Grantly - 6. Grant Chapter 6

The next morning, we did some sea kayaking, at Port Lewaigue Beach, and some abseiling, and in the afternoon we did some archery and a high ropes course and some bushcraft and team challenges, which kept us busy for the whole day, which I really enjoyed.

The following morning, it was a beautiful day, with hardly any wind at all, we took a short bus ride to Douglas, where we spent about an hour looking around the capital. “Hey Mitchell, did you notice that two guys about our same age have joined our walking tour?” Simon said to me in French.

I stopped and looked around, before seeing two sets of eyes looking directly at me and they were smiling. I burst out laughing when I recognised them right away. “That is Jordan on the right and William on the left, we went to Preschool together, and recently reconnected again. They will be crew on my Dad’s yacht when we get down there soon,” I replied, as both of my Manx friends walked towards me, and gave me a big group hug.

“Excuse me Mitchell, who are these two young men? And why are they hugging you?” Mr Jackson asked me, “Sorry for the interruption Sir, this is William and Jordan, two local friends of mine, who will be crewing on the yacht for my father later,” I responded.

“I see, well you can join us, but you are responsible for yourselves in every way, understood?” Mr Jackson said to my friends. “Yes Sir, fully understood,” the lads replied in unison, before turning to my two Tasmanian friends and shaking hands with them. Boarding the first Steam train of the day, just before 10 am, we travelled south through the countryside.

About fifteen minutes later, with the local lads sitting behind me and my Tasmanian mates, Simon looked out the window, then turned to me and asked in a whisper, “Will we be passing by your home on this train ride?” and I heard Jordan and William chuckle. “Actually, we are about to pass it, but due to the high foliage, and land banks, you cannot see it from the railway line,” I whispered back. “Well, that stinks, not being able to see it,” Simon responded.

“When you return to Douglas, which I presume will be via a bus, then you may get a glimpse of it when passing by on the main road,” William stated, “Not a chance, too many trees and shrubs in the way, I have already checked that several times from all angles,” I responded, which my mates were not happy to hear, as we pulled into the Santon Train Station.

An hour after leaving Douglas, we arrived at Port Erin, after pointing out the airport and King Williams College next door, before arriving at Castletown Railway Station. After stepping off the train, we checked out the steam train museum, before William, Jordan and I led the way down Strand Road to Shore Road and the beach, and following that road for nearly 500 metres until we reached Raglan Pier, where the yacht was supposed to be moored waiting for us to arrive, but instead, I saw a huge trimaran, with Dad standing next on the aft deck.

“Hi Dad, what happened to the Catamaran?” I asked quietly when we arrived. “Traded it in for this Trimaran, she is a beaut, isn’t she? Her name is Silver Dolphin,” Dad replied, as I stepped on board before facing the pier. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Sailing Trimaran Yacht - Silver Dolphin, this is her owner, Mr Grantley, the crew members are James, who is the skipper, Natasha who is the chef, Louis, who is the Bosun, and you’ve already met the deckhands, William and Jordan.

Please take off your shoes, and step on board,” I said to the adults and students from my Tasmanian School. A few minutes later, Dad made an announcement. “Good morning, I am Christopher Grantly, welcome on board, just a few things before we set sail up the east coast of the Isle of Man, our destination will be Ramsey, which is just a short distance from your accommodations.

The journey today will take us approximately 4 ½ hours of sailing depending on the winds, which are coming from the southwest today. We will be making three stops on the way, to check out some points of interest, with a small amount of hiking involved.

This is a three-deck trimaran, and you are welcome to explore the fly deck and most of the main deck, the door forward on the main deck, which says crew only is out of bounds, as are the two outer hulls when they are open. The two mid-deck cabins below will be open, so to use the bathrooms, there is also a day bathroom located on the main deck just inside the main saloon on the right as you enter. I hope you enjoy your day sailing with us,” Dad announced.

