Beyond Frontier - 3. BF Chapter 3

“No, I thought that can wait till they get back to Fremantle,” I responded. When we had finished with the work in the two offices, we headed to our cabin for a quick shower and change, and we stood outside on the mid-deck to watch the trimaran coming into the harbour, and motoring into the mooring berth next door to the research vessel.

Just as we were about to head down to meet them, my phone rang with an unknown number. “Hello, Anton Hamilton speaking,” I said as we headed down to the main deck.

“Good afternoon, sir. My name is Lisa Carmichael. I am a graduate from the UWA, and member of the Oceans Institute. We saw your notice on the noticeboard and are interested in the position, if it hasn’t been already taken,” a female voice said to me.

“You are the first one to enquire. Can you and your friend or partner come down to Fremantle as soon as possible?” I replied.

“Yes, we are actually in North Fremantle at the moment, so we can be there very soon,” she replied. I gave her the berth number at the boat harbour, and ended the call, before heading outside.

“We may have the 2-extra crew that we need. They are in North Fremantle and on their way here,” I said to Mathew who smiled and nodded his head, as we saw our crew members disembark from the trimaran.

Simon and Finn were carrying their luggage as they came on board the vessel, while Jasper and his crew were doing some tidying up on the yacht. “Welcome back, guys. So, how far behind you were Jasper and crew when you got to Jurien Bay yesterday?” I asked Simon with a big grin.

“Only about twenty minutes. They must have been really moving since they left three hours after us. Mind you, we did go a little further out to sea than usual since it was such a nice day,” Simon replied as we followed him and Finn inside.

“Take a seat in the mess. We have some things to discuss,” I announced to Simon and Finn, who looked a little shocked. Mathew chuckled when he saw their expressions. “It’s nothing bad. It’s good news actually. Firstly, we have two people arriving very shortly for an interview for the two positions that I advertised at the Oceans Institute, and if all goes well they will be moving on board tonight.

“The second thing is we have secured some regular work for this tub. The contract is transporting freight up the coast, with stops at Geraldton, Carnarvon, Barrow Island and Port Hedland, then coming back. We also have a possible contract with the Oceans Institute for marine research along the Ningaloo coastline.

Once the contract is signed this afternoon our first lot of freight will be loaded on board this afternoon from berth 12 of the harbour, and we depart at 0800 tomorrow morning, hopefully with the extra crew, although we won’t have any guests for this trip,” I announced, “so there won’t be as much pressure for this trip.”

“So, am I allowed to call it a tub too?” Simon asked me cautiously, and Mathew started laughing. “Yes, I guess I can let you, since you are the engineer,” I replied with a grin. I was about to say some more, but was interrupted by the sound of a call. “Ahoy, anybody on board?”

I walked to the back to greet the arrivals. “Hello, I am Anton. Welcome aboard, and come through to the mess, so you can meet the rest of the crew,” I said to the two ladies, who appeared a year or two older than me.

When we arrived in the mess, Mathew was talking to someone on my mobile, which I had left on the table. “Hi, I am Lisa Carmichael. This is my partner, Rebecca King,” one of the ladies said as we arrived in the main mess. I motioned for them to sit.

“Ladies, this is the rest of my pirate crew… just kidding there. My partner, Mathew, is on the phone. He is our medic. This is my best friend and the ship’s engineer – Simon, and his partner, Finn, who is our chef,” I said.

When all the introductions were done, I sat down next to Mathew, “Ok, ladies, we are a research vessel, but demand for that is fairly scarce. We have been able to secure a semi-regular cargo freight service up the coast as far as Port Hedland, which is a 4 or 5-day return journey.

You will be paid for time on board when we are preparing for a trip plus the journey. We may have a one-off contract with the Oceans Institute for a research trip along the Ningaloo coastline. Your weekly wage is $630; anything 5 days or under is on a daily rate of $90 a day. “Your cabin is on this deck over in the corner. The senior crew cabins are on the upper deck behind the bridge. We have two large research work rooms, and two research offices. The work rooms have been cleared to make way for freight. On the deck below, apart from the engine and generator rooms, we have supply store rooms and the laundry, which will be your jobs, as well as deck and steward duties.

