Ocean Research - 11. IOR Chapter 11

After lunch, I decided to remain on the ship, when the volunteers returned to work, and after a while, I decided to go for a swim, so after I had changed into some boardshorts and a light t-shirt, I headed downstairs. “Would you like to try out one of the kayaks, Mr Ashburton?” Judd, the lead deckhand asked me, when I stepped onto the aft main deck. “Yes, that is a great idea, I will do that please,” I replied happily, as I placed my wide brim hat on my head, as the sun was quite warm outside.

Judd handed me a bottle of sunscreen, before heading for the sports locker to retrieve the kayak, PFD jacket and the paddle, plus two bottles of cold drinking water. Once in the water, I headed towards the north-west corner of Little Rat Island, which is considerably bigger than Roma Island, and once I had rounded the point, I continued north towards Rat Island, which I wanted to check out, as a possible good site for the new fisherman’s village.

With the research I had done, I had learnt that at 151 acres in area, it is about a third of the size of East Wallabi Island, Rat Island has an intact large main jetty, which is the location of the Fish holding facility, which although badly damaged is still standing.

The island is 4 metres above sea level at its highest point, it has two gravesites, the school, a 500-metre-long gravel airstrip, a couple of deep rock holes, a freshwater spring that tasted very sweet, and very low vegetation over about a quarter of the island. I spent my time wandering around the island, to get the feel of it, the place was still in a mess, but hopefully, it won’t be long before it is all cleared, and we can see what protentional the island has.

While looking around I started to get some ideas about other uses on the island, like eco tents, on raised platforms, with raised walkways to keep off the ground, to protect the environment, and I made a mental note to check them out online when I get back to the ship.

After the walk around the island, I had a swim to cool off a bit, before climbing back into the kayak, to paddle back to the ship, which would take me about half an hour, as I noticed that it was getting late in the afternoon. I was just passing Bushby Island when a dinghy rounded the corner of Little Rat island and headed in my direction.

I saw two people on board the dinghy and soon recognised them to be Luke and Mattias, as it slowed down as they approached. “We were getting a bit worried about you Mr Ashburton, you have been gone for well over three hours,” Luke said as he pulled the boat up beside the kayak.

“Climb in sir, and we will tow the kayak back to the ship,” Mattias said to me, and I handed over the paddle, and two bottles of water, before moving over to the dingy, and we were soon on our way back to the ship. “No need to have worried, I found a freshwater spring to topped up my water supply, and I had a swim to cool off too,” I commented over the noise of the motor.

“What I had not noticed, was that the Silver Cloud was following us, and we only became aware of it, when the horn gave a few blasts, making all three of us jump in fright. Looking back, after calming my nerves, I saw Joshua standing on the deck in front of his suite, waving to us.

Moments later three other people stepped out onto the balcony, and I realised that it was my parents and brother. Luke handed me his two-way radio when he saw that other people were on the catamaran. Dinghy to MV Researcher,” I called on the radio.

“Go ahead Mr Ashburton, over” came a reply that sounded like it was Adam, the 1^st officer. “Adam, can you please call the Silver Cloud, and ask why my parents and younger brother are on board, over?” I asked. “Silver Cloud to dingy, received that message, Kip. I decided that they all needed a holiday, especially after the cyclone scare, so I invited them to join me on the Catamaran, over,” Joshua replied.

“Ok, see you shortly, over,” I replied before handing the radio back to Luke. “This was a real surprise, that the whole family was together on a holiday, which is extremely rare. Actually, I only recall once just before I began boarding school, when the family drove to Broome, 765 kilometres away, for a six-day holiday, with two of those days spent driving, so really it was only a four-day holiday.

Back at the ship, while Mattias put the kayak and supplies away, Luke took me over to the Silver Cloud, which had just set its anchors, about 100 metres away from the ship in a channel away from the reefs.

When I stepped onto the stern of the catamaran, Flynn came rushing towards me, and as he wrapped his arms around me, we both continued backwards and into the water, with me coughing and spitting out seawater after surfacing. “Hello bro, good to see you after such a short time,” Flynn said to me with a big grin.

“Cheeky sod, thanks for nearly drowning me,” I grumbled. “Come on up and get dried off you two, so we can have a chat,” Mum said to us, and this is when I noticed her in a one-piece swimsuit, with a wide brim hat on. “Hi Mum, so were you really in Karratha when I called earlier?” I asked as we climbed back on board.

“No, we were actually in Geraldton. Hello son, I hear you have been out kayaking all afternoon,” Dad said to me, as I accepted a towel from the steward and dried off. “Yes, I was exploring Rat Island which is the biggest island in this group, quite a beautiful place, “I replied, as I saw Joshua appear smiling.

“Hi mate, have a good dip?” Joshua said to me, and I just laughed and threw the wet towel at him. “Yea, it gets quite warm out here, I won’t be surprised if I am a bit wind burnt tomorrow,” I responded, as I headed inside, and went to my cabin on the starboard side, with Flynn following me.

“I chose the cabin next to yours, this is a beaut catamaran eh, I am really looking forward to this week-long holiday,” Flynn said as he passed me and entered his cabin. Once we were both showered and changed, we joined our parents in the main saloon, noticing that they had changed also. “After dinner, you and I need to have a meeting, so I can get you up to speed on what has been planned,” Joshua said to me, “sure not a problem. Are we going to be staying here or moving around the islands?” I replied.

“We may stay here for two nights, then move onto another area, I will talk to Captain Amanda about it later,” Joshua replied. While we were having dinner, Luke returned, bringing over my luggage from the ship, which he left for me on the deck, so as not to disturb our dinner, which was interrupted anyway, by the antics of Isaac’s first mate, and with the Silver Cloud anchored so that the stern is facing West, it gave us an awesome sunset view as we ate.

