Frontier - 50. FR Chapter 50

Chapter 50

When we arrived at Berth 37, we found in front of us a three-master schooner, about 42 metres long. It looked magnificent. We stood there and stared at if for some time, not noticing someone standing on the deck smiling at us.

“Welcome aboard, Simon and Anton.” We smiled as we saw who we presumed was Mr Lockwood. We carefully stepped on board for the first time. “I am Eric Chambers. Welcome,” the gentleman said as he shook our hands.

“I am Anton. This is my best friend, Simon,” I said as I shook his hand.

“Good, you won’t mind sharing a twin cabin then,” Mr chambers said to us, as he led the way below decks. A few moments later we entered our cabin, which was surprisingly spacious, and very well presented. “I will let you settle in. Now you are aboard, we can set off, and we should be in Fiji in just over four days. Dinner will be at 1900 hours,” he said to us as he left, closing the door behind him.

“Well, this is not what I expected, and sailing on a schooner will be a new experience,” Simon said to me, as he unpacked his bag and chose a bed.

“I’m going to take a shower before dinner,” I said and once I had unpacked, I headed to the compact bathroom. Once I had finished, Simon went to have his shower, while I found my best casual clothes and put them on, along with some deck shoes. Once we were both ready, we returned to the aft of the yacht, where the dining table was set under the canopy. Eric was at the helm, and I realised that the engines were no longer on, so I leaned out and upwards to look at the sails.

“A great sight to see, isn’t it?” Eric said to me with a smile.

“That it is, Sir,” I replied.

“Good evening, Boys. Please take a seat and dinner will be served,” Charmaine announced as she arrived, and sat down at one end of the table. Suddenly a crew member arrived and took over at the helm, and Eric sat down at the other end. I noticed there were a total of six places set at the table, so Simon and I sat at one side of the table. Not long after a teenage boy and a teenage girl arrived, who were not much younger that Simon and me.

“These are our children – Christine, who is 14, and Edward, who is 16. Children, these are the guests we have as far as Fiji, Anton Hamilton and Simon Adamson,” Charmaine said making the introductions. Christine said nothing and sat down, while Edward walked around the table and shook our hands, before taking his seat.

“We have been reading your adventures in the paper the past two days. It must have been scary getting caught in a big storm and then marooned on an uninhabited island,” Edward said to us.

“That it was. We have been through a similar storm when we came over from Tasmania to New Zealand, but this second time, we were unlucky to have been struck by lightning, which knocked out both our navigation and our communications, plus I was silly enough to have dropped the satellite phone, which I thought went overboard during the storm, but I found it afterwards. It was badly waterlogged and not usable again,” I replied, just as two stewards arrived with our meals already plated up.

Rack of lamb with vegetables and gravy: it looked and smelled delicious. “Who is your cook when you have charters?” Eric asked me as I began to eat.

“That would be me, 1^st mate, chief steward and cook,” Simon replied with a smile, before he began to eat.

“Depending on who is available for crew, it varies a little. Simon’s older cousin, is a qualified skipper, so when he is available, he is the skipper and I am 1^st mate, Simon is cook, and the two lads, Toby and Finn, who are close school friends of ours, are our stewards,” I replied.

“I see. That is a lot of work for two young men like you both,” Eric said to us.

“When we had our charter from Wellington to Honolulu, we had just me as skipper, Simon as 1^st mate and cook, Toby and Finn as our two stewards, who assisted with the galley duties, and my two younger brothers, who helped with minor cleaning jobs, when they were not doing their studies,” I replied.

“Where are your brothers and crew members now?” Charmaine asked.

“On separate flights in different directions that will get them home to Western Australia in a couple of days,” I replied with a smile.

“To avoid the media I presume,” Eric asked with a smile, and I nodded my head.

“We have a skipper and a first mate, plus dad, doing 8 hour shifts each at the helm, a chef, and two stewards doing everything else,” Edward announced to us.

“I see, so just a skeleton crew then,” I said in reply.

“Dad makes us do some chores every day, once we have completed our studies,” Christine remarked in an unhappy tone.

“I think that is a good thing, Miss Christine. Gives you an understanding on work ethics, and you can learn so much about a yacht and sailing if you put your mind to it,” I replied with a smile.

“Quite right, young man. I agree with you on that,” Charmaine said to me but looking directly at her daughter.

“I find it hard remembering all the different names for everything. There is so many of them,” Edward said.

“I would be happy to assist you with that during the journey, if it is permitted by your parents,” I responded.

“I think that would be a great opportunity for you, Son. Let’s say half an hour off your duties and studies, so you can learn yacht terminology,” Eric said happily, and Edward smiled at this offer.

“What about me, do I get half an hour off to learn too?” Christine asked directing the question to her father, who saw me smile and nod.

“Yes, you can do it too, but let’s make it at a different time to your brother,” Eric replied.

