Tall Ship Journey - 6. TSJ Chapter 6

The last class of the day was spent down at the beach at Champion Bay, where the new Water Sports Activity Centre was officially launched, and we all had the chance to try out or watch some of the activities that will take place regularly at this new location. Feeling tired after a fairly long day, I finished my homework as quickly as I could before retiring to my room for an early night, as I continued to worry about what had happened to the Stingray and its skipper.

Before falling asleep, I sent a quick text message to Jordan to let him know that the video presentation went well, even without the yacht being included, and that I was still hoping that Carter and the Stingray would both be found safe and well. When I woke up the next morning, I noticed a reply from Jordan. “Still no news of the Stingray or Carter, and Dad has now put out a reward for the safe return of Carter and the Catamaran, which should hit the news early today. Do not stress too much buddy, all will work out ok in the long run… I hope. Jordan.”

For the rest of the week, I struggled to concentrate on my studies, as I continued to worry about Carter, and I messaged Jordan every evening before going to bed, to see if there was any news. On Friday evening, as Dad and I were heading home for the weekend, the hourly news started up on the radio.

“Good evening, first in tonight’s news, a good story. After a week of going missing, due to the hijacking of his employer's Catamaran Yacht, 22-year-old Carter Hunt from New Zealand, who was the yacht’s skipper, has been located and are safe, but the hijackers and the yacht have managed to flee from capture before the Federal Police could get to them.

Mr Hunt is currently under observation at the Christmas Island Hospital, after a week-long ordeal that had him forced to skipper the yacht away from the Australian mainland, and apart from the lack of sleep and being fed only once a day, he is in good spirits and looking forward to been reunited with his family.

It was while being forced to assist with shopping for supplies at the Christmas Island supermarket, that he was able to get someone to notice that he was in trouble, by writing a few words on his hand, which were noticed by another person in the shops who is a fisherman. It is believed that Mr Hunt wrote the words – Pan Pan Hi Jack Stingray on his hand, which he managed to keep from his captors, but he was able to make it visible as he walked down the aisles of the supermarket.

The three hijackers, all European, managed to get back to the yacht and cast off before the Federal Police could capture them, and they were last to see heading north for Indonesia or Malaysia…” the news reporter announced, and I quickly pulled out my mobile to call Jordan, but my phone rang with a call from him before I could dial.

“Hey Zac, did you just see or hear the news?” Jordan asked me, “Yes, just heard it on the radio, I am in the car on my way home with Dad,” I responded, “Oh wait a minute, I have a call coming in…” Jordan said to me and I was placed on hold for a few moments. “You still there Zac? I have someone who wants to say hello,” Jordan said a few moments later.

“Hello Zac, it is me. I hear you have been worried sick about me. I am ok, just a little tired and hungry,” the familiar voice of Carter said, and for the next twenty minutes, the three of us chatted, before Carter had to end his part of the conference call, as the doctor arrived to check on him. Joran and I chatted for a bit longer before the call ended, and I was now happy that Carter was now safe and reasonably ok, after a week of being captured.

“That is great news, but still a shame about the yacht missing. What will Jordan do now?” Dad asked me as we continued to drive south towards home. “He has decided that he doesn’t want to own a yacht anymore, so if he gets it back he will sell it, or if he doesn’t, he will claim for insurance,” I replied.

“That is a shame, I know that you loved being onboard that Cat, especially with the trip from Auckland to Port Lincoln over the past holidays,” Dad said to me, “Yeah, I know. But I was just a crewman, nothing more, and I can still be a volunteer crewman onboard the tall ship every school holiday if that is ok with you and Mum,” I replied. “It sure is ok with both of us son,” Dad replied.

Carter spent a whole week on Christmas Island before he was flown back to the WA mainland, where he was reunited with his siblings and Jordan, who had flown down to Perth with Beatrice and Jackson, two days later, the three of them flew home to Auckland, New Zealand, to be with the rest of their family.