Once dinner was over, I said goodnight to everyone, and followed Joshua upstairs to the sky lounge, for our meeting. “Before we start, while my folks, my brother and Isaac are here, would it be a good idea to borrow one or two staff from the ship?” I asked Joshua as we sat down.

“Hmm, not a bad idea, who do you recommend?” Joshua replied, “I think Mattias would be the best option, he is hard-working, and I have heard him talking to chef Andrea about some recipe’s so he may be handy as a deckie and galley hand,” I replied.

“Good, can you make the arrangement in the morning please?” Joshua replied, “Sure, and by the way, I am no longer the 2^nd officer on the ship,” I answered, “Yes the Captain informed me of that, before we do anything, go and take a look at what has happened with your new office,” Joshua replied, so I jumped up and headed across the hallway.

“Wow, you have managed to make it a lot bigger, that is great, did you get rid of the day toilet as well!” I commented, “Yes, no point having it when you have two bathrooms already on this deck, so now you have a heap of storage space too,” Joshua said as I returned to the lounge.

During our meeting, Joshua informed me that he and his grandfather had been in a video conference with a senior member of the Department of Parks and Wildlife, discussing options of providing accommodation for the fishermen and tourists, that would be eco-friendly and put as little of a footprint on the islands as possible.

I was told that the idea of a few barges providing a floating town would be ideal as a temporary measure, until building of more permanent structures is completed, with the plans finalised and construction started on building the container pods for the two barges, with the accommodation to be owned by the family company and leased to the fishermen.

I was informed that there would be 48 accommodation pods, for a total of 96 fishermen, plus 8 accommodation pods, for the administration staff, and VIP guests, which would be ready well before the start of the new cray fishing season in October.

In the meantime, the fishing boats were currently base on the mainland and having to travel out to the Abrolhos reefs to do their fishing, which meant a lot of extra expense and less profit for them, for the remainder of the current season.

I suggested the idea of having eco tents on raised platforms on an island for tourists and Joshua like the idea, but it would have to be well away from the fishing village, so looking at the maps, we came up with a possible good location, with the fishing village being possibly relocated to the Rat Island area in the Easter group, Seagull island in the Wallabi group would be ideal, as it is fairly protected from strong winds being located between West and East Wallabi Islands.

When we did some research on if there are any previous Government plans for tourism on the Abrolhos Islands, we found a 2008 proposal for tourism to be established on Long Island with 60 eco-friendly cabins. We dug a bit deeper and found a few other documented studies, and after reviewing them, we decided to stick with the temporary accommodation plans that we had at the moment, and wait and see what Mr Lloyd comes up as a more permanent solution.

For the next five days, I was pleased to see my parents looking relaxed with this sudden holiday, and Flynn was having a great time exploring the islands, mostly on a kayak, and I would join him every couple of days when I needed a break from helping the volunteers with the cleanup.

When it was time for Isaac, my parents and Flynn to return home, Joshua had Captain Amanda take them back to the mainland onboard the Silver Cloud, instead of having to charter a plane to collect them from the East Wallabi Island airfield. It was also time to collect some more supplies for the MV Researcher, so I decided to tag along to assist with buying the supplies needed to feed the volunteers and the crews of the two boats, instead of transferring to the MV Researcher to remain in the area.

Arriving shortly before noon at the main yacht harbour in Geraldton, I said goodbye to my family, before preparing for a major shopping trip for supplies, even though a lot of it had already been arranged by Trent and Alex. Joshua announced that he wanted to treat me to lunch out while we are on the mainland, and shortly after we entered a restaurant and much to my shock, we went directly to a table where an older man was seated.

“Grandfather, may I introduce my good friend and fellow university classmate, Mr Kipling Ashburton, Kip, this is my grandfather, Mr Hamysh Lloyd”, Joshua said as he made the introductions. I was still in shock as the man stood and shook my hand before he asked us to take a seat.

“I apologise sir, but Joshua sprung this on me as a surprise, I had no idea that I would be meeting you today,” I said, and Joshua’s grandfather just chuckled at this, “Yes, he has a tendency of doing that, it runs in the family,” Mr Lloyd replied, as I looked at a smiling Joshua.

Over lunch, Joshua briefed his grandfather on how things are progressing with the cleanup on the islands, and I was asked a number of questions in regards to my view on the importance of keeping the Abrolhos Islands protected as best as possible.

Over an hour later as we completed our meal, which Mr Lloyd insisted on paying for, we headed outside and walked to the nearby beachfront, less than a block away. “I will be spending a little time with you both in the area, Captain James is aware of my pending arrival, but I have alternative accommodations arranged during my stay, as I wanted to see first hand what the area is like,” Mr Lloyd announced to us.

“That is wonderful news Grandfather, I look forward to being your guide during your stay, and I am presuming that one of the vessels is in the region?” Joshua said in reply, “Yes Joshua, she came down the West coast from Darwin over the past week, and is close by,” Mr Lloyd replied grinning, which had me guessing what he was talking about, as we saw him remove a two-way radio from his pocket.

“Lloyd to Captain, you can make your appearance now please, over,” he said into the radio, and much to my shock none other than a giant Research Submarine, appeared out of the water, not more than 150-metres away from the beach. “Holy Submarines, I have read so much about her, but up close she is bloody enormous,” I stated, as the submarine rose out of the water, and locals on or near the beach gathered to look at the unexpected arrival.

“She is indeed an incredible vessel, Kip, this is the