During the course of dinner, we learnt that the Lockwood family were from Port Edward in Northern British Columbia, with a population of just over 500 just 15 km’s south of the port city of Prince Rupert, where Eric’s family owned 4 fishing boats, a pub and a fishing charter yacht.

Eric and his family were on a 6-month Pacific sailing holiday, so their children, could get to see other parts of the world. They had been to Kodiak Island, Andreanof Islands, Japan, Philippines, east coast of Australia, stopping at Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney and Hobart, before crossing to New Zealand, where they had stopped at Invercargill, Dunedin, Christ Church and Wellington, and now as they headed towards home, they were stopping at Fiji, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Hawaii, and home to Canada.

After a magnificent meal, we retired to the surprisingly spacious saloon, where we drank tea and coffee with cake, while the children disappeared, presumably to their cabins, and we didn’t see them for the rest of the evening. Feeling quite tired from all the events of the last few days, we said good night to our hosts, and retired to our cabin. We were both soon fast asleep in our separate king beds.

The next morning when I woke, I could see light daylight coming through the porthole, and I smiled as I lay there enjoying the relaxed feeling of having no responsibilities to worry about. Eventually I was forced to get out of bed, and after dealing with my ablutions, I dressed and decided to explore the yacht some more. I counted 4 guest cabins, and I guessed that the Lockwood family were probably using the other ones. As I approached the saloon lounge and formal dining area, I saw a doorway leading beyond where I found myself in the galley, where the chef and a steward were busy.

“Sorry for the intrusion. I just wanted to see what was down this way,” I said to the crew.

“That is fine, Sir. I believe you are a skipper yourself, so it’s understandable that you would want to see the layout of the yacht. Behind us we have a small scullery area, the walk-in fridge and freezer, dry store and laundry at the very back. Crew living quarters are accessed from the forward hatch, consisting of a crew mess, two single and two twin cabins, with shared bathroom,” the chef explained to me.

“Thank-you, Chef. I will let you carry on. Bye,” I said and I made my way back to the saloon, and up onto the aft deck.

“Good morning, Anton. Did you sleep well? Eric said to me as soon as he saw me.

“Yes thank you, Eric. It was nice to wake up and not have to worry about anything” I replied.

“That’s good to hear. Remember you are our guests, so just relax and enjoy,” Eric said to me.

I sat down on a seat nearby. “How have we been travelling so far,” I asked as I let the breeze hit my face.

“Averaging only 9 knots, we are not quite as fast as your yacht, from what I have seen of it, in my research. I’m told you can easily reach 14 knots,” Eric responded.

“Yes, that is correct, and that is cruising speed. If we get good seas and strong winds we can reach up to 16, but that is not often,” I replied.

‘That is good. 12 knots are the highest I have ever reached, but cruising speed is usually 10 knots,” Eric responded.

“Morning, Anton. Come and help yourself to breakfast before Simon and Edward eat it all,” Charmaine said to me, and I laughed at the comment. She smiled as she passed by me, to hand a plate of cooked breakfast to her husband, while she took the wheel.

“Good morning, Simon, Edward and Christine,” I said to those present. I sat down next to Edward directly opposite Simon, and Christine was seated to my right at the head of the table. “What time do you both start your studies?” I asked the Lockwood children.

“We start at 8am, straight after breakfast. We get a fifteen-minute break at 9.30, and finish at 11.15. After lunch, we study from 1pm to 2.30, before we start on our chores which we finish at 4pm. Then we have free time for the rest of the day.

On days that we are in port our studies are replaced by educational excursions. We only get one day off from studies each week, that being a Sunday, unless we are in port, then it is usually the day before,” Edward explained to us.

“Well that is quite a strict school programme. I have two younger brothers, aged 6 and 9, and they study from 8 to 11.30 with a half hour break at 9.30. They have some minor cleaning chores that they do. Apart from that the rest is free time for them.

“They play a lot of card and board games, but they are also a little spoilt, as we have X-Box and Wii, plus a large selection of DVD movies as well,” I explained.

“They lucky to have a kind older brother,” Christine said to me in an annoyed manner.

“No, I think it is more that I am so busy with running the yacht, I don’t get to spend as much time with them as I should, and leave it to them to get their school work done, which they do,” I responded.

When a hand came into contact with my upper leg, I jumped a little in shock, as it was so unexpected.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to kick you,” Simon said to me with a slight grin, knowing full well the reason why I jumped, as I too had noticed that Edward was looking at me quite often, and if I caught him looking, he would blush a little. I quickly finished my cup of tea and toast, and excused myself from the table.

“Don’t you want to eat any cooked breakfast?” Edward asked sounding a little disappointed.

“He rarely does. It’s just tea and toast for him. That’s it,” Simon explained.

“Oh, ok,” Edward replied.

I made my way back to my cabin, where I lay down and relaxed for a while. When Simon appeared about twenty minutes later, he closed the door then started chuckling.

“Someone’s got a crush on you,” Simon teased, and I gave him a soft push.

