Alex & Lang - 9. A & L Ch 9

Moments after Leah had departed the room, a very worried looking Xavier and Wyatt arrived, with Xavier holding the sat phone, which he handed over to me. “Hello, Alexander speaking,” I said not sure who was on the other end.

“Xander, this is Sebastian, I presume you have received the news of your yachts peril?” my cousin said to me, “Yes, only a minute or two ago, how bad is it?” I responded. “I would say it is a write off, thankfully the Captain had taken that decision to have all the crew and guests off the yacht while work was been done on her. So, what are your plans now, and where are you by the way?” Sebastian said to me.

“I chartered a yacht to take us up to Broome for a bit of a holiday, and we just arrived a few hours ago. In regards to what happens now… well I will need to think about that, but in the meantime, we will stay here for a bit,” I said.

After the conversation with Sebastian, I headed to my suite to have a bit of a lie down, as I was getting a bit of a headache from all that has happened in the past few days. “Are you ok?” Langley asked me when he walked into the suite a few minutes later.

“Yes, I just needed some quiet time to absorb all that has been happening for the past few days, and it’s given me a bit of a headache, but I am fine. Now come and cuddle up next to me, as I have some other news to tell you, that no one else knows about,” I said and Langley lay down beside me and wrapped his arms around me, making me feel loved and protected.

“When we were in CI, that’s Christmas Island, I purchased some land, to build our own tropical dream home, which is located just on the north east coast of the island, facing Java, and 400 metres inland from the coast. It is a former stone quarry, that has started to recover from the fining operations there, and we will continue to all for the forest to grow on the property, with the exception of where the house is going to go,” I announced.

“Wow, that sounds nice, so when will this house be built, and when can we go and see the property,” Lang asked me, and I chuckled at his enthusiasm, “Well that is why I wanted to talk to you. I am going to try and organise some accommodation for just the two of us, no staff joining us, so that we can have some alone time.

Once that is done, I will charter a plane to come and collect us from here in Broome, to fly us directly to Christmas Island. Although I only bought the property two weeks ago, I have already put into motion for the start of the project to establish our new home, as well as helping out the Island, with the installation of a sea wall, to protect the ships unloading cargo, and also to protect larger yachts that wish to have a safe anchor place,” I informed Langley.

“How big is the block of land that you bought?” Langley asked me, after a period of silence to absorb this new news, “99 acres to be exact, and it is Freehold land, so we have a bit more control on what we can do on the property, where as the neighbouring Christmas Island Resort, is a 126-acre leasehold property,” I replied.

“Ok, let’s go back to Christmas Island, I liked it when we visited there before, especially all those red crabs, not too sure about those Robber crabs, as their claws are a bit to dangerous for my liking,” Langley said. I leaned over and retrieved my mobile from the bedside table and dialled a number.

“Hello, this is Alexander Devonport speaking, I would like to book a suite for two for the earliest possible dates, for a period of one week. We will be flying in on a charter flight, so it can be on dates that don’t fit in with the incoming flights from Perth,” I said when the call was answered.

Once I had the accommodation booked, starting from two-day’s time, I called the aircraft charter company based in Darwin, and arranged for us to be collected from Broome in two days, with the destination been Christmas Island. While we are away on the Island, I would be continuing the charter of the Catamaran yacht, so that my staff have a place to stay for a while, and it gave Leah and Andrea and crew a bit of certainty with their business.

With work already well advanced with the construction of our new cyclone proof home for the island, using two already constructed cyclone code homes, that were be modified to suit my design layout. Like a lot of modular homes, that are built in sections, and joined together, I was having the outer walls strengthened, even more than is usually required.

The living areas of the two homes would be joined together, to make one huge living space, which will be in the centre of the house, while the two accommodation spaces, would be on opposite sides, with a large undercover breezeway between them, to allow for plenty of ventilation, but still provide plenty of shelter during storms, with both breezeways having tropical gardens, while one will also have a large Spa Pool and BBQ facilities and the other will have a narrow lap pool.

