Frontier - 34. FR Chapter 34

We arrived at our destination half an hour ahead of schedule, which gave the guests a chance to have a quick look at the Old Whaling Station Museum before it closed for the day. On their return the guests relaxed for the rest of the afternoon while the crew prepared the dinner. It was a relaxing evening as the temperature dropped and wind calmed, causing the guests to remain indoors, where it was warmer.

Once the crew had eaten early as usual, Kirk and Leon prepared to serve dinner to the guests, while I called for a taxi to pick me up from the whaling station jetty, to take me into town, to pick up Simon from the bus terminal. When Simon stepped off the bus, I was so happy to see him again, and I hugged him tight.

“Hey, Boss. Thanks for getting me back to the yacht,” Simon said with a smile.

“I am pleased that you are back, and I have taken steps to make sure that anything similar never happens again. Have you had dinner?” I said to my friend.

“Yes, just an oily takeaway meal at the roadhouse,” Simon replied.

“Then let’s get you some good food before we return to the yacht, which is at Frenchman Bay, a half hour drive away,” I said to Simon. I paid the taxi driver what was owed and we walked into the centre of town to find a restaurant.

We ended up going to a Chinese restaurant, and I had a snack, while Simon ate a full meal. We happily chatted as we ate. We walked along the main street for a while, before hailing a taxi to take us back to the whaling station jetty, arriving just after 9pm. Jasper had the yacht moored at the jetty by the time that we arrived, and once we were on board, we motored away further into the harbour, and we set the anchors just off shore from Middleton Beach.

The following morning after breakfast, Vic and Rita ferried the guests to the beach, so they could spend some time looking around the city. The pickup time was 1045 hours, so we could set off soon after, with the next destination being Bremer Bay, which would be a 7-hour sail away. While the guests were looking around Albany, the crew got to work to do a thorough clean of the whole yacht, including a change of bedding for each of the guest cabins.

Once we had set off again, with the guests enjoying their time on shore, we went out about 15 kilometres from the mainland as we headed east to Bremer Bay. We arrived in the large bay just west of the small coastal town as the sun was setting. With the anchors set, a dinghy was used to ferry our guests into town so they could look around and enjoy a night out, with dinner at the local resort.

After dinner, they walked along the river till they reached the mouth of the river, where Jasper was waiting for them with the dinghy, to get back to the yacht, which was sailing towards them. Once everyone was on board, we continued to head east to Esperance, which was a 10-hour sail away, which Jasper decided to do as an overnight sail. Jasper and I decided that it would be ideal to arrive there in the early morning, so as to sail through the Recherche Archipelago islands.

We were lucky to have some good winds, and little swell, which made the journey smooth and uneventful, and as the sun came up in the east, I was rewarded with the view of whales swimming close to the yacht. I pulled out my mobile and putting it on video, I recorded nearly half an hour of footage of the whales, which was really awesome. Simon who came up to give me a cup of tea, also got to see the whales and took plenty of photos with his phone.

When Jasper arrived shortly after 0730, I handed him the memory card from my phone and asked him to transfer the video footage onto the laptop. He returned a few minutes later with a big smile on his face.

“That is awesome. Did this happen this morning?” Jasper asked, and I smiled and nodded my head.

“I have put it on the big television, so the guests can watch it during breakfast,” Jasper added, and he headed back downstairs to the main deck.

Shortly after the guests had finished breakfast, we sailed into the Esperance bay, and we moored at the main town jetty, shortly after 0900 hours. I informed the Fenton family that they could have the whole day to explore the region, and that we would leave about an hour before sunset, as we would be passing by a lot more islands as we headed out to sea and continued eastwards.

The guests had a great day out visiting the Esperance Stone Henge, located in the middle of a farm paddock, the pink lake, and looked around the very picturesque large coastal town. When they returned mid-afternoon, George and Mimi asked to speak to me and Jasper.

“We have been discussing things, and we would like to spend some time exploring Tasmania’s wilderness. Can we make that our next destination please? That video footage from this morning was a wonderful surprise, thank you,” Mimi said to us.

“Yes, that will be fine, Mrs Fenton. We will look at our charts and do some research, and come up with some ideas for you by the end of dinner. It was Anton here was the one to capture that footage this morning,” Jasper replied, and since he was rostered to be at the helm he headed to the main bridge, while I helped Kirk and Leon, to pull up the anchors, and raise the mainsail, so we could be on our way again, with our new destination of Tasmania.

It was a three day and 18 hour and 2150 kilometre - long journey to the west coast of Tasmania, through the Southern Ocean, which was fairly rough for some of the trip. We had decided on Arthur River, which was 45 kilometres south of the northern tip of Tasmania, as the first place of call. After some time there, we continued south stopping at small towns along the way, before arriving at Strahan, to spend a few days exploring the area, before exploring the huge Macquarie Harbour for a few more days. The crew and guests were amazed at the spectacular forest scenery.

