Indian Ocean Invasion - 21. IOI Chapter 21

Lewis’s POV Two Weeks Later

When the twins and I arrived in Liechtenstein, I sent a text message to Kylie, “I am safe and well staying with friends, can you please check what happened with the delays to my discharge and removing my Australian Security Clearance, as there seems to be a dispute with the facts, I will call you soon. Love Lewis”

Once the message was sent, I turned the phone off and removed the battery and SIM card, and for the past two weeks I have been enjoying my stay in this wonderful small country, seeing all the sights with the twins as my guides.

At the end of the first week there, I put my mobile together again, and sent another message to Kylie. “Hey, how did you go with getting information? I am having a great holiday where I am, but I can’t say where it is, so you don’t get into any trouble”, and I waited to see if I would get a reply, unsure if Kylie was able to receive my message or not.

Shortly after I received a reply, “Hey you, glad to hear that you are ok, I learnt that your security clearance was indeed cancelled, and that the arrest warrant has also been cancelled, apparently there was some screw up in communications, but it is all sorted now, so you are no longer wanted by the Australian Authorities, take care speak to you soon, Love Kylie”. I smiled when I read this message, and I decided to stay for at least another week, just in case.

As the end of my second week in Liechtenstein came to a close, the twins announced that Sebastian would be coming for a short visit, to discuss some business with the twins, and that Sebastian was looking forward to catching up with me again. I felt that I had already over welcomed my stay, but I could not just leave without seeing Sebastian one last time, so I deferred my departure till Sebastian arrival in two days’ time.

At breakfast time on the day that Sebastian is due to arrive, the twins announced to me that they are working on a new project, that they themselves are managing, but needs Sebastian’s approval before they can go ahead with the project.

I was shocked to learn that a small river ship that came from Singapore, and was bound for Fremantle, that was being towed by a cargo ship, had run aground on a beach, off the coast of Western Australia, and that it is well and truly stuck.

The twins announced, that they are in negotiations with the ships owners to buy the ship, and with the Australian government, to leave the ship where it is, and turn it into a floating hotel, which I thought would probably be very unlikely.

After breakfast I pulled out my laptop to do a web search on the stranded vessel. “Wooden sailing ship stranded on Western Australian beach” was the headlines of the news article, and I continued to read. “A wooden, 37-metre long, 2 masted brig ship, that was being towed to Fremantle behind a cargo ship, broke its towline during a severe storm, two days ago, leaving the authorities scratching their heads on what to do with it.

The local Marine rescue unit was able to rescue the 4 foreign crew that were onboard, all believed to be from Singapore. The beach where the ship ended up is 3.5 kilometres south of the coastal town of Kalbarri, near the Red Bluff road bridge, with the ship somehow managing to end up in the Wittacarra Creek, 400 metres up from the ocean, and just 300 metres from the bridge, in an upright position, with sand dunes on either side.

It is believed that an international company is currently negotiating to purchase the two masted ship from the ship’s owners, which is wedge solidly in the creek, with the hull buried under approximately two metres of sand and mud. The Northampton Shire Council and the Western Australian Government’s environment department are working together to monitor the site, to ensure that there is no further damage to the ship or the coastal beach that it is stuck on, plus the nearby sand dunes.

The future of the 248-tonne tall ship is uncertain now, but is believed that it will re-floated, if possible and have it towed to Fremantle. Thesenior crew of the cargo ship are currently being detained and questioned by the authorities, with charges expected to be laid. The customs and quarantine authorities are currently inspecting the ship, to see if there is any risk to the environment, because it is made of oak”.

“Wow is this really happening, I have actually been to Juries Bay, it is a beautiful place to visit, I wonder if there has been any fuel or oil leaks. I believe that those sorts of yachts, are usually built of aluminium” I said to the twins.

“We actually have the layout plans of the ship, and it is only 37 metres long and 9 ½ metres wide, with a total of three decks. We heard about of it fairly quickly, and began negotiations, even before we told Sebastian about it” one of the twins informed me. Within a few minutes, the three of us were gathered around one of the twins Apple I-Pads, and the plans for the tall ship came up on the screen.

“If it is permitted, we would like to keep it at its current location, as it will be an extra tourist attraction for the town of Kalbarri. The only things we have to worry about is, removing effluent waste, and any garbage that is produced from having guests stay onboard” one of the twins said.

The ship has 14 guest cabins and 3 twin and 1 single cabin for crew, if we can keep it there as a hotel, then we can accommodate the hotel staff on the ship, or they can come out from town” the other twin announced. “Well that sounds like a great project for the both of you, would you move to Kalbarri to manage it?” I asked the twins.

“That is where we thought you might like to take up the position as the manager, to run it on our behalf?’ one of the twins replied, and I looked at the twins in shock and both laughed, nodding their head to let me know that they were serious. “Well, I guess it would be something different, and it does have something to do with boats, so I say yes, as long as all goes well with having it stay where it is” I replied.

“Good to hear, once we have met with Sebastian today, we will pack our bags and fly to Western Australia to assess the ship and try to convince the local government and state government, to let us keep it where it is,” one of the twins said. The meeting with Sebastian was brief, and he only stayed for about four hours, before he had to dash back to the airport to fly to the main office in Switzerland.

With go ahead and financial support from Sebastian, Louis, Joachim and I were on a private flight to Zurich, then from there we were booked onto the 10.45pm flight to Perth via Singapore, which will take just over 12 hours, arriving in Singapore at 5pm local time, where we would have a 2-hour layover, before making the 5 ¼ hour flight to Perth, arriving at 11.45pm.

What had caught me by surprise, was that when we bored out first long-distance flight, we were in 1st class, and the twins saw the shocked look on my face. “You are now a high-level employee of our company now, so you deserve the perks that go with it, just sit back and enjoy it” one of the twins said.

