Fordell - 7. Ford Ch 7

The officers units were all one level, while the crews units have seven on the ground floor and seven on the upper floor, with undercover parking for a total of eight vehicles, the property will include a enclosed tennis court and a three lane – 25 metre long lap pool.

I had plans to build a giant log cabin on the block of land across the road from the shed and jetty, which will become my new headquarters for my Australian Businesses. The Log cabin will be three levels high, with a central entry foyer, and through a door on the left leads into the reception and administration centre for the Wigan Investments, while the office space to the right will be the new office for the harbour cruises.

About two thirds of the way down the flyer, is the wide grand staircase leading up to the first floor, while a hallway on each side, leads to men’s and women’s toilets, and a large commercial kitchen.

On the first floor, there will be double doors leading to a narrow foyer, and going around on either side, it opens up to one function room, while behind the foyer there is a pantry area where food is prepared, to be served to guests.

At the front of the first floor, there is a wide outdoor verandah, that overlooks the cove, and upstairs on the third floor, with just spiral stairs to get to that level, will be the executive offices of Wigan Investments, with a small reception foyer.

Behind a secure door, a hallway leads to a very large conference room on the left. A staff lounge with kitchen on the right, followed by two bathrooms, and at the back are the two executive offices, of which one will be mine.

At the front of the building, there will be eight car park spaces, with another eight directly across the road. When the log cabin is completed, a second jetty will be built, with a six-metre space from the first jetty, and while the shed will remain, the residence will be pulled down.

While all of these building projects were going on, I spent some time relaxing onboard the yacht, usually on one harbour cruise per month, with the paying passengers having no idea that I was onboard. With no more than seven couples or pairs coming onboard on each trip, the were all accommodated on the main deck, but they had access to the saloon and aft deck on the upper deck, and also the stairs foyer on the Bridge deck, so they can get to the sundeck.

When the passengers were on the sun deck, I would usually retreat to the office or the bridge, to keep out of sight. One booking that the office received for the four-day cruise was made by the West Coast Regional Council, for a Christmas party for the Mayor, Councillors and the CEO and their partners.

With 20 people for this trip, as soon as I learnt about this booking, I let the Captain know that I would also be onboard, with the cruise set for the week before Christmas starting on the Friday morning. When the time arrived for that cruise, I boarded the yacht the evening before, and settled into my suite on the Bridge Deck.

During breakfast the next morning, we had a meeting to make sure that everything was prepared for our 20 guests, with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and CEO and their partners, to be allocated suites on the Upper Deck, while the rest of the councillors would have cabins on the main deck.

I had decided to allow the guests the use of the owners lounge on the bridge deck, after 9am each morning, as that is where I have my breakfast, along with my minder – Hunter, who would be allocated a suite on the upper deck too. I also asked the Captain to have the Sun deck to myself for two hours from 11 am to 1 pm each day, and this had been mentioned to the guests before arrival.

From the bridge aft deck, I watched at the guest arrived and boarded the yacht, making sure that I remained out of sight, as the crew greeted them all and brought their luggage onboard. “Welcome onboard the Motor Yacht Calamity Jane; we will shortly be on our way, and as a reminder of what we have planned for you over the next four days.

We have posted notice in the dining room on this level, the saloon on the next level up and the owners lounge on the Bridge deck,” I heard the Captain say to the guests. “Excuse me Captain, May I ask who the owner of this fine yacht is?” the Council CEO asked, “You may ask, but I will let the owner introduce himself, when he joins you for dinner tomorrow night,” the captain replied.

Smiling, I headed to my office for a while to do some reading, while the guests are been shown around the yacht. Once we were on our way, shortly after 10 am, I went into the Bridge, “My Lord, can I help you with anything?” the Captain asked when I entered.

“Yes, I am wanting to wander around the yacht some more, and the only way I can think of to do that, is by wearing an officers uniform,” I replied, and both the Captain and First Officer chuckled at my request. “Very sneaky indeed, I will call the chief steward to come up, so she can arrange a uniform and epaulets for you, what rank do you want to be?’ the Captain asked.

