it in, thank you. Just as well I am good mates with the boss, so maybe I will just get a few whippings and one lot of walking the plank,” I replied smiling, which had the captain and 1^st officer laughing some more, just as there was a knock on the door to the bridge.

“Come in,” Captain James called out, and it was Bosun Luke who entered. “Sir, I haven’t seen Mr Alliston, is he alright?” Luke asked. “That is what we are laughing about, it seems our 2^nd officer forgot to check that he is on board before we left Geraldton,” Captain James replied.

“Permission to let the rest of the crew know of our 2^nd officer’s big boo-boo?” Luke asked, “Permission granted,” Captain James replied, “No, Wait… Permission is not granted, I am in enough trouble as it is and it will affect the operations of the ship,” I replied sounding very shocked and looking very worried.

“You have a point there Kipling. Ok, permission is denied, and you are to keep it to yourself understood Bosun?” Captain James said, and Luke nodded his head and left the bridge. “I think I will be resigning my position as 2^nd officer once we arrive on the islands, I am not suitably qualified to handle being an officer on a ship this size,” I commented to the Captain, “That is understood Mr Ashburton, and I will regretfully accept your resignation, after you have completed your last night watch tonight,” the Captain replied.

When we arrived at the islands, most of the volunteers and some of the crew went for a swim in the bay before dinner, while I relaxed in the lounge area of Joshua’s suite, and after dinner, I headed to bed before I start my last watch shift at midnight.

The following morning, I decided to join in and assist with the volunteers, under the direction of the two rangers, and I was surprised at how well we managed to get done as the morning progressed. During breakfast, the captain had relocated the ship to Roma Island, in the Easter Group of Islands, which are the southernmost islands, that were occupied by fishing huts.

As we returned to the ship[ for the lunch break, the Captain asked to speak to me away from the volunteers, so we headed to the pantry. “I received a call from Mr Alliston about an hour ago, the Silver Cloud will be leaving at 1300 hours, so it will be here before dark this evening,” Captain James informed me.

I thanked him for the message and I headed upstairs to my cabin, to make a call to Joshua. “Hey mate, I just received your message, I have been out helping with the cleanup,” I said when Joshua answered. “That’s good to hear, I have been busy, I have managed to get a lot of planning work done while still stuck on the mainland, including a long telephone call with my grandfather, he has agreed to let me keep the MV Researcher, as long as I put it to good use,” Joshua replied.

“Ok, well I expect you will tell me all about it when you get here, I have been enjoying your lounge area in your suite while you are away, and I will move over to the Silver Cloud when you arrive, you do know that we are down in the Easter Group?” I replied.

“Yes, the Captain informed me that you are anchored just off Roma Island. Isacc will be joining us for about a week, along with his first mate, so that will be fun. See you when we arrive, bye,” Joshua said before ending the call. I decided to call home, to see how things are going on the station, but there was no answer, so I presumed that everyone was busy working, but I decided to give my brother’s mobile a try.

“Hello, this is Flynn’s phone,” came a familiar female voice. “Hey Mum it is Kip, what are you doing with your youngest son’s phone?” I responded, “He is busy pushing shopping trolleys, we are in town for a major shopping trip, and Dad and I have had our annual medical checkups, and we are both fit as a bull and a heifer” Mum replied.

“That is good to hear. I am on the Abrolhos Islands, it is so beautiful out here, and we started work on cleaning up the mess created by the same cyclone that threatened us,” I said, “Yes dear, we saw the promotions for volunteers, and we also saw the news report on television last night too,” Mum said.

“Oh yeah, I knew about it, but forgot to watch it, Joshua received an email from his grandfather, letting us know that it was happening. Anyway, I just wanted to check in on the family. Any other news?” I replied, “Only that Frank is back on Pyramid, and doing just light duties at the moment, with Warren and Flynn doing all the hard yakka that needs doing,” Mum reported to me.

“Ok, say hello to everyone for me, and I will call again soon, bye,” I said. After the phone call, I began to pack up all of my belongings that I have on this ship, with all of my new gear all packed away in my cabin on the Silver Cloud, where I had selected the Starboard side double cabin for my use.