Alex & Lang - 10. A & L Ch 10

“I am afraid, that my report is not much better, I did a good look around all the deck areas and all around the bridge, there is signs that the yacht has been used as a battering ram, with very poor workmanship with repairs, and the condition of the bridge is not much better, with what looks like holes been punched in the walls by an angry person, and the repairs not done properly,” Captain Anton added.

“The guest cabins are all in good order, but I can’t say the same for the crew cabins, which are in no fit state to live in, by the looks of the cabins currently in use, the current crew just have no respect for their work and living surrounds,” Langley said after a pause of silence.

“Ok, I get the picture, this yacht is not for us, which is a shame, because from a distance she looks great, but that is it, decision made,” I commented, as I turned and headed back towards the yacht, where the owner was standing on the aft deck.

“I am sorry sir, but this purchase will not be going ahead, as there are a number of issues that my crew have informed me of, that are not satisfactory, thankyou for the chance to view your yacht. Have a good day,” I said to the yacht owner before turning and heading back towards my crew, who were heading back to the yacht club.

“What now, we came all this way for nothing?” Langley said to me about ten minutes later, as we settled into a café located on the grounds of the hotel. “We just keep on looking and hopefully something will come along that will be suitable,” I replied.

“Now, something like her, looks very nice,” Captain Anton commented as we watched a yacht slowly pass us by a few hundred metres out from the bay, as it headed towards the yacht club. Much later, as we were finishing dinner at the hotel restaurant, a mobile rang and it was Captain Anton who retrieved his phone and answered it.

“Yes, hello, Anton speaking,” we heard he say, before he stood up and left the table, to have a bit of privacy, and a few moments later, I saw him turn to me, and smile directly to me and nodded his head, which to the others didn’t mean anything, but for me it meant that we had an appointment to have a look at the yacht that we had seen coming into port earlier in the day, with the Captain having left a message with the Yacht club, enquiring about any possible yachts that may be for sale.

“Yes, we can be there in forty minutes, we will see you then… goodbye,” Captain Anton said as he re-joined us at the table and ended his call. I didn’t say anything, knowing that he probably wanted to talk to me in private, and so as a distraction, I suggested that we go on a wildlife safari while we are in South Africa, which everyone was very keen to do.

“Excuse me Mr Devonport, but we have an appointment to see a yacht broker at the yacht club, as we may have another yacht to look at in a day or two, when it arrives in Cape Town,” Captain Anton said to me, “That sounds promising, we better get going in that case. Enjoy your deserts, we will be back as soon as business is concluded,” I said to the rest of the crew, including Langley as I placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him from standing and joining us.

At a separate area of the yacht club, we approached the main jetty, where we saw the yacht that we watched arrive earlier in the day, secured there. ‘I like the looks of her already,” I commented to the Captain as we approached the yacht, where there was three men standing on the aft, in dress uniform.

She looked to have 5 or six decks, and is about 75 metres long, maybe a little smaller than the last yacht we looked at but this one looked so much well looked after. “Good Evening, I am Captain Jacque, Captain of this fine yacht, and this is Mr Josef Gianelli the owner,” the main in the Captain’s uniform said.

“Good evening, my name is Captain Anton Benigni, and this is Mr Alexander Devonport,” Anton replied in Italian, and I just smiled and nodded my head. “I am sorry to hear of the loss of your yacht, Mr Devonport, it was a great shame to hear that she was burnt and sunk in Exmouth,” Mr Gianelli said to me in English as he offered his hand, which I shook.

“I am very fluent in Italian sir, so either language is fine with me, and thanks for your comments about my yacht, she was indeed a great loss. Now I have been informed that you have this yacht up for sale,” I responded also in English, “Yes sir, we are looking for a new yacht, and I am prepared to advance the preparations for the sale of this yacht, if you are interested in purchasing her,” Mr Gianelli said to me.

“She is 76.5 metres long, 14 metres wide, with a draft of 4.2 metres, has six decks including the tank deck and sundeck, with two twin and one single crew cabin on the tank deck, eight twin and one single crew cabin on the lower deck, along with four double and two twin guest cabins.