In the central part of the house, the kitchen space was large and would have all of the modern equipment available, and will include a large Butler’s pantry, and additional storage space, with an adjoining laundry and a staff suite. The dining room will have a large solid wood dining table with space for twelve seats minimum, and room for an additional 4 more spaces.

The living room was also large and roomy, with lots of comfortable seating in two separate zones, the main entry zone has two lounges facing each other with a coffee table in the centre, while the main living space has a more roomier living area, with long lounges and chairs with small tables beside each of them.

Next door, there will be twelve-seat cinema lounge, and an adjoining large library and a spacious office. The northern side of the accommodation space, has a lobby lounge area that leads to a private lounge and study, and the master suite, with a huge private bathroom.

The other side of the accommodation space, has a small lounge area that leads to three double guest bedrooms, each with their own ensuite bathrooms. A separate smaller building will contain a backup diesel generator, as well as the solar power control room, and battery room, as the house will be 100% off grid.

Large semi underground tanks will store all collected rainwater, to be filtered and used for all water needs for the house, which will be located under the raised house, to reduce the amount loss from the heat.

The roof of the two breezeways is a shutter system, so as to allow additional sunlight into the house, yet shut out any wind or rain during heavy or severe storms, with the end walls of each breezeway also having shutters to control the airflow into the area.

I had been promised that it would take just three weeks to have all the alterations made to our new home, then another week for the house to be shipped to the island and put into position, using cranes and transport trucks, to get them from the nearby offloading area to the house site, which would eliminate any disruptions to the local community if using the main shipping port area.

The property would also have a biodegradable waste system for all sewerage, so as to help the environment, and not cause any issues with sewerage waste removal. On arrival on the island, we settled into our accommodation, and after a few hours of relaxing, Lang and I enjoyed watching a stunning sunset on the beach near where our new home will be located.

“I know you are not happy, especially with your disapproval of what Sebastian has done regarding the island, what can I do to make you happier, I don’t like you been like this?” Langley said to me, as we watched the last of the sun’s rays disappear over the western horizon.

I signed loudly and thought about it for some time, “Honestly, I don’t really know what I want, the problem is that with the yacht we could go anywhere, and feel safe as we travelled,” I replied. “Can I make a suggestion… would a visit to see your dad’s grave make things a bit better for you?” Langley suggested.

“Yeah, I think that is a good idea, I will give Wyatt a call later to arrange for the four of us to fly there as soon as possible,” I responded as we stared out into the fading daylight into darkness. “On the flight over here, I was looking at possible replacements for the yacht, and I came across an expedition yacht that would be ideal.

She is called the “Ocean Admiral” she is an 85-metre super yacht with six decks, with an elevator to the four centre decks, but not the base deck and sun deck, and she happens to be berthed in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, so we could go and check her out, and if all is good, I would like to make an immediate offer to purchase,” I announced to Langley.

“Wow, that didn’t take you long to find a replacement,” Langley said as we headed back to the car to drive back to our accommodation, and I chuckled at this comment, “I am always on the look for a good deal, and I think this will be one very good one,” I responded.

When we arrived back at the accommodation, I retrieved my laptop computer and started it up and a minute later we were looking at the information about the ship. “Wow, I love it. It doesn’t have much in the way of guest cabins, I expected that there would be a lot more than the just five guest cabins for the size of the ship,” Langley commented.

“Yes, I know, but I don’t think we will be having many guests onboard, it is more of a floating home and work base for just the two of us, and there is plenty of room for the crew to each have their own separate cabins,” I replied. “Ok, so will you be inviting Kyle and family to join us?” Langley asked me.

I smiled and gave him a sideways hug. “That is what I love about you, always caring, yes that is my plan. As soon as we take control of ownership, I will arrange for Kyle and family to join us,” I replied.

