A Child's Haven - 74. Chapter 74

We walked to my car and drove to a diner we saw when we dropped off the car. “Tony, I’m going to call Abe and see if he knows this outfit.” Arriving at the diner, we took a seat in a booth. The waitress came over with a pot of coffee. We both nodded yes. That first cup of coffee really gets the brain cells moving. “Order for both of us while I call Abe. Good morning Abe…yes, we are at the ship yard now. …No, the ship handled like a dream. I’ll tell you all about it at dinner tonight…. No, Tony is paying…. Abe, do you know a firm called ‘Ocean Outfitters’?… Yes, the manager of the shipyard said they were the best…. I want to put cocoons on the ship, could you work with them in designing the interior for the cocoons?… Great, we’re going to meet a representative today, and I’ll put him in touch with you…. How about 6? Ok, we will see you then.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he heard about them, and they were ok. He’s going to work with them about the cocoons. Do you think we should do that or make rooms with bunk beds? I think I’m changing my mind about cocoons. It wouldn’t be different than home, but bunk beds in a stateroom would be different. We need to look at the size of those areas below the deck and see how many rooms we could fit. I want a window in each room, but if we have a center row, that won’t be possible.”

“If you make the staterooms large enough, you wouldn’t have a large center hall. Eat your breakfast, and we can discuss this with the agent from the refit company and Abe tonight.”

Breakfast was good, but I was too excited about refitting the boat. I was like on pins and needles. “Brad, relax, have another cup of coffee or take a tranquilizer. Calm down.”

I started to laugh, “So you want me to take something to speed me up and then slow me down.”

Tony started to laugh, “You know what I mean.”

“Do you think we should take Abe to Slim’s tonight?” I think Tony turned white when I said that. “No”

“Let’s get a coffee to go and drive over to the shipyard. Hey, there‘s the Captain, good morning again.”

“Good morning Brad, Tony. Sit down and have a cup of coffee with me.”

“Gladly, this guy has been bouncing off the wall. He has all sorts of ideas, which mean the end product will not be anything like he has been talking about.”

We laughed, but Tony is right. I start with an idea and how I’d like to see it done, and then in conversations with Tony and Abe, I change my mind, and the end product is exactly what I want.

“Are you going to take that ship on cruises?”

“Yes, I have promised a lot of people that we’ll cruise on that ship. We’ll have to spend a few summer months on our island, but holidays and breaks, we’ll cruise.”

“You’re going to need a captain and crew.” Now I was catching on.

“Yes, while we’re cruising. But I don’t think we’ll need someone full time unless I use it for private charter cruises. I think to start. If I could find a captain who wants to take it easy, then I’d be interested in hiring someone, maybe a captain who is ready to retire but could use a little extra cash on the side or augment his retirement. But the crew must like kids.”

“I’d love to be the Captain on that ship. It handles like a dream. My wife passed away last year, and being at sea helps me remember her and ease the pain. I’m set to retire in 6 months. But not ready to quit. How about giving me the job?”

I smiled, “Tony, draw up the contract. Welcome to Sanctuary, Captain.”

Just as we were getting ready for our third cup of coffee, the shipyard called and said the agent would be there in about an hour. I told Tony we had time for another cup of coffee. “Captain, was there a cabin behind the bridge?”

“Yes, there are a few cabins at the level. Why do you ask?”

“Well, if you are alone, you could move to the boat. Obviously, the cabin next to the bridge is the Captain’s cabin.” He smiled.

Finishing our coffee, we bid the Captain goodbye; Tony gave him his card and told him to contact him in two days. He would have a contract for him to review. On the way back to the yard, “Tony, you know there are a lot of kids who are in poor homes but loving homes. When we went to see Lion King, I gave a ticket to a kid who was waiting for his dad, the kid had on old clothes, but they were clean and so was he, then there was the officer who was helping out a family with two kids. I’ll bet there are more of these kids in the city, loved but poor. How do you think they would respond to a free cruise on a nice ship?”

Tony looked at me and started laughing. “Aren’t the three hundred kids at Sanctuary enough for you?”

“It’s not the same. Sanctuary will always be number one for me, but we have a chance to give some kids a chance of a lifetime. We could write it off on our taxes.”

“We don’t pay taxes.”

“I know, but we could start a charity and let people donate, and they could write it off.”

“Or they could donate it to us, but we’d have to go public.”

“Yes, let my devious mind work that out. I have someone who I could bounce this idea before I hit the Board with it.” Tony knew I meant my dad.

When we arrived at the shipyard, they were putting a chain around the ship. “I read that in Rotterdam, they bring the dock to the ship, and then once the ship is in the dock, they pump out the water, and the ship is ready to work on. When they finish working on it, they open the locks; water enters and refloats the ship. It beats placing chains around the ship and then raising it.”

“It looks like the section of the chain that comes in contact with the ship has a covering on it. Let’s go closer and see what they are doing. Brad, there’s the manager.”

We watched for a few minutes as they raised the ship. The manager came over, “Once we get it out of the water, we’ll check it for any damage, clean the hull and start to paint. I don’t understand why they painted the whole hull black. Usually, there is only a small portion above the water line painted black and the rest the color of the ship.”

We met with the representative from Ocean Outfitters. I discussed my ideas with him, gave him a copy of the interior on the boat. He took the copy and walked the boat. “I’ll get you several possible layouts in 2 weeks.” We said our goodbyes, and we left.

On the way home, we discussed options for using the boat.”Brad, I think we should concentrate on getting the boat finished and then taking the maiden voyage. After that, we can discuss other ventures.” Tony was right, one step at a time, but I haven’t forgotten my plan.