Frontier - 9. FR Chapter 9

“Kids, I want you to meet Mr Hamilton. He owns the yacht that we will be going on later today after dinner,” their father said to them.

“Hello, Kids. I have two half-brothers that are around your age, who will be joining us in a few days, so I hope that you will be able to get on with them. Is this the first time that you have been on a yacht?” I said to them.

“We have been on a cruise ship once,” the eldest girl said to me, and I smiled and nodded my head.

“This yacht is a lot smoother than a normal yacht, but even so it may get a little bumpy if the weather picks up. This yacht has two pontoons that will reduce the side to side rocking, so we hope that you enjoy the trip,” I said.

“Mr Hamilton, my husband has briefly told me of the discussion that you and he had. We would like to leave the length of the journey open to see how the first few days go, but I am thinking of at least a week. Will that be ok with you?” Mrs Fenton said to me.

“Yes, Ma’am, that will be fine. We have just completed a large shopping to restock the galley stores, so we have enough food for over a week. Earlier this month, we sailed from just south of Geraldton to the Cocos Keeling Islands, which took five days to complete. I was thinking that maybe we could do a journey to Coral Bay. It’s a small tourist community, located two hours south of Exmouth, which we can also visit if you wish.

“I estimate that the journey would be around 3 ½ days, once we have picked up my family. I am going to contact them later today to get them to fly here instead of Cocos Keeling Islands, as it will cut a day off the journey. Until they arrive, we can sail around Christmas Island, and check out its remote beaches,” I said to them.

“Yes, this sounds fine. We look forward to getting on board this evening, to escape these media vultures,” Mrs Fenton said to me, and I smiled.

Shortly after I was on my way back to the yacht, and as soon as I was on board, I headed to the bridge to retrieved the Sat phone. I called Gramps mobile number.

“Hello, Gramps. Where are you?” I asked as soon as he answered.

“Hello, Grandson. I am on my way to the city. Isaac is driving me down. Suzanne managed to get an earlier flight. They are arriving tomorrow morning, so it gives them a few days to relax before we head up to the Cocos Keeling Islands on Tuesday,” Gramps said to me.

“Can you see if you can get onto Saturday’s flight to Christmas Island? We have some VIP guests on charter, as of this evening, so we need to get the family on board as soon as possible,” I announced.

“I will see if they have any vacant seats, and let you know. So how did the other charter go?” Gramps replied.

“Not very well. They started to verbally abuse me and the lads, so we terminated their charter, and they were not happy, when we told them to leave the following morning.

“We have another charter which is a family of six and two staff, which will be a lot better,” I replied.

“Ok. I will see you on Christmas Island on Saturday hopefully. Bye for now,” Gramps said to me and he ended the call.

Using the PA system, I asked all crew to gather in the formal lounge. Moments later I walked out of the bridge, to see Simon talking to Jasper, while Kirk and Leon were downstairs, and followed me out of the bridge.

“Right, it is 1415 hours now. Everyone has 5 hours R & R leave effective now. See you all back here at 1930 hours. Grab something to eat while you are onshore,” I announced to everyone.

“What about you?” Simon asked as he stood up along with the others.

“I will remain here, and I will take the yacht to a mooring in the bay for security reasons. I will bring a dinghy to the beach at 1930 hours to pick you up.

“Jasper, it might be a good idea to make a call to your federal colleagues, while on the island, and just let them know of our previous guests,” I said to Jasper.

“I was planning to do that already,” he replied with a smile.

Once the crew had stepped onto the jetty, and released the mooring ropes, I started the engines and headed out to one of the mooring buoys. I secured the yacht to the mooring, having shut off the engine and drifted the last twenty metres. I raced downstairs and grabbed the hook so I could pick-up the mooring buoy. Once the yacht was secured, I returned to the main bridge, and grabbed my set of keys. I locked the saloon doors, after stepping out and I headed up to the fly bridge to keep watch.

An hour later, I went down stairs to get a cup of tea, returning to the fly bridge, after locking up the saloon door again. I began to read a book that I had brought with me, to pass away the time. Although I was hoping that nothing would happen, I was ready when I spotted an aluminium dinghy going at full speed, and heading straight for the yacht. I quickly started up the engines, and raced down to untie the mooring. I dashed back upstairs and pushed the engines to full throttle. Grabbing the sat phone from the drawer, I hit the fast dial number for Jasper.

“Small dinghy heading straight for the yacht. I am heading out, to avoid a collision,” I said to Jasper as soon as he answered.

I turned the wheel sharply to port to avoid a collision.

“I’m at the Federal Police offices now. I will let them know,” Jasper said and he ended the call. After swerving a few more times, I started to get enough speed to get a little further away, but, the dinghy was still coming.