The main deck has just one VIP Suite, as it is mostly general living space there, as well as the two boats taking up a lot of space too. The upper deck has the owners suite, staff cabin, which has been made into a bigger cabin, using one of the change rooms of the master suite, as a bathroom, so as to give the staff member a bit more space, with the two single beds replaced with a double, also there is a VIP Cabin and the upper saloon. On the bridge deck there is the Captain’s cabin, 1^st Officer’s cabin and a junior Officer’s single cabin. There is also the gym and spa area on the aft deck,” Captain Jacque informed us.

“How many crew do you have onboard at this very moment?” I asked, “Well, two officers and four senior crew left us today, to return home to the USA and Central Americas, that been the Chief and 2^nd Engineers, Bosun, Senior Deckhand, Chief Steward and Chef,” the Captain replied.

“We can work with that, as we already have crew to fill all of those positions, so how many others remain?” Captain Anton responded, “Well there is myself of course, my 1^st Officer, Senior Cook from Norway, Galley Hand from Germany, 2^nd and 3^rd Stewards from Canada and the 2^nd and 3^rd Deckhands from the Philippines,” came the reply.

“Wow, that is quite a mixture of nationalities, and I am sure Adelia is ging to have some interesting moments in the galley,” I said to Captain Anton who smiled broadly, as we began to be shown around the yacht. At the end of the tour, we were introduced to all of the crew, where Captain Anton announced that apart from the two officers, all other crew are welcome to remain on the yacht under new ownership, and all six crew accepted the offer.

Half an hour later, Captain Anton and I were sitting in the café at the hotel, having a light supper, “Well that was a lot better than the first yacht we looked at, and I am happy with what I saw, and pleased that we will have a full crew onboard,” I commented.

“There is by my calculations, a few crew cabins are still empty, two on the lower deck mid deck and one on the Tank Deck closest to the engine room, with all crew having their own cabins to themselves. I also want to comment that the changes to the staff cabin on the upper deck, would be perfect for our 2^nd Officer and Chef to have, if you plan to give Wyatt the VIP cabin,” Captain Anton said to me.

“Yes, I agree with you on that matter, it will be a perfect fit, and the single officers Cabin on the Bridge can be allocated to the 2^nd Engineer, and I am pleased that there were no reactions, when you said that you have a boyfriend, that could have got ugly very fast,” Captain Anton said to me.

“Yes, I am very pleased about that too, it is always a worry, when we come across homophobic crew members, not to mention paying guests, which thankfully we won’t be having for a while,” I replied. We discussed a few matters about how to proceed now, and agreed to take the rest of the team to see the yacht in the morning, and Captain Anton sent a text message to make that request.

The following morning after breakfast, the six of us took a limo from the hotel to the yacht club, so as to allow the rest of the team to have a good look at the yacht themselves. When we arrived, the officers and crew, plus the owner, were all lined up on the aft deck, ready to welcome us onboard, and it looked like that there had been some serious cleaning work done since last been onboard.

“Good Morning Mr Devonport, and you must be his partner, Mr Atkins,” the Captain said, “Yes, that is correct,” Langley replied, as he and the rest of the team were introduced to the rest of the crew and the owner of the yacht, before been guided into the main saloon, where we were invited to crew, and we were offered fruit drinks.

“As you may have noticed, we got busy last night and this morning, with getting the yacht nice and clean, since we had not had a chance to do it before your visit yesterday. I would like to extend an invitation for all of you to stay onboard, while business of the sale is going, and when concluded, you can have almost immediate handover.

Mr Devonport, you and Mr Atkins can have the owners suite, as I have been living in the VIP Suite for the past few weeks, the VIP Cabin or Staff Cabin are ready for your staff member to move into right away also.

Since work is not completed on cleaning the departed crew member cabins, I offer the guest cabins on the lower deck for the rest of your team,” Mr Gianelli informed us, “Thankyou Mr Gianelli, that is a generous offer, which we will accept, Wyatt, my PA will have the VIP Cabin, as the improved staff cabin will be for my 2^nd Officer and his wife, who is the Chef,” I replied.

