Grantly - 3. Grant Chapter 3

“Yes hello, we have met before but it was sometime back when the boys were in preschool, I had to do preschool delivery and pickup runs often, when my wife was away at university, and also at the yacht club a few times too,” Dr Crebbin responded, “Yes, of course, and yes I do dine there on occasions, just for a bit of variety,” Dad responded, hoping that this big clue on where we are going wasn’t going to spoil the surprise.

“Do you sail much?” Dr Crebbin asked Dad, “Only on the rare occasion when I am not away for a business, I have done more sailing when over in Switzerland than I have anywhere else,” Dad replied. “It is a wonderful way to relax after a busy week at work. I have a friend who charters a 31-metre sailing catamaran yacht once a month, that is based at Port St Mary, and we have a wonderful two nights and one and a half days sailing,” Dr Crebbin said to us.

“How about you show me where your room is, while the adults talk,” I suggested to Jordan and William, “Yes, you do that, I will have to return to the surgery soon, it’s been nice to see you again Sebastian” Jordan’s Dad said to me, as Jordan led the way towards his room. “Jordan mentioned that you are taking the three boys on a hiking trip for a few days…” I heard the Dr say before going out of hearing range.

A few minutes later I received a text message, while Jordan and William were fighting it out on a computer game, “All is a go, has Jordan packed yet?” and I chuckled at this, “You have permission, get packed as we are heading off,” I said to the lads, who reluctantly ended the game, and quickly Jordan grabbed a bag and stuffed it with some clothes, including swimming speedos, and some sneakers.

Once back on the road, we headed west to Colby, which was only about a ten-minute drive, until we arrived at William’s Home, where we found his parents happily working in the garden, which looked amazing. This time after the introductions were made, we headed indoors to William’s room, while the adults remained outside, and once again, I received the text message that William’s parents had agreed to the camping trip, and William quickly packed his bag, and we were on the road again, for the short trip to Port St Mary.

As we drove down the main street through the middle of the town, I could see that the lads were trying to work out where we were going for our trip. “Jordan, have you ever been on any of the sailing trips with your dad?” my Dad asked, “Yes, a couple of times, but when it is mostly adults on board, it gets fairly boring fairly quickly, so I usually head up to the spa on the sundeck and just relax there, or go for an ocean swim if the yacht is at anchor,” Jordan replied.

“Do you recall the name of this yacht?” I asked, knowing full well what the answer would be, “Yes, it is called the Blue Whale, which I think is an insult to the whales, “Jordan replied, just as we turned left, then left again, “Hey we are at the Yacht club, what are… You got to be kidding… really?” Jordan stuttered when he realised what we had planned.

“As it happens, I am the owner of the sailing yacht Blue Whale, and we are going on a three-day sailing trip… if that is okay with you boys?” Dad announced to us. “Awesome, I can’t wait,” William said happily, “It is just about you boys for this trip. Yes, I will be on board, but I will be keeping to myself mostly, as I have some business work to keep me busy, and the two crew members will be on board to keep an eye on you too,” Dad said to us.

“Yes sir, and thank you for this,” Jordan said finally, and I smiled broadly at this great response, as we parked, grabbed our gear, and walked down the pier to where the Blue Whale is moored. “Welcome back Mr Grantly and Master Sebastian, and to you too Master Jordan, and hello Master William, welcome on board the Blue Whale. Mr Grantly, you have your usual Master Cabin on the starboard aft, Master Sebastian, you have the starboard midships cabin, and your two guests have a port cabin each,” Skipper James said to us as we arrived and stepped on board, with his partner Natasha at his side, with a tray of fruit drinks for us all, and the deckhand Louis arrived and stood nearby.

“William for your benefit, since you are the only one who has not been on board before, this is my crew, Skipper James, his wife Natasha, who is our chef, and Louis who is our deckhand,” Dad said making the introductions. I showed the lads to their separate cabins, before I showed the lads around the rest of the yacht, as the crew prepared to set sail, and we ended up going back to our cabins to change into our swimmers before ending up in the spa on the sundeck, where we just talked and relaxed and enjoying the sea air, as we sailed up the East coast of the island.