I signalled William and Jordan to follow me, as we were led inside by Louis, and forward to the crew area, stepping into the main cockpit, which also has a two-seater lounge and two desk areas, and James was already at the helm preparing for departure. We followed Louis as we rounded a corner and down some stairs, where we found a large galley, storage areas, a small crew mess, and a forward passage which I presumed led to crew cabins.

Crew area, when you are on a break. Here are your radio, and shirts for today, quickly change into them and come back up top to help with departure,” Louis said to Willliam and Jordan before he headed back upstairs. “You heard your boss… have fun guys,” I said smiling as I followed Louis back up to the main deck, where I found all the adults of the tour group relaxing in the main saloon sipping fruit drinks.

Heading outside, I found some of the group sitting on the aft deck seats chatting, and the rest I could hear upstairs, where I headed, and where I now find James at the helm, as he fired up the engines, ready to cast off, and a few minutes later, we were cruising out of the bay at a good speed.

Once we were level with Milner’s Tower, which stands high on the hill, Louis and the lads soon had the mainsail up and the engines were shut off, as we began to increase speed and turn slowly southwesterly. Some of my classmates were soon down to their bathing suits and in the spa, which could only hold six people at a time, while others sat or lay on the sun lounge.

Just an hour after we left Port Erin, we raced passed Port St Mary, and we changed direction slightly, so we were heading just south of Langness Lighthouse and Herring Tower. Once we had passed them we were heading north, heading for our first stop at Derbyhaven, where we would anchor just offshore from St Michael’s Isle, so we can wade ashore so we could check out St Michael’s Chapel and Derby Fort.

After an hour of exploring both locations, we returned to the yacht and set sail again for a further forty minutes, until we pulled into Port Soderick Beach, where we visited the Heroes on the Water base, a charity that provides waterbased activities, like fishing and kayaking for uniformed civilians and military personnel who where wounded while on duty, to assist them with healing from their wounds, and after been given a short presentation to explain this and have a look around their base, we returned to the yacht to continued on north to Port Laxey.

After a late lunch at a café there, we set off on our planned 4 km long return hike, to the Great Laxey wheel. Standing at a huge 22 metres high, the wheel is the largest surviving waterwheel in the world, it was built in 1854 and was used to pump water to the mines. We stopped for a look around the village on the return journey, before returning to the yacht, for our continued journey up the east coast.

Around 45 minutes later, we watched as we sailed past a very lonely lighthouse, perched on a hill near Maughold Village, and the skipper pointed out Port Lewaigue Beach located near our accommodation, as we passed by it, and less than fifteen minutes later, we arrived at our final destination of Ramsey. As we gathered on the aft deck, ready to depart the yacht, once we were secured to the wharf, Natasha and Bradly motioned silence to everyone.

“On behalf of all of our tour group, we wish to thank Mr Grantly and his wonderful crew, for an enjoyable day out on his magnificent yacht, Apart from having to do some hiking to see some amazing sites, which wasn’t that bad, I think we all enjoyed the day very much, so thank you,” Natasha announced, “I second that, and I want to add that thanks to Sebastian’s parents for all they have done for organising this part of the trip to the Isle of Man, it has been an awesome part of our trip so far,” Bradley added, and everyone clapped and cheered.

Dad thanked the Head Girl - Natasha and Head Boy - Bradley for their kind words and wished us all an enjoyable rest of the tour around the UK, as the crew announced that it was now safe to leave the yacht. “Thanks, Dad, that was awesome, I will see you later on,” I said as I passed my father, smiled and winked. I had noticed Mr Jackson chatting to Dad during the day, and later at the last leg of today’s trip I was filled in on what was planned for something for later today.

Once back at our accommodation, we were told to relax until it was time for dinner, and we took turns showering and changing into fresh clothes for the evening, I managed to stay with my two friends as we chatted about the day's sailing, which Nicholas and Simon enjoyed. I kept an eye on my watch, and when I saw that it was almost time for the plan to go into action, I searched for and found the Deputy Principal and managed to catch his eye, and firstly looked at his watch, then back at me he smiled and nodded his head. Quietly I lead my two mates away from the rest of the group.