“The mid-deck above us, has ten twin-bunk guest cabins with their own bathrooms. There is also a guest forward lounge. Behind the cabins are two more rooms. One is the medical room, which is locked at all times; the other one is a multi-use room, that can be used as an extra work office, as a recreation space, or extra accommodation as there are two fold-down bunks, plus bathroom and store room.

“Upper deck is senior crew only, and we will look after our own cabins in regards to cleanliness and changing sheets and towels. That is all I have to say. Do you have any questions?” I stated to the ladies. “No, sir, except for when can we start?” Rebecca asked.

“Well, we have a trip to Port Headland first thing in the morning, so if you can be at Berth 12 of the inner harbour at 0700, we will give your names to security at the gates. Have enough clothes for a week. That would be ideal,” I responded.

“We will be there, skipper, and thank you,” Lisa replied with a smile. Once the ladies had left, I turned to Mathew. “Who were you on the phone to?” I asked him. “That was the uniform company. They have two sets of uniforms for 4 crew members, ready to be collected now,” Mathew replied.

“New uniforms?” Simon asked sounding a little confused, and Mathew pulled out his phone, that had the photo of me in the new uniform on the display. He handed it to Simon. “Wow, that is very flash looking!” Finn exclaimed. I smiled.

“What I am wearing in the picture is the steward’s uniform. Senior crew have just a tie and no waist coat for dress uniform, that includes shoes, belts, and spray jackets when the weather is a little choppy. How about you three guys go and get the uniforms. I have to stay for the arrival of the Logistics guy to sign the contract,” I responded.

Once the guys had gone off to get the uniforms, I cleaned up the cups and put them away before heading to the aft main deck, where I sat on a bench seat and watched the activity on the marina jetties and the surround roads, where there seemed to be a fair few tourists around. Remembering that I needed to make some changes to the website, I went indoors to retrieve my laptop. When I returned, I saw the logistics guy arriving at the car park. I quickly put the laptop in one of the offices and went out to greet him.

Over the next twenty minutes I carefully read the contract, and I asked a few questions to clarify its meaning, so I could fully understand. Once I was happy with the contract, we both signed it, before I was given the information about the first trip for the next day. 110 Tonnes of cargo had to be loaded at 0700 tomorrow, with drop offs at Carnarvon and at Barrow Island.

Then collect 30 tonnes of cargo from Port Hedland to bring back to Fremantle. I was asked if it was permissible for two Logistics company members to travel with us as far as Port Hedland, where they had some business to deal with. I said that it was fine, and that it cost $110 each twin share or $220 each for separate cabins per day.

I was asked for two cabins, for the two-day journey to Port Hedland, and also some office space for them to do work. I said that there was a multi-use room available on the same level as their cabins that they could use for free. I mentioned that our scheduled departure time was 0800 hours. Once the two men had left, I went to check on the two forward cabins closest to the lounge. I did a quick refresher clean to make sure they were ready for the two guests and I locked the remaining 8 cabins.

When the lads returned with the uniforms, Simon took them all downstairs to the laundry and gave them a first wash, and Mathew and Finn went to the galley to check on supplies. “We will need to do a fast shopping trip at one of the ports of call, so we have enough food for all the crew,” Finn announced when I appeared.

“That will be six crew and two guests. The Logistics company is sending two of their staff along with us, no doubt to keep an eye on our journey. They will disembark at Port Hedland,” I announced to Finn and Mathew.

“Jasper has invited us over to the Last Frontier for dinner tonight. Their charter doesn’t start till 1400 hours. Apparently, they are stopping overnight at Rottnest on their first day of the charter,” Simon announced as he appeared, after a trip downstairs to the laundry. “That is good. That gives Finn the night off,” I replied with a smile.

A couple of hours later in the formal dining room of the yacht, as we were having dinner I stopped eating to speak to Jasper. “By the way Jasper, how are my brothers going at home? Not causing you too many problems, I hope?” I asked Jasper, who had remained the boys’ guardian at the request of Gramps and myself.