We were a little surprised when we saw the yacht heading towards a small bay at St Michael’s Chapel and Harbour Fort, and once we had set anchor, Dad suggested that we go and explore the area for about an hour, so we quickly changed, and after a short trip on the dingy to land, we headed off hiking to explore.

When we returned and were given refreshing fruit drinks, we set off once more, and we stopped for a short while to check out Port Glenaugh Beach and Port Soderick Beach before we continued northwards till we reached Laxey Harbour, which would be our overnight stop, mourning close to the mouth of the harbour, due to the tides, so we could leave easily in the morning.

Our first full meal on this trip was delicious, and we complimented the chef for the great work she did for us in cooking the two-course meal. After dinner, we had a game of cards before retiring for the night as it had been quite an active day. After a hearty breakfast the next morning, we set off on a hike to explore the area, with our main destination being the Great Laxey Wheel, a distance of just over two kilometres, with stops to check out the Quarry Falls, the old Woolen Mills, the Lady Evelyn Wheel, and miniature railway line and the Miners Statue.

We found the crew relaxing at a beach café waiting for us, and once we were all on board the yacht again, we set sail continuing north, but only for a short while, as we pulled into a small beach that is known as Port Cornaa Beach, just to have a quick look around.

Our next stop was to check out Maughold Lighthouse, on the eastern point of the island, as we sailed past it, and also Port Lewaigue as the Queen’s Pier came into sight, which is a good marker for the approach to the major town of Ramsey, where we spent a few hours looking around.

Once back on the yacht, we continued our journey around the Island, we rounded the northern point which is known as Point of Ayre, and continued down the west coast of the island until we reached the large seaside town of Peel about three hours later, where we would be staying for our second night.

The following morning, Dad led us once again on a hiking trip, this time to Peel Hill, to check out Corrin’s Tower, which was built in 1840 in memory of the wife and two children of the owner of the time. This hike took us about two and a half hours, and the view from the top of the hill was quite magnificent.

On the way back to Peel, as the lads led the way with Dad and I hanging back a little, we walked in silence for a while. “Go on son, ask me what it is that you have been thinking,” Dad said to me to break the silence, I smiled when I heard this. “I am wondering if there is any reason for this adventurous trip with stops at key features around the coast? Does it have anything to do with the upcoming school trip in December?” I asked.

“Yes, partly to do with the school trip, but also planning out future charters for the yacht,” Dad responded, “We would not be doing the whole trip for when the school comes?” I asked, “Not possible with such a large group, maybe if I had my power yacht here on the island, but that is in the Med at St Topez,” Dad replied.

It took me a few moments to connect the dots when I realised what Dad had just said. “You mean that yacht that we were on for our trip on the Med? That is your yacht?” I asked in shock. “Yes, I often have holidays there when you are away in Australia, even when the yacht is on charter,” Dad answered.

“Wow, that is amazing, that would be awesome if we could be on that yacht again, I liked it,” I said, “You will son, just be patient,” Dad answered. I was smiling as we walked back to the yacht at Peel, knowing that my dad not only owns a beautiful sailing yacht but also a huge luxury motor yacht as well. Once we were back on board, we set off once more, and half an hour later we were anchored off Glen Maye Beach, where we set off on another hike, this time alongside the small river, which was very scenic.

When we reached the village of Glen Maye we had a quick look around before returning to the yacht, where lunch was ready for us, and we relaxed and enjoyed our meal anchored near the beach, before we continued our journey south, arriving in Port Erin about an hour later. After a short walk around the town, we boarded the yacht once more for our last stage of the trip, going around the Calf of Man, and arriving back at Port St Mary at about 4 pm.