“Well since the rank of captain and First Officer are already taken…” I said smiling, and the Captain laughed. “Sorry about that sir, the best I can offer you is 2^nd officer,” the Captain said, as the First Officer made the called on the PA for the Chief Steward to come to the bridge.

“You called for me Captain?” Elizabeth the Chief Steward said after knocking and entering the bridge, and when she closed the door, she saw me seated, “Oh, sorry My Lord, wasn’t expecting to see you here,” she added as she gave a slight curtsy.

“His Lordship wishes to move around the yacht more than usual while we have these guests, and he has come up with a brilliant idea. I am giving him the temporary rank of Second Officer, can you please arrange a uniform and epaulets for him please.

Once you have done that spread the word around to the crew, of our owner’s new rank, and that he is to be addressed as sir only, with no bows or curtsying when there are guests around,” the Captain said to Elizabeth who smiled.

“My pleasure sir, and welcome to the crew my lord,” Elizabeth said before giving a bob and leaving the bridge and I smiled broadly as her comment. “Yes, welcome to the crew, sir,” the First Officer Andrea added. I remained on the bridge until Elizabeth returned with my fresh uniform.

“I have two shirts and one set of ranks, I presume his lordship has black trousers and deck shoes,” Elizabeth said as he handed the uniforms to Andrea, “Yes thankyou Elizabeth, that will be fine,” I replied, as I received the shirts from Andrea. Once the Chief Steward had gone, I headed to my cabin, where I found a pair of black trousers and my deck sneakers, and changed into them, and after looking in the mirror, I headed to the aft deck to sit and enjoy the sunshine and sea air.

After a while, I heard footsteps and I glanced towards the steps leading to the sundeck. “Oh good, officer, can you arrange for some towels for us please, a lady asked me, as I stood up and smiled, “Certainly, one moment please,” I replied, as I headed into the lounge, where a staff telephone is located on the wall.

“Elizabeth, this is the second officer, some guests are requesting towels on the Bridge deck aft please… yes thankyou,” I said into the phone, and two minutes later Elizabeth arrived with an arm full of towels and I pointed to the outside deck, where some of the guests were seated.

“Your second officer, he has an unusual accent,” I overheard one of the guests say, “Yes Ma’am it is European, but I am not sure exactly where, as he is new to the crew,” I heard Elizabeth reply, and I gave her a smile and a nod of my head, as she entered the lounge, and headed downstairs.

I was about to head to my office, when two of the women guests entered the lounge, “Excuse me young man, you look very young to be an officer, the young lady said that you are from Europe?’ she said to me, and I smiled. “That is correct Ma’am, I am from Zurich, but we have crew members from all over the place.

We have two from New Zealand, two from Canada, two from Italy, myself from Switzerland, and the rest are from all over Australia,” I replied. “Oh, I see, does that cause language problems?” one of the guests asked, “Not as all Ma’am, English is the main language spoken onboard, and those who have a second language on speak it when off duty,” I replied, before I headed to the restricted area where guests are not permitted.

I had just closed the door to my office, when I heard a voice call out, “I say, young man?” and I groaned before opening the door, and seeing the guest standing at the door, with her foot against it. “Ma’am, this is a restricted area, if you need anything, just pick up the white phone on the wall in the lounge and press the button for Steward,” I said before closing the door again.

A few moments later, there was a knock on the door, and thinking that it was a crewmember, I called out enter, and I was a little annoyed that it was the same Lady again. “Ma’am, this is a restricted area, please head back to the lounge,” I said to her.

“But I want to talk to you some more,” the Lady protested. “I am sorry, but I am busy, please return to the lounge and do not enter this area again,” I said as I stood up and walked to the door, and watched until the Lady had walked back into the lounge area, and I had heard the door lock click shut.

“What was all that about sir?” Andrea asked me from the door of the Bridge, “One of the guests, sneaking into this area, wanting to talk to me some more, it seems that my unusual European accent is fascinating to her. I said I was from Zurich, but I don’t think she is convinced,” I replied.

“I wouldn’t either sir, as it is indeed a good mixture to throw anyone off the scent, so to speak,” Andrea replied. “I was actually born and brought up in Launceston here in Tasmania, I have family in Scotland, who I go and see regularly and I spent over four years in Zurich where I attended University there,” I said to Andrea.