I could see that it was Mr Carlton at the helm of the dinghy, and Mr Worthington was with him, telling Mr Carlton which way to turn. The further that we went out, the choppier the waters started to get, making it impossible for the dinghy to keep up with the yacht, and the distance between us grew bigger as the minutes passed. Finally, they gave up the chase, and turned back to the beach. I slowed the yacht down and turned her into the wind, bringing her to a slow crawl.

The sat phone rang, and I picked it up.

“Anton, is that them, heading back to the beach?” Jasper said when I answered the call.

“Yes, it is Carlton and Worthington,” I replied.

“No problems. We will be waiting for them, when they hit the beach. Go back to the mooring, and we will see you at 1930 hours,” Jasper.

I ended the call, and put the sat phone back in the drawer and locked it, before turning the yacht back towards the island, increasing the speed slightly.

Once I had moored the yacht, I locked the controls, and headed back to the saloon, locking myself inside. I collapsed onto the lounge, and fell asleep from shock and exhaustion from the short conflict. I woke up to the sound of knocking, and when I looked up towards the saloon door, I saw Jasper’s smiling face, with a Federal police officer standing next to him.

I staggered to my feet and went to unlock the doors, before heading to the bar sink, to splash some water on my face.

“Are you ok, Boss,” Jasper said to me concerned.

“Yeah, I guess all of this knocked me about a bit more than I expected,” I replied.

“Ok. Well, I’m here now, so you can relax for the remainder of the afternoon. My colleagues have Mr Worthington and Mr Carlton detained. They have been charged with theft of a marine vessel, and attempted criminal damage.

“Their wives have been notified, and they have been warned to stay clear of the Trimaran and its crew. The other couple have not been located, but when they have, they will receive the same warning,” Jasper said to me.

“I will catch you later, Jasper. Nice to meet you, Anton,” the federal officer said and he headed to the aft of the yacht, where I saw a vessel secured. He untied the mooring ropes and slowly moved away from the yacht, before heading back to shore.

I looked at my watch, and it was already 1715 hours, and looking out the window, I could see that it was indeed late afternoon, with the sun approaching the horizon.

“I might go and relax in my cabin for a little while,” I told Jasper, who nodded his head in understanding.

As soon as I lay down, I fell asleep once again, and I woke up when I felt the yacht was moving, with water lapping the side of the pontoon. I decided to take a shower before I made an appearance outside, and I was glad I did, as the hot water helped me to relax a lot. I took my time to get dressed in a fresh uniform, as I glanced at my watch to see that it was after 2100.

As I crossed over the walkway to the aft of the main deck, I could hear talking on the fly bridge. Not recognising the voices, I presumed that it was our new guests, and I continued heading towards the bridge.

“Hello, Boss. Are you feeling a bit better?” Simon said to me with a smile, when he saw me enter. I walked over and sat down on the lounge next to him.

“I think so. I didn’t realise something stressful like that could tire one out so much,” I replied, as I looked up towards Jasper at the helm.

“The guests have settled in well. Most of them are upstairs relaxing. The younger members are already in bed, and we have sailed around the eastern side of the island. We are about to anchor just out from Lilly Beach. We went around the long way anti-clock wise, and we are almost at our destination. Are you ok to take over watch as soon as we have set anchor,” Jasper said to me.

“Yes, I am well rested and ready to go,” I replied to him.

Fifteen minutes later, Kirk and Leon dropped the two anchors, just twenty metres from the beach, and once I had grabbed a cup of tea, I headed up to the fly bridge, where the 4 adults were gathered.

“Good evening. I hope that you have had a pleasant cruise so far,” I said cheerfully.

“Yes, thankyou Anton. May I introduce my PA – James, and you met Louisa earlier,” Mrs Fenton said to me.

“Hello, nice to meet you. We have anchored here at Lilly Beach, and we will remain here for a day and a half, to give you a chance to relax.

“We have fine weather predicted during this time, and we will provide you with dinghy transport to the beach. We have some kayaks, gazebos and beach chairs for your use, and if you like we can provide a BBQ lunch on the beach,” I said to the guests.

“That would be wonderful thankyou, Anton. We will let you know in the morning,” George said to me.

I walked over to the helm, and I unlocked the drawer and retrieved the night binoculars, and scanned the area around the yacht.

A few minutes later the guests said goodnight and headed down stairs, where I heard them say goodnight to Kirk, who appeared at the stairs a short time later.

“Do you need anything before I retire?” he asked me, and I said that I was fine. I asked him to let Simon know to take over at 0600 instead of 0200. Kirk smiled and he nodded his head before he headed back downstairs. A few minutes later, I saw him and Leon crossing over to the pontoon to their cabin.

It was a very peaceful and enjoyable evening. The clouds cleared, and I had a wonderful display of stars in the night sky, that was slowly changing as the hours passed. Soon after I noticed daybreak starting to appear in the eastern sky, Simon arrived with a cup of tea for each of us. We chatted for a while, as we drank our tea, and now with Simon at the helm, I headed downstairs, where Leon was preparing breakfast.

