Tall Ship Adventures - 13. TSA Chapter 13

We spent the next six hours sailing out around the islands, just out from the main entry into the Auckland Harbour, and it was an awesome experience, with Jordan and I spending most of the time sharing the workload at the helm, and Carter was always close by to give us some tips on how to improve the sailing, which was always welcomed, and Jackson instructed Alistair on how to be a crewman on a sailing yacht, which by the looks of it he was enjoying, and could see that Jordan was thrilled with his new yacht.

We stopped at a beach on one of the islands in the harbour, to have a picnic lunch, and after eating, Carter pulled out a beach cricket set out from one of the storage lockers, and we had a great time playing beach cricket for an hour, before swimming. As we lay on the beach to dry off, I saw Jordan fidgeting a little, and could tell that he was about to say something, “Err guys, there is something that I would like to discuss with you,” he began to say, which drew in everyone’s attention.

“My very good mate - Zac here suggested this to me, over the phone over a week ago, and after some consultation with my folks, we would like to offer all three of you a job on my new yacht, which as you know will be based in Western Australia,” Jordan announced. “This is a big decision for you guys, so take your time to think about it and discuss it with your family, we know that you guys have university and college studies to complete, as do I with my final year in high school, but there are excellent colleges and universities in WA, so you could easily combine the two over in our home state of Western Australia,” I added to support Jordan.

“Well, we didn’t expect this offer, we just thought we would be getting a few extra sailing jobs for the summer, not a regular sailing job in a different country, and none of us has ever been out of our home country before, so it will be a new experience for all three of us. As you say, it is a big decision, so yes, we will discuss it with our parents, and let you know what has been decided,” Carter replied.

“What are your plans for the future Jackson?” Jordan asked the lad, who looked surprised by the question. “Um, well, I guess I wanted to go to college and study art and maybe combine it with an education degree, but I haven’t decided yet,” Jackson replied. “Do you want to continue sailing?” I asked, “Yes, definitely, especially if I am sailing with my siblings, it is awesome that we are sailing together,” Jackson replied, and both Carter and Beatrice smiled broadly at this comment, “Yes we do make a great team, don’t we,” Beatrice said.

“If we do decide to join you as crew for this magnificent yacht, where about in Western Australia would we be based?” Carter asked, and I looked over to my friend to answer that question, as I had no idea what his family had decided on that matter. “After some discussions with my folks, and after the recent events regarding my first yacht, we have decided that the best location to base this yacht would be at Port Denison, in the town of Dongara.

This happens to be Zac and Alistair’s hometown, which is located 350 kilometres north of the state capital of Perth, and 65 kilometres south of the coastal city of Geraldton,” Jordan announced, which caught me totally by surprise. “Awesome, that means I get to go out on this yacht more often,” my brother Alistair commented, which made me chuckle, and Jordan ruffled his hair, “Sure does kiddo,” Jordan said to my brother, who frowned at having his hair messed up and been called kiddo.

“Is Geraldton where you and your family live?” Carter asked, and I smiled broadly at this and shook my head no. “No, my good friend and his family are Pastoralists, they own a large cattle station further north, where the nearest town of Roebourne is 70 kilometres to the west, and South Hedland is 130 kilometres to the northeast of the station, which is…” I started to say, “Which is about 1,200 kilometres north of Port Denison by road,” Jordan said to finish the answer.

“Wow, why have your yacht so far away from your home?” Beatrice asked, “Well, Western Australia is a very large state with very big remote areas, especially where our cattle station is located, we did have my first yacht moored at the nearest marina. Because it is so remote, the yacht was stolen and was not even noticed missing until sometime later, when it appeared in the coastal town of Kalbarri just north of Geraldton, where my good friend here recognised the yacht, having sailed onboard her just a few weeks earlier.

Unfortunately, shortly after confirming with me that it was indeed my yacht and that it was over 1,000 kilometres south of where it was supposed to be, and after it was reported to the police, the yacht was sailed out of the Marina, heading south, but unfortunately the into a dicey coastal area, and ran the yacht aground on reefs.