“My word sir, that would definitely explain the unusual accent,” Andrea responded.

“Yes, I am fluent in German, Italian and Romansch, and I have picked up a few Scottish words while I have been there too,” I responded, before going back into the office, were I spent the next few hours. I ended up having lunch with the crew down at the crew mess, which I noticed made a few crewmembers very uncomfortable.

“May I let you know, that up until I was sixteen years old, when I learnt I was aristocracy, I was just an average normal teenager, who was born and brought up here in Tasmania. Mind you, I did attend a private school in Launceston, so I had a good quality high school education, and as I mentioned to First Officer Andrea, I spent four years in Zurich, attending University.

So just relax, I am just an ordinary bloke who happens to have aristocracy in his blood, and two titles, which is a real pain in the arse to have,” I said, which made most of the crew laugh, and I could see that a lot of them almost instantly started to relax.

“Sir is there anything else that we are permitted to call you?” Anita the Bosun asked me, and I chuckled, “Well let me say this, for this cruise and this one only you may call me Officer Fordell or Sir,” I responded, and I saw alot of disappointed faces.

“My two friends who were my minders in my last two years in high school called me ‘Sir Mate’, so when not near any of the guests, you may call me that for the remainder of this cruise, and includes no formal bows or curtsy,” I added, and the crew smiled at this statement.

I had dinner as usual in my private lounge at the same time as the guests, which was easy with the dumbwaiter providing easy access to all three main levels from the galley. After dinner, I headed back to my office, and a short time later, the captain knocked on the door before entering.

“Good evening sir, I just wanted to let you know that the guests have agreed to allow the four senior officers to join them for dinner tomorrow night,” the Captain announced to me. I thanked him and wished him a good night, as I prepared to head to my suite, as I was planning an early morning to do some snorkelling.

With the yacht moored at the Kelly Basin jetty, I set off from the yacht in my own personal wave runner at 5 am the next morning, with a set of snorkelling gear, and I headed for a small bay at the mouth of the Clark River. As I arrived, I discovered a small jetty, on the south side bank of the little bay, just before the river mouth, with a small clearing where there is a shed and a number of cabins.

With the most of the yachts guests having taken the trek yesterday afternoon, I knew that I would only have about four hours from the time I left the yacht, but this little discovery had me very curious, as I tied up the wave runner to the jetty.

Quietly as possible, I looked around the outside of the clearing, before getting a little closer to the buildings, and I looked through the window of the shed first, where I found a vehicle and boat trailer, with a 70 foot open speed yacht on it, which would explain the lack of a boat at the jetty.

Along the side wall of the shed was a series of shelving with lots of boxes on each box, but I could not see any logos of any kind to indicate why these buildings are here. The next building looking through the window, it looked to be the main living area, with a kitchen, dining and recreation lounge area.

As I walked around to the door of the living area, the sun’s reflection made me look up, where I saw solar power panels, and amongst them was a satellite dish, so I knew that this was a lot more than just a standard remote camp, and I quietly opened the door and walked into the building.

When I accidently stubbed my boot on one of the dining chairs, the sound of snoring filled the room, and I froze where I stood. “What… is that you Shultz?” I heard a voice say from the lounge area, as I quickly hid myself below the table.

I waited silently to see what happens next, when I heard footsteps heading towards the kitchen, and suddenly the whole building was lit up with lights. “Ok, whoever you are stand up slowly, as I am armed,” the voice said to me, and I slowly stood up with my arms raised.

“Don’t shoot please sir, I have no weapons. I am just a guest on that big yacht located at the other jetty,” I said with an upper-class English accent, trying to sound scared, and I forced my body to shake to show just that.

“Ok, you are on state property, what are you doing here at… 5.45 in the morning,” the man said as he looked at his watch.

“I am sorry, I took a wave runner from the yacht to do some snorkelling and I stumbled across this campsite, and I was curious to know who lives or works here?” I responded. “Ok, you can put your hands down, this is a Parks and Wildlife research facility, and is also used by us when doing repair work on the walk trails in the area,” the man said to me.