“What are you doing, it is almost dinner time?” Simon said to me, and I smiled as it continued to lead them outside, and that is when we spotted my two Manx mates waiting for us. “Ok, what the hell is going on? Why are Jordan and William here?” Nicholas asked.

“Just follow them and you will soon see, we are having dinner elsewhere tonight,” I said to Simon and Nicholas, who just shrugged their shoulders and continued to follow, until we arrived at the first car park, where Dad’s vehicle was waiting for us, “Climb in lads, we have a dinner to get too,” I said as I headed to the front passenger seat, and Jordan and William climbed into the far rear seats, while Simon and Nichas climbed in last.

“Care to tell us where exactly we are going?” Nicholas asked, and both of my Manx friends and Dad chuckled, while I just smiled. “Why, off to my home, of course, you have been invited to a real home-cooked meal at Ballarioghyn Estate, Santon,” I replied. “Wow, we are getting to see where you live here on the Isle of Man?” Simon asked sounding very surprised, and I just smiled and nodded my head yes.

We had a wonderful dinner, and afterwards, I gave the lads a tour of the house, including the stables and the swimming pool and tennis court, which they were surprised about, just before 9 pm, we headed back to the camp accommodation, where a lot of our classmates asked where we had disappeared too while they were having dinner, and we just smiled and didn't answer any of the questions.

The following day we set off again taking the ferry back to Liverpool, where we were met by our tour coach once more to continue our journey, now heading north to the Scottish border and down the south coast of England. As we neared the end of the tour, we arrived back in London for the group's final night in the UK before flying back to Australia, minus one student.

As I finished my main meal, I nodded to my two Aussie mates. As arranged, Nicholas let out an ear-piercing whistle that caught everyone's attention as I stood up in my seat, to make my announcement. “Just a quick word on your last night in the UK, as some of you already know, my real home is on the Isle of Man, and that is why I will be remaining behind, and I will heading off shortly to board the last flight back to Douglas tonight.

I hope that you enjoyed your stay in the UK and especially on the Isle of Man, which is where I will be spending one semester each year, and the second semester back in Tasmania, so I will see you all again after the Tasmanian mid-year holidays, and have a safe trip back home,” I announced to all of my classmates and teachers.

“On that note, on behalf of the school, students and teachers here, I want to thank your family for their contribution towards our holiday, it was very enlightening and enjoyable, so thankyou Seb… err thankyou Mitchell,” the Deputy Principal added before everyone began to applaud, and having already sat back down, I blushed a little at this response, as Nicholas and Simon nudged me from each side as they smiled broadly.

As everyone returned to eating their meals, the lads followed me outside, where my luggage was already packed and ready to go. “Thanks again Mitchell, good luck with your first semester at your new school on the Isle,” the Deputy Principal said as he shook my hand before returning inside, as I saw Dad approaching.

“Have fun dude, we will miss you, make sure you email us regularly, or you will suffer severe punishment when you return to Tassie,” Nicholas said to me, before pulling me into a hug. “Thanks for being a great friend mate,” I replied before he released me, and Simon came in and hugged me, “Ditto on what he said. Take care and see you in July,” Simon said to me, before wiping away a tear and stepping back.

In the taxi, as we left the London hostel near Hyde Park, Dad turned to face me. “We won't be flying back to Douglas tonight, I have changed the plans,” Dad announced to me, as I realised that we were heading in a different direction from going to the City Airport as we passed Buckingham Palace, and crossed over Westminister Bridge, so we were on the south side of the Thames and heading in a south-east direction.

“Ok, where exactly are we going to then?” I asked my father who just smiled before returning to the newspaper that he was reading. “You do know that I hate it when you do that… Father!” I responded, knowing that my Dad didn’t like me calling him so formally, and he gave a low growl in response which made me smile.

After a few minutes, I heard my Dad groan, “Ok, we are going to Chatham Marina, where our yacht is waiting for us, We will stay overnight before we cast off in the morning for home, and the boys are still onboard too,” Dad informed me, “Wow awesome,” I responded happily as I was looking forward to seeing Jordan and William again.