As he landed on his bed, Simon buried his head in the pillow and burst out laughing, trying to muffle the sound with the pillow. I just sat on my bed staring at him in an annoyed manner.

“So, what am I going to do about it?” I asked Simon quietly, once he had calmed down a little.

“Ask him on a date when we get to Fiji” Simon replied and he burst out laughing again, once again burying his head into the pillow. I gave Simon a thump on the arm, which made him stop laughing, “Oww, what was that for?” He whined.

“For being an ass. You’re meant to be my best friend. You know how I feel about this subject, so please be serious,” I replied quietly.

“Ok, I am sorry for being a donkey.”

“No an ass, you ass,” I corrected Simon, who responded with, “He Haw” and this time we both burst out laughing, not worrying about being loud. When there was a knock on the door, we stopped laughing.

“Are you both ok in there,” came Charmaine’s voice.

“Yes thanks, Ma’am. Just letting off a little tension with some humour that’s all,” I replied.

“He Haw,” Simon added loudly, and we both burst out laughing again. It was some time before we pulled ourselves together enough to leave the cabin. Just as I reached the aft deck and was about to ask Eric a question I heard Simon again.

“He Haw,” he said quietly from behind me and he burst out laughing again. I tried my best, to keep a straight face.

“It appears that my best friend doesn’t know the difference between a donkey and an ass. Do I have permission to throw him over board please?” I asked Eric as I wrestled Simon to the floor.

“No, no, not that. I will be good, I promise,” Simon said to me, as he got back on his feet. Eric gave a little laugh.

“Sounds like you two have a lot of laughs on your yacht,” he said to me as he looked past me at Simon, who was trying not to laugh again.

“Not when we have charters, but if the time is right and it is safe to do so, yes we do have a few laughs,” I replied.

“So, what’s this about going overboard that Simon doesn’t like?” Eric asked me.

“Well, he actually did fall overboard once, at night time when we were rounding the southwest cape of Western Australia, fairly close to shore, fortunately. We didn’t realise it for many hours later, and when we did, we called the local marine rescue group for help, and they informed us that he had staggered on to shore, scaring a local beach fisherman, before being taken to hospital,” I responded.

Eric laughed at this. “The poor fisherman. Just as well he didn’t need to go to hospital too,” Eric replied, and Simon chuckled as he remembered the look on the fisherman’s face.

“Yes, I did give him quite a shock,” Simon recalled with a smile.

I went forward to look at the front half of the yacht’s main deck, where there was a comfortable seating area, tables and places for drinks to be placed, where they wouldn’t tip over, and I sat down to enjoy the ocean views.

About fifteen minutes later Simon appeared with two cups of tea and he sat down opposite me, and handed over a cup of tea.

“What are we going to do about this situation with Edward?” I asked Simon quietly.

“I don’t know, Mate. I think we should try and find a solution without his parents knowing,” Simon replied.

“I do agree with you on that. Si, you know I have no idea how I feel about this matter. I don’t want to hurt him, but a relationship like this is not what I want right now. I just don’t know if I am straight or bi,” I said to Simon.

“I know how you feel, Mate. Let’s see if we can come up with a solution in the next couple of days,” Simon suggested, and we sat there and watched the ocean sail past. Directly below where Simon and I were seated, we were totally unaware of Edward’s presence below a slightly open skylight vent. He was seated in the crew mess, which is empty most mornings after breakfast when the crew are busy, with tears flowing down his face.

We spent most of the morning sitting on the forward deck, just relaxing and enjoying the smooth sailing that the schooner was giving us. When we entered the dining room for lunch, we noticed the absence of Edward for the meal, but said nothing about it. We also noticed there seemed to be some tension of some kind within the Lockwood family.

At dinner Edward was absent once again, and his sister Christine seemed to be in an unhappy mood, so Simon and I decided that we should not interfere with their family disputes or whatever was happening. After three full days of sailing, Simon and I were relaxing on the forward deck after yet another amazing dinner, silently enjoying the clear night sky, when the lights from the room below the skylight came on suddenly. We both leaned away to stay out of sight.

“Are we alone, including on deck?” we heard Christine say.

“Yes, I think so. Why do you ask?” came Edwards reply.

“Ok, brother of mine, something has been bugging you for three days now, and I have a fairly good idea what it is about. I know you, and as I have promised, I will not reveal your secret to our parents. Was the sudden fright from Anton at dinner on the first night, caused by you making an advance on him?” she asked her brother.

I held my breath when I heard this, daring not to make a sound to reveal my presence over hearing this conversation. I heard sobbing coming from below us, and I guessed that it was coming from Edward.

“It’s ok. Bro. I am here for you. Now tell me what has happened?” we heard Christine say. There was a long period of time in which we only heard Edward sobbing, till he finally stopped.

“I was down here when Master Anton and Master Simon were on the deck above, and I overheard them talking… I have a big crush on Master Anton, but he is straight. It is his best friend who is bi, but it is Anton that I am in love with,” we heard Edward say.