After leaving the harbour, we continued southwards for 6 ½ hours, to Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour, where we spent a few days exploring the area. Once back out in the Southern Ocean, we travelled south for two hours till we cleared the south-western tip of Tasmania. Then we turned in an easterly direction, for six hours before changing course again. This time we headed in a northerly direction where Hobart was our next destination, a further 90 kilometres away. This is where the Fenton family would be ending their holiday.

On the second last day before arriving in Hobart, when most of the crew were gathered in the crew area, I asked Kirk and Finn if they would like to go home to Canada for 3 weeks, as a paid holiday, with the company paying all airfares, hotel accommodation in transit, and 3 week’s holiday pay. It only took the lads a moment to glance at each other, and smile, to know that the answer was yes. Vic and Rita announced that they too would be returning to Canada, having spent two wonderful weeks on board the yacht.

A little later, shortly after lunch, while Jasper was on the main bridge, I sat down in the lounge to speak to him.

“I have offered the lads 3 week’s holidays starting from when we arrive in Hobart, and Vic and Rita will also be leaving us at that point. I was thinking maybe you might like to have some time off, to spend some time with Anita and Nathan, and maybe Simon can go too, to spend some time with his grandfather. The boys and I can explore some more of Tasmania, while the yacht is moored at Hobart,” I said to him.

“Ok, that sounds like a good idea. Are you sure you and your brothers will be alright while we are away,” Jasper asked me, and I gave him a big smile.

“It will be a great big adventure for my brothers, and I hope it will partly heal some wounds with the loss of our mother,” I replied to Jasper.

I had already begun making other plans, uncertain were they would take us. Once we had arrived at the yacht club, where I had arranged a temporary mooring for the yacht, we said a sad farewell to the Fenton family.

That evening, after completing all the cleaning duties, the crew had a BBQ dinner on the main aft deck, celebrating the end of another successful charter, and the start of holidays for all the crew members. Kirk and Leon would be flying to Sydney in two – days’ time, then onto Vancouver. Simon and Jasper would fly to Melbourne the following morning, then onto Perth later that day, and Vic and Rita would be flying to Sydney the following morning, then onto Tokyo for a few days, before flying home to Vancouver.

When all the crew had left for their holidays, Neale and Jedd were sitting in the formal lounge watching a movie, and I sat down and watched it with them, till it ended.

“What now, Anton? What are we going to do for three weeks, while the crew are away?” Neale asked me.

“Well, I have been thinking about that. How would you like to go back home to visit where you lived in New Zealand, go and see some of your old friends?” I suggested to my brothers.

“Would we sail there on our own, or will we fly over?” Jedd asked me.

“Well, I was thinking of asking you guys, which would be the best way, that you would like to get there,” I replied with a smile.

“Can we sail over there, and give our friends a surprise?” Neale asked. I gave a little chuckle before replying.

“Yes, we can do that, but it will be three very long days to get there. I will need to be at the bridge for most of the time, and you guys will have to help out with making us dinners,” I said to my brothers, who looked a little panicked when I said this. I laughed a little before letting them know that it is ok.

“We can buy lots of pre-packed meals, that just need heating up in the microwave, so I can show you how to do that. We have an automatic navigation control, with collision alarm on this yacht, so I can sleep in the bridge and be there if anything happens. Where in Dunedin, did you used to live?” I said to my brothers.

“Portobello. It’s on the main banks of the main harbour,” Neale replied.

Once we had locked up the yacht, we headed into the city, to do some shopping for a few spare items for the yacht, plus I wanted to do some minor repairs. Once we had what I needed, we dropped them off at the yacht, before heading to do some food shopping, including two weeks of frozen prepacked meals. When we had everything that we needed, I prepared some lunch for us, and we sat on the outside aft deck, as the afternoon was fine and warm, which was a little surprising for the start of winter.

After lunch, I opened my laptop computer, and went online. I typed in Google Maps, and typed in Portobello, Dunedin. When the map came up with the area that I was seeking, the boys came and sat on either side of me to be able to see the computer screen. Over the next twenty minutes the boys showed me where Portobello School was, which overlooked Lamlash Bay; they showed me the house that they lived in all of their lives, located on another hill, just three blocks away from the school, also overlooking the Lamlash Bay; and they showed me Latham Bay, where the Portobello Bay Jetty was located.

Neale and Jedd told me that they often would play out in the paddocks that surrounded the house, and sometimes in the old sheds, when their dad was out working, and Mum was too busy doing house work to notice. I laughed when the boys told me this.

“I bet you miss life in Dunedin. It sounds like you had a great childhood there,” I said to them.

“It was awesome. I liked school, and we both had good friends there, when dad was alive. Then suddenly we had to pack some clothes, and a few belongings, and fly all the way over to Perth, but I am glad we did, as we got to meet our awesome older brother,” Jedd replied with a big smile.