By the time that we arrived in Perth late the following day, I was surprisingly well rested, with the 1st class sleeping seats being very comfortable, and service being top of the class. One of the twins, I am still not sure which is which, informed me that we are booked into suites at a five-star hotel, and that we will have most of tomorrow to rest and relax, before we take and executive jet to Kalbarri, in the late afternoon, with the flight taking just one hour.

Before going to sleep, I sent a quick text to my best friend. “Hi Kylie, I am back in Australia, arrived a few hours ago from Europe, I will be busy for the next few days, but I will let you know when I am free to catch up, Love Lewis”, and after a quick shower, I went to bed, to get some sleep.

When I woke in the morning, there was a reply from Kylie, which was sent at 5.30am, “Hey you, welcome back home, are you in WA or in another state, let me know what you are doing when you can, love Kylie”. I smiled when I read the message, and I decided not to send a reply, as she may be at work.

After a relaxing breakfast with the twins, we packed up our luggage, and put it all into storage at the hotel, before we headed to the State government offices of the Department of Environment. After a bit of convincing, we managed to get a meeting with the department Director.

Joachim and Louis informed him, that they had secured the purchase of the tall ship currently stranded at Wittacarra Creek, and pending all approvals, would like to keep the ship at that location, to make it a tourist attraction and accommodation for guests.

The twins said that they would be prepared to pay for the sealing and curbing of the current gravel road, from Red Bluff Road, to the carpark including sealing and line marking the carpark, plus building and maintaining a public ablution block, and water tank, to supply water to the block and to the ship, and solar panels on the roof, to provide power to the ablution block.

The twins were informed to submit all the required forms, including an independent environmental report, for review and consideration, and that we will be duly notified of the decision. After the meeting, we had lunch up in Kings Park, overlooking the city and Swan River, which is a wonderful place to see.

After lunch, a limo was waiting for us, to take us to a law firm, where we had a meeting with a barrister, who was recommended by the Wagner family lawyers, and he was put straight to work to investigategetting the required approvals to get the project into place, and to finalise the purchase of the tall ship.

With that meeting completed, the limo had returned after going to the hotel to collect all of our luggage, and we were taken to the domestic airport, where our private jet was waiting to take us to Kalbarri, and it was quite a warm afternoon, as we stepped out of the jet plane, where a resort minibus was waiting to collect us.

The twins informed me that we had booked three executive suites for 8 nights, to give us plenty of time to look around, and we settled into our adjoining suites and rested for an hour, before it was time to have some dinner, in the resort’s restaurant, which was only average food, according to the twins.

During dinner, I was told that in the morning, straight after an early breakfast, that we would be heading to location of the ship, to inspect its location, and to have a look inside the ship its self, which I was looking forward too. By the time I arrived in the dining room for breakfast, I was eagerly waiting to go and see the ship, and when the twins walked in and saw how impatient I was, they both laughed.

“Lets’ skip breakfast and go straight there” one of the twins said, and I was out that door, as quick as I could, but we had to wait ten minutes before a taxi finally arrived, and another five minutes will we came to the bridge, even well before the bridge we could see the huge tall masts of the ship, with two crow’s nest lookouts near the top.

As we approached the bridge, we got our first look at the ship, it was a lot bigger than I expected, and shortly after, we turned right down a wide gravel road, and 300 metres later, we came to stop at a rough carpark, with the tall ship in full view.

“Wow, that is one very big ship, I am amazed that it is still standing upright” I commented as we stepped out of the taxi, and I handed over a $30, and told the driver, to keep the change, and to come back in an hour to collect us again.

Once the taxi had left, we all stared at the ship in amazement. “You are not permitted on or near the ship, until the new owners come to take position of it” man in a light green / grey uniform said to us, and I looked at his shoulders, where a badge read CALM - Department of Conservation and Land Management on it.

“That would be us, sir, May I introduce Mr Louis and Mr Joachim Wagner, from Wagner Family Corporation, and I am Lewis Shaw, an employee of theirs” I said to the man, “Do you have any form of identification please sir’s” the man asked, with his name badge reading Norm Hunter. The twins produced their passports and I produced my Navy ID card, which has my photo on it.

“Thank-you gentlemen, we just have to be careful, there has been a lot of people coming to see the ship, since it was mentioned in the papers four days ago, and we have had to keep a 24-hour watch on it” the Calm officer said. “Thank-you Mr Hunter, we do appreciate that, we will organise a private security firm to do the overnight guarding for you, so you can return to your normal duties” I responded.

The ship was in the middle of the widest part of the creek, which is about 25 metres in that area, and it was a good 6 to 8 metres from the creek bank to the ship. “Looks like we will have to get our feet wet” I commented to the twins, as I began to take off my boots and socks off, and to roll up my jeans to just below my knees, and the twins followed.

The water in the creek was quite cold, as I began to waddle into the creek, which surprisingly was getting deep, and ended up being just over my knees deep, soaking the bottom of my jeans, but there was nothing I could do about it, so I kept going.

When I reached the ship, I discovered that there was going to be a problem with getting onboard, and I looked back towards the twins, and saw the CALM officer pulling out a retractable ladder, from the back of his vehicle, and he handed it to one of the twins, who had been watching me from the edge of the creek.

When the twins finally reached me at the ship, I set up the ladder against the ship in line with the back mast, and began to climb up, with the ladder being about 2 metres too short from the top side of the ship, so I had to carefully climb up the mast ropes, to get to the main deck of the ship. “Wow, this is far more than I expected it to be, I can hardly believe that I am actually onboard a tall ship” I said as I watched the twins climb up.