After another cup of tea and some toast, with my favourite vegemite spread, I headed over to my cabin on the pontoon, where I had a shower and headed to bed for some sleep. I heard the soft humming of the dinghy as I was drifting off to sleep happily. Waking up at 1130, I changed into a fresh uniform, and headed over to the main deck. Looking around, I saw a gazebo on the beach, and all of the guests enjoying a relaxing peaceful day.

I headed up to the fly deck, where I found Jasper walking around, with the binoculars around his neck.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Jasper asked me when he saw me appear.

“I’m good now thanks, mate. I was expecting Simon to still be on duty,” I replied.

“Yeah, well, doing four hour shifts doesn’t work very well, so I thought it best to go back to five hour shifts, with two hour shifts at 2300 and again at 1100 for Simon when at sea. He is happy to do this, and at anchor one of the ‘deckies’ will do the lunch time shift. So, I am on now to try and get back to that roster routine,” Jasper said to me.

“Ok, that is fine with me. Whatever you think is best. So, what are the guests wanting to do?” I replied.

“They appear to be enjoying the remoteness of this beach. As you suggested we are organising a BBQ lunch on the beach for them,” Jasper said to me, and I smiled and nodded in agreement. “When Leon comes, how about we go to the office and discuss some options. I have already been told of your ideas for a trip to Coral Bay, once we have collected your Mum and half-brothers, on Saturday.

Let’s see if our guests would like to stay for another day here, and then we can pick-up your family and head off to Coral Bay straight after,” Jasper added.

“Yep, that sounds good. I was thinking that maybe we could use the dinghy to get around the corner to the casino, and I can get a taxi to the airport and back. That way we can keep the guests safely away from the public eye,” I suggested.

“I like it. I will put it to the guests at lunch time,” Jasper said with a smile, just as Leon arrived to take over his watch.

We headed downstairs and walked into the office, where we sat down in the lounge, to work out the finer details of the plan. Simon walked up the stairs soon after.

“Can you guys help me set up the BBQ please,” he asked as soon as he saw us.

“Yes, tell us what you want done,” I responded as I stood up.

“Kirk says there is a BBQ with foldable legs, and a gas bottle in the external locker, beside the aft main deck bar, and if you can grab the other gazebo, the fold up table and chairs from the main aft store.”

Simon headed back downstairs, and Jasper and I got to work as requested, and about twenty minutes later Jasper and I stepped onto the beach from the second dinghy. Kirk was already there, with a couple of eskies containing snacks and drinks, to keep the guests happy. As soon as he saw us arrive, he came down to help us to unload the dinghy and help set up the BBQ and other supplies.

Within ten minutes, we had everything set up, and the BBQ was going. The esky that we brought over with us contained all the meat, and Kirk got to work to start cooking. Jasper and I returned to the yacht, just as Simon was walking down the stairs from the fly bridge.

“I have just taken some food up to Leon. He will be happy for now. Help me with the salads that need to go to the beach,” Simon said as he walked into the office and down the stairs to the galley. We followed him down.

Once the salads had been loaded into a large esky, Jasper and I carried it upstairs and loaded it onto the dinghy, and the three of us headed back to the beach. Once there we placed the esky between the BBQ and the table, and Simon remained with Kirk, after informing us, that he had left lunch for us in the galley fridge. So we returned to the yacht to have our lunch. When I had eaten, I went up to the fly deck to take over from Leon for watch duty, while Jasper headed to his cabin to have a short rest, and Leon took the dinghy over to the beach, to help with packing up the lunch stuff.

I watched from the flybridge, as Simon and the two lads efficiently packed up the BBQ, and packed all the trays and bowls into the eskies, leaving just one esky with drinks, and some snacks on the table for the guests. They loaded everything into the smaller dinghy. This time Leon remained on the beach, while Kirk and Simon returned to the yacht, leaving the still warm BBQ on the aft deck to cook down some more, while they carted everything down to the galley to be cleaned up and put away.

At about 1500 hours, I saw the dinghy returning with all the guests on board, and I could see Leon had packed up the gazebos, tables and chairs. As soon as the guests, were back on board, and headed downstairs to their cabins, Leon returned to the beach to collect the remaining equipment. When he returned, Simon and Kirk were on the swim platform, waiting to help him unload the dinghy, and get the dinghy back on board.

When all of the cleaning up and packing away had been completed, Simon came upstairs and gave me a cup of tea.

“So, any comments from the guests regarding their afternoon on the beach?” I asked my good friend.

“No comments, but from what I observed, they all had a great time,” Simon replied, and we chatted about the next stage of the charter, which I had discussed with Jasper.

“How about I come with you to the Casino. From what I have seen on the navigation display, there isn’t really any beach there, so we may need to maybe go to Ethel Beach. That way a taxi can get to and from that location easily, and I can stay with the dinghy at the beach. We have mobile coverage here, so we can take the sat phone, and call if there are any problems,” Simon said.