“They are doing well, but growing up so fast. I can’t believe that it’s been five years since we started taking care of them,” Jasper replied. “Well they are 13 and 11 years old now,” I said with a grin. “Don’t I know it! I had to give the Birds and Bees lecture to young Jedd the other week,” Jasper groaned, and that had all of us laughing. “I nearly gave him a banana and told him to ask his brother how to use it,” Jasper added, and I stopped laughing and looked at Jasper seriously, then he burst into laughter, and I grinned, knowing I had just been tricked.

After dinner, we sat in the formal lounge and chatted for an hour, before I announced that it was time to retire for the night, since both crews had a busy day ahead.

“That was an enjoyable evening. We should do that more often,” I said to Mathew as we prepared for bed. He agreed with me that it was a great night with friends, as he yawned and climbed into bed. As soon as I climbed in Mathew snuggled into me, and we were both soon fast asleep.

The following morning, we were up at 0600 hours. We woke up Simon and Finn, and while Simon and I headed to the bridge. Mathew and Finn headed downstairs to release the mooring ropes. “Fremantle Ports, this is RV Beyond Frontier, requesting permission to relocate from the boat harbour to Berth 12, for loading of cargo. Over,” I said over the Marine radio.

“RV Beyond Frontier, you have been cleared to relocate to Berth 12 for loading. Over,” came a reply on the radio. Simon started up the engines and let them idle for a few minutes.

I stepped out the side door and looked over the side, seeing the mooring ropes had been removed. “All clear, first mate,” I shouted inside, and Simon slowly guided the vessel out of the mooring berth, and out of the boat harbour, around South Mole, and into the main harbour.

“You know where berth 12 is?” I asked Simon as I came back inside, and sat in the other bridge chair. “At the far end on the port side, just before the railway bridge,” Simon responded, and I smiled. “Good, then she is all yours,” I said and I sat back to enjoy the ride.

About twenty minutes later we arrived at berth 12, and Mathew and I headed down to the fore and aft, ready with the mooring ropes. Once we had arrived, Simon cut the engines, and he headed downstairs, and out to the aft deck, where we were waiting. “Ok, everyone, head in and have some breakfast. We will be here for a couple of hours for loading,” I announced, and the crew headed towards the main mess.

I looked at my watch. It was just after 0630 hours, and I saw three men approaching us. I recognised one to be the logistics manager. “Good morning, Mr Hamilton. We have a change of plans due to this state-wide truck strike. We have a lot of food that needs to be delivered to coastal towns from Jurien Bay to Exmouth. We have two refrigerated containers, with cold and frozen goods, plus there are 5 pallets of dry goods.

“Very good. It would be best to load the pallets first, at they need to go to the front of the main deck. As you can see, we have side hatches, so they can be loaded and unloaded from there,” I replied.

While the loading was happening, Lisa and Rebecca arrived each carrying two large duffel bags. “Good morning, Skipper. Reporting for duty,” they chorused, as they came on board.

“Good morning, ladies. Stow away your gear, and join the rest of the crew for breakfast. We will have two paying passengers with us to Exmouth. It will be a 6-day trip now, and we will set off as soon as we are loaded,” I replied. “Very well, skipper,” Rebecca replied, and they headed indoors.

I pulled out my mobile and texted a quick message and pressed send. In the main mess Finn received the message, and he showed it to Simon. A few minutes later, Simon came down with a tray containing cups of tea for me and the three Logistics Company staff, which they happily accepted, as it was quite a chilly August morning. By 0745 we had all the smaller cargo loaded and secured, and we just had the two containers remaining to be loaded.

Once I had been given the itinerary, I studied it carefully. A total of seven towns to be delivered the goods as soon as possible. “How long do you think it will take?” I was asked by the logistics manager.

“I would say no more than three days, if we only stop for around an hour at each delivery, and overnight stops at Kalbarri and Carnarvon,” I replied. After a brief chat I said farewell to the logistics manager, and invited the two guests to follow me to their assigned cabins, passing through the dining mess, and up the stairs to the mid-deck, where I showed them the two forward cabins.