“Myself and my 1^st Officer, are set to leave the yacht in four-days’ time, so the Bridge officer’s cabin will be free after that,” Captain Jacque announced to us, and I nodded my head in understanding. “Right, I’m off up to the bridge,” Captain Anton announced as he stood up, “I am heading down to the Engine room,” Christine added, and soon the team was heading to all different parts of the yacht.

Chris followed the two Captains up to the Bridge, while Langley and I headed to the galley to check that out. About half an hour later, we all met back in the main saloon again, and everyone was smiling, which I was very pleased to see. “Well, by the looks of all of my staff’s smiles, I think we have a deal to purchase,” I said to Mr Gianelli.

“Wonderful news,” the ship’s owner and Captain chorused. Later that day, the team checked out of the hotel and moved onto the yacht, which will be our new home from now on. Wyatt was very impressed with his living quarters on the upper deck, and even Langley was surprised at how big and nice the master suite was.

The lockable doors on the side deck, allow for additional privacy to the front of the upper deck, where there is a private lounge and relaxation area, just for the master suite, with overhang on the Bridge and Sundecks, ensuring nothing can be seen on the upper deck from those two levels.

Two weeks after arriving in South Africa, I was now the proud owner of a new yacht, although it is over twenty-year old, it is in great shape, and ready to go anywhere. Four days earlier, the rest of the crew had arrived in SA, and had quickly settled into their new assigned quarters, Christopher and Christine in the 1^st Officers Cabin and 2^nd Engineer Grayson was in the single officers cabin on the Bridge Deck.

Marshall and Adelia were in the altered Officers Cabin on the Upper deck, along with Wyatt in the VIP cabin, and us in and the Master Suite. Boson Carter has the single Senior Crew Cabin midships, while Toby and Joseph have the large Senior staff cabins also midships on the Lower Deck.

This left the current six yacht crew members to remain in their existing cabins forward on the lower deck, and forward on the Tank deck. All preparations were almost complete, and with our first guests arriving tomorrow, I wanted to make sure everything was ready for Kyle, Sue and the boys plus Mrs Cooper.

Two days later with our guests onboard, and Langley and I relaxing in the lounge area of our suite, we were talking about places that we could go, apart from the Falkland Islands. “You know, I keep hearing about this mysterious island, due west of Western Australia and due south of Christmas Island, why don’t we go and check that out? Or is it a restricted area?” Langley suggested, which made the hairs on the back of my neck go up and I was suddenly feeling very ill.

“Are you ok, you don’t look too good,” Langley added just as there was a knock on the door and Wyatt entered, and as soon as he saw my face, he rushed up to me, as my arms and hands began to shake. “Sir, what is it, tell me what is wrong?” Wyatt said to me with great concern.

“I don’t know what is wrong? We were talking about places that we could go, and I suggested that mysterious island…” Langley said, “You said what? … excuse me for shouting sir, but the subject of that place is entirely off limits to everyone, please drop it now…” Wyatt practically shouted, as he rushed to the bathroom, returning with a dampened hand towel to put on my forehead.

“Aunty, can you come to the master suite please, it urgent,” we heard Wyatt say into the phone before hanging up, and a few minutes later, there was another knock and Wyatt went to answer it, where he took a moment to speak briefly to Mrs Cooper, before she entered.

“Leave us please, let me handle this,” Mrs C said to Wyatt and to Langley, who hesitated long enough for Wyatt to grab his arm and practically drag him out of the suite. I was given a sleeping tablet to calm me down and let me rest, and it was not long before I was drifting off to sleep.

When I woke up, it was late afternoon, by the looks of the sunlight from out the window, and Langley was sitting in one of the lounge chairs and it looked like that he had been crying, as he stared out the window. Another sound made me look in the other direction, where Mrs Cooper was sitting in another chair reading a book. When she looked up and saw me awake, she smiled and stood up, placing the book on the chair.

“Hello there, Master Alexander, how are you feeling now?” she asked me softly, “Ok I guess, what happened? Why did I react that way?” I asked softly in response, “Just your body reacting to some information that you have had buried in your mind for a very long time. I think you need to see a specialist about this, as anxiety panic attacks are not a good thing,” Mrs Cooper replied.