A few days later, I received a text while I was cooling down from a hard game of tennis after school. “Hey, bud, hope school is going ok for you. Work on the station is as usual, hot and ongoing. Make sure you set aside the first term holidays, as I have had a request for both of us to be crew on the Leeuwin for the April school holidays, Jordan.”

“Yes, that sounds good, always keen to sail on the tall ships, Zac,” I replied, before gathering my gear and heading back to the boarding house to shower and get ready for dinner. I was looking forward to getting back onboard the STS Leeuwin, as I always find it a great challenge and not every trip is the same.

As time passed each week, I was now looking forward to being onboard the STS Leeuwin, as I continued to try and cope with the stresses of completing my final year of high school, especially with my final examinations happening in just a few short months.

I knew from the information sent to me, that this trip on the STS Leeuwin would be 8 days of sailing, from Fremantle to the Abrolhos Islands and return. The 400 kilometre – 215 nautical mile journey would take us approximately three days to complete and would have two days of sailing around the three groups of Abrolhos Islands, before setting off back south towards the home port of Fremantle.

Jordan and I would both be watch leaders and as such, we would be busy working with different teams for most of the journey. When the Autumn school holidays finally arrived in April, I caught a Transwa bus down to Perth, which is a long six-hour journey, Jordan would be meeting me at the East Perth Terminal when we arrived and had arranged a motel room for us to share for the night before we join the ship the following day.

Arriving at Fremantle early the next morning, we had just a few hours before the participants arrived at 11 am, and we settled into our bunks before we attended a ship’s meeting to discuss the voyage. During this meeting, the four watch leaders, including myself, received a list of participants that would be under our supervision, and I groaned in annoyance when I recognised three familiar names on my list.

“What is that groan for Mr Hynes? Do you have a problem with any of the participants that will be joining us?’ the skipper asked me. “In a way, yes skipper, three of the participants, all who are assigned to my watch are from the same private school as me in Geraldton,” I replied.

“I see, and do you see any issues happening if these three young men remain in your watch team?” the skipper asked me. “No skipper, I am more surprised than anything that they are coming on this journey, that is all,” I responded, “Very good. Let me know their names, so I can keep an eye on the situation, so we do not have any problems?” the skipper said to me, “Yes skipper,” I responded.

After the meeting, we were doing our usual final checks of everything onboard the ship, when Jordan approached. “That is an interesting turn of events for you, my friend,” he said to me smiling, “I guess I should have expected it, considering that I turned in a presentation in my English Lit class, about us sailing on your catamaran, and me on the Spirit of New Zealand, over the Christmas holidays, for which I received a grade of A+ for it.

I have the video clip on my iPad, so I will show it to you later, it includes some footage that you took of our trip that you had forwarded to me, which I have given you credit for at the end of the presentation,” I answered. “Bryce, Toby and Nate, welcome onboard the STS Leeuwin, I will be your watch leader for this trip,” I said, as I walked up behind the trio, as they stood on the wharf looking at the ship, and I made them jump a little when I said this to them, which made me chuckle a little.

“Hey Zac, it is great to see you here, we were hoping that you would be on this voyage with us, Bryce said, “Hey. What’s a watch leader?” Toby asked me, “It means that I can boss you around and tell you what to do,” I replied happily, and all three of them frowned, as Jordan laughed from nearby. “What my shipmate means, is that he will guide you on how to manage the operation of the ship in a safe and fun way, while we sail up the coast and over to the Abrolhos Islands,” Jordan said to the trio.

“Spoilsport!” I grumbled, which made Jordan laugh as he walked away from us. “Grab your gear guys and I will show you to your bunks, where you will be spending the next eight days,” I said to the trio as I led the way up the gangplank and onboard the ship. “Wow, I am doing this! I can hardly wait to begin,” Toby said as we stepped onboard. Over the next eight days, I saw my schoolmates change for the better, learning to work as a team, build confidence in themselves and meet new long-term friends, and by my observations, they were having the time of their lives.