“So, are we going to fly to the Falklands, or are we going to sail down there in our new yacht?” Langley asked, “I think we will wait until we have visited Port Elizabeth and make a decision then, but I will call Wyatt in the morning, and get him to arrange our travels to South Africa, for us, Xavier and him,” I replied.

“How long will it take us to get from South Africa to the Falkland Islands?” Langley asked me, “about two weeks, depending on the sea conditions,” I replied, “Will it be very rough out there in the middle of the ocean?” Langley asked, “Yes and no, once again it all depends on the sea conditions, which are depending on the tides and the winds,” I answered.

Five days later, we were back in Perth and about to board a 11-hour flight to Johannesburg, then a 1 ½ hour flight onto Port Elizabeth. We had spent most of the morning purchasing new clothes and additional luggage for the trip, as we had lost some of our belongings in the fire onboard the yacht.

As required, we were booked onto business-class seats for the long-haul flight, with Wyatt joining us, while Xavier has returned to work with Sebastian, as they could not do anything without him. Also joining us will be Captain Anton Benigni, 1^st Officer Christopher and Chief Engineer Christine Hart.

Kyle and family as well as Mrs Cooper had also returned to Perth from their short visit to Exmouth, and they were aware of the plans of me purchasing a new yacht, which they would be invited to join, once the yacht is ready to its first journey under new ownership.

Once I had purchased the yacht, I needed to find additional crew to run the huge yacht, and I would be relying on my current four officers and five senior crew to make sure this happened, with an additional six crew needed to keep the yacht clean and well maintained. This would include a senior cook, a galley hand, two more stewards and two more deckhands, at a minimum, which would leave two crew cabins vacant if required for later use.

After a very long and tiring flight to South Africa, we settled into our suites at the hotel, near the airport, where we could rest overnight, before making the second flight to Port Elizabeth the next day. I had already spoken to the current owners of the yacht a number of times, and they were pleased that I would be able to buy the yacht outright immediately, without any bank involvement, and are happy to allow for settlement of the purchase to take place as fast as possible.

Wyatt had booked us into the top hotel on the beach in Port Elizabeth, close to where the yacht is currently berthed, so we don’t have to travel too far, and when we did arrive in the port city, we took our time relaxing and getting settled into our adjoining suites, as we were all still quite tired from yesterday’s long journey from Australia.

I contacted the yacht owners to let them know that we had arrived, but we would delay inspecting the yacht until the morning, and we arrange to be there at 9 am. With those plans set, we all relaxed for the remainder of the day in the wide-open grounds of the luxury five-star hotel, and I managed to convince Wyatt to go and have some time to himself, so he headed over to the Casino, returning much later smiling and $12,400 richer.

After depositing the money in the hotel safe, to keep it secure, we had a late supper together as a group before retiring for the night, and we would meet up for breakfast at abut 8 am. After a hearty breakfast, we took a chartered vehicle to the yacht club, where the yacht is currently berthed, and as we approached, we could see that it was quite an amazing yacht.

“Welcome onboard the Motor Yacht Ocean Admiral,” the gentleman at the side of the yacht said as we approached, “Hello, I am Alexander Devonport, and this is some of my senior crew,” I responded, and the gentleman introduced himself as the owner of the yacht, Monsieur Jacque Debreu, the gentleman that I had been corresponding too and speaking too over the past week.

We split up into three groups to explore every area of the yacht, and half an hour later, when we all gathered at the jetty just off the yacht, I could tell right way that there are some problems, and I indicated that we walk away from the yacht so as the owner cannot hear our conversation.

“For a fairly new yacht, I am quite disappointed at what I saw, the engine looks to be ok and is running how it is to be expected, but the condition of the engine room was more than atrocious, there has been an oil leak at some stage, and it has not been cleaned up properly, and as a result the residue has been trampled all over the engine room, and even into internal parts of the yacht,” Christine announced.