After thanking the crew for looking after us so well, we loaded up the car with our luggage and climbed into the car. “How did you like the cruise lads?” Dad asked as we buckled up in the car, “It was awesome Mr Grantly, can we do that again sometime, please?” William responded, and I smiled as I looked over to Dad.

“Sure, how would the weekend of 1^st weekend of each month for the rest of the year sound?” Dad replied, and although I was surprised at this, I also had a feeling that this was a lead-up to something else. It didn’t take me long to see where this was going, “Is this going to be crew training for the event on the 9^th and 10^th of December?” I asked, and Dad just gave a short laugh and nodded his head yes. “Very sneaky Dad. Can I tell them?” I responded and once again nodded his head yes.

“Guys, what my Dad is asking sneakily, is do you both want to be crew members on the yacht when we have a few dozen guests coming onboard for a full-day sail in mid-December, and also you will need to share the forward twin cabin,” I asked my new friends. “You bet, I am up for the challenge, and I don’t mind sharing,” Jordan replied. “Me too, who are the guests?” William added. “That is the fun part, I am not sure how many yet, but it will be a good number of my classmates and at least two adults from my school in Tasmania, as we have an overseas trip currently being planned,” I replied.

“Cool, do they know that they will be on your dad’s yacht?” William asked and both Dad and I chuckled at this question. “No, they have no idea of Sebastian’s connection to this yacht or the Isle of Man for that point. The school asked parents for ideas on places to go when the Year 6 class goes on a two-week holiday in the UK.

After consulting me, Sebastian’s mother suggested to the school that they go to the Isle of Man where a family friend has offered to sponsor a day cruise on a luxury sailing yacht, and I sent a suggested itinerary to her to pass on to the school, which they have accepted, and I have just recently finalised those arrangements,” Dad replied.

“Only my two best mates know that I go to Europe during the mid-year Southern Hemisphere winter holidays, as the last trip we did, which was to France, Monaco, Italy, and Switzerland, I sent postcards to them, which arrived just under two weeks after I had returned to school for the new term. They have no idea that I am Manx born and -bred, they just know that my parents don’t live together, that my Mum is Australian, and my dad is European,” I explained.

“Boy are they in for a surprise, when they find that out,” Jordan commented, “Yes, they will, but we have agreed to not tell the school of Sebastian’s Manx heritage until they arrive on the island, and maybe we can get you two boys in on the big reveal. Sebastian wants to tell his two best mates there, Nicholas and Simon, and we are still discussing and considering it,” Dad said to the lads.

“Both of my mates in Australia are from diplomatic families, one from Belgium, the other from Switzerland, but they haven't been back to their home countries in a long time. Both speak fluent French like I do, so we have a lot of fun talking and no one knows what the hell we are saying,” I said to the lads, who laughed at this. “ We can do the same with Manx eh buddy!” William commented, and we all smiled and nodded in agreement.

“How many languages do you speak Sebastian?” Jordan asked me, “Just three at the moment, but Dad informs me that at King William’s College, they teach Spanish, French and Latin,” I replied. “Yes, that is correct, they already teach us the basics of those three languages at Buchan School where we both go, which is the Junior school of King William’s College,” William said. “That is also the preschool, where you three boys first met too,” Dad added.

On the way to dropping the lads off back at their homes, it was discussed and offered to the lads and their families to spend a night with us on board the yacht before I returned to Australia, which the lads said they would pass the invite on to their parents.

Four days later Friday evening, Dad and I were already on board the yacht which was anchored in the bay just out of Castletown, when the crew returned with our six guests, with Jordan’s older brother Brent and William’s younger brother Kyle both on a sleepover with friends. “Thank you for this Christopher, it is not very often that I can deny being on call, when I am not able to get to the hospital, while on a yacht,” Dr Crebbin said to Dad.

“It is also a good excuse for me to be not marking tests and assignments too,” William’s Dad added. All the guests would be staying in the guest cabins, with the lads sharing the forward twin crew cabin when the crew is on the yacht over the next few months.