“So, what happened to all of your other things?” I asked my brothers.

“I’m not sure. I think Mum said that she put them into storage or something like that,” Neale replied.

“Ok, let me make some enquiries to find out what happened to them. Now what about the house you grew up in? Was it rented or did your parents own it?” I asked.

“No idea. That is all adults’ stuff that we never knew anything about. Mum and Dad never really talked about business and stuff when we were around. We had some chooks, a dairy cow and a nanny goat, as pets. That is all that I remember. I don’t know what happened to them,” Jedd said sadly.

“Well, never mind about them. We will find out, once I have made a few phone calls,” I said to the boys cheerfully.

“We are going to go and rest a little while,” Neale said to me and I said ok. I headed into the main bridge to retrieve the sat phone, and headed up to the fly bridge.

“Hello, Gramps. Just to let you know that we are in Hobart. The Fenton family left late yesterday to return home, and I have given all the crew a 3 week holiday. Vic and Rita are also heading home to Canada,” I said to Gramps once I was put through to his room.

“Hello, Anton. Well, I wasn’t expecting you to be going that far away. Have you enjoyed it?” Gramps said to me.

“Yes, it’s nice to be able to see some more of Australia, although we went directly from Esperance to Arthur River in north western Tasmania, which was a bit of a rough trip in some parts,” I replied.

“So, what are you and your brothers going to do for three weeks?” Gramps asked me.

“Well, that is part of the reason why I am calling you. Did Mum ever tell you anything in detail about her life in Dunedin?” I asked cautiously, and I heard Gramps chuckle.

“That is a long way to go with just the three of you. Do you think you can handle it?” he asked me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know me too well, Gramps, and yes I think I can. We have bought lots of reheat meals. I will teach the boys how to use the microwave, and with the auto navigation and the collision alarm system, I should be able to get over there unscathed. I have bought some extra spares in case of anything breaking. We think it will take about 4 days to get there,” I said to Gramps with a smile.

“Well, I know you have the skills and ability to do it. Just don’t make any stupid mistakes, and don’t take any risks, especially with the boys on board,” Gramps said to me.

“Yes, Gramps, I will be careful and not do anything silly. Now what can you tell me about Mum and the boy’s life in Dunedin?” I replied.

Over the next twenty minutes or so, Gramps informed me that Mum and my stepfather actually owned the small farm, including the house and sheds that are there, and that they leased out the 64 acres of farmland to another farmer. When my stepfather was killed in a truck accident, my mum had extended the farm lease for another five years, and the money they get from that goes into a bank account, which pays for the local and federal government taxes. Gramps said that as far as he knew, the house is just as they left it, as she was planning to bring the boys and me back for a holiday.

Gramps said that now our mum had passed away, the house and land now belonged to Neale and Jedd, in trust until after they have both turned 21 years old, and he presumed that he would officially become guardian of the boys, once he was out of hospital. With the boy’s passports locked away in the safe along with mine, I decided that it would be a good thing to take the boys back to Dunedin, and maybe to sort through some of the belongings that had been left behind. I promised Gramps that we would contact him at sunset each day, to let him know that we were all safe, and that we would be leaving Hobart at sunset that night.

We were starting to prepare for departure, when an unexpected arrival stepped on board. “Hey, Skipper. You are not going anywhere without me,” Simon said with a smile.

“What are you doing here? You are meant to be preparing for a trip to Melbourne tomorrow, and any way, do you actually have a passport?” I asked from the fly bridge.

“Yes, I asked my grandfather to organise it, when we returned from Christmas Island the second time. He gave it to me last week,” Simon said, holding up his passport for me to see.

“Well, I guess I will have to let you come then,” I said to my good mate.

“Where exactly are we going that requires a passport, if I don’t already know?” Simon asked me, and I chuckled.

“Yes, we are going across the ditch to Dunedin, New Zealand. It appears that my brothers’ father and our mother, owned the farm that the boys grew up on, which is on the edge of a small coastal town. So, we are going to see what needs to be done now that the boys have lost both parents.

“I spoke to Gramps earlier, and he has been able to fill me in on the family background, as the boys didn’t know very much. I have estimated that it will be a four-day journey to Dunedin with good weather, and now with you with us, it should be a lot easier. I won’t have to teach the boys how to microwave the meals,” I said to Simon and we both laughed.

“Hello, Simon. Are you coming with us?” Neale said as he and Jedd arrived from downstairs.

“Yes, so you won’t have to do any cooking, but I will need you boys to do galley cleaning for me, after each meal, as you share of the work,” Simon said to my brothers.

“I think we can do that,” Jedd replied with a big smile.

“Ok. Well, let’s have some dinner before we set off. I will do 2100 to 0900 hours at the helm, and Simon you can do the other twelve hours,” I said to everyone.