We don’t want that to happen again with this yacht, so the family decided that it was best moored at a much larger marina, where there are more people around, and now with a crew onboard her, there will be no chance of it been stolen,” Jordan explained. “What exactly do you do for work? Apart from owning a million-dollar yacht?” Carter asked Jordan.

“Well, I guess you could say I am a full-time cattle station worker, but since my grandfather and father are my bosses, and I am the second son, I get a bit of leniency when it comes to taking time off to go sailing, which my older brother Tim and sister Angela, are starting to see as my enjoyable hobby,” Jordan replied.

This time after we cleaned up the yacht once we had returned to the marina, Jordan gave the three Hunter siblings a $100 NZ tip each, and we watched them as they were heading towards a car in the car park, while Jordan had remained on the yacht with us. “Hey guys, come and meet our folks,” Carter called out after jogging halfway back to the yacht, “Sure, be there in a moment,” Jordan called out in reply, before turning to Alistair and me.

“It’s probably going to be about my offer, how about you guys hang tight here and give your folks a call, and ask them to come down and have dinner with me at the yacht club,” Jordan said to us. “Are you staying onboard the yacht, while you are here?” I asked in surprise, “Yep, and it is so cool just being here listening to the water in the sheltered area of the marina, and it has given me time to think a bit about my future,” Jordan replied.

“Wow, ok we will call them right away, see you when you get back,” I replied, and Jordan headed for the end of the jetty and the security gate, to talk to Mr and Mrs Hunt, and Alistair was already dialling Dad’s mobile number. “Hey Dad, we had an awesome time on the yacht sailing today, and guess who was onboard with us?” I heard Alistair say to Dad.

“Aww, that’s not fair knowing before us… anyway, Jordan has invited us all to have dinner with him here at the yacht club… can you come?” Alistair asked, and he nodded his head before ending the call and smiling. “They already knew about Jordan arriving here, and apparently, he called our folks while we were on our way here this morning. Anyway, they will be here in half an hour,” Alistair informed me.

We remained on the main deck lounge enjoying the nice Auckland summer day and waited for Jordan to return, which wasn’t that long a wait. “Hey, did you miss me already?” Jordan asked as he stepped onboard and climbed the stairs. “Very funny man, you were only gone for like an hour or two,” I replied, and we all burst out laughing at the silly humour.

“So, what did Mr and Mrs Hunt say?” I asked, “Well, they are agreeable to letting their two eldest join the crew right away, but they want their youngest to stay at home for at least one year before going off on any adventure, which young Jackson was not at all pleased about, but Carter and Beatrice convinced him that it was the best decision for him, to get a bit of life experience at home first.

That is not the best news though, but before I tell you that. Zac, how would you like to experience a two-week sailing adventure in the open seas?” Jordan asked me, and I stared at him for a few moments, wondering what on earth he was talking about. “You mean sailing her back to WA instead of shipping her over?” I asked.

“That is right, with Carter and Beatrice, the four of us should be able to make the trip quite easily, and I estimate that it will take us about two weeks to complete the journey, with only a few short supply stops, at Geelong, Albany and Fremantle,” Jordan announced.

“Wow, that would be a rough trip, but I am game to give it a go, as long as it is ok with my folks though,” I replied, “I guess we can ask them when they arrive for dinner,” Jordan said to me. “Right, I have the Master Cabin, you guys go down to the two officers' cabins on the port side and have a shower, you will find fresh towels in the cupboard, and we will meet back in the main saloon in twenty minutes,” Jordan suggested.

“You are so lucky to do this trip with Jordan if our parents let you, I wish I could come along too,” Alistair complained, as we headed down to the portside crew cabins, and we were surprised to find dress shorts and collared shorts sitting on the beds.

“Hey bro, looks like Jordan has kitted us out with a new uniform too,” I called out, “Cool, see you in a bit,” Alistair called out in return, as I heard him close his cabin door. Fifteen minutes later, showered and dressed in our new clothes, which fitted perfectly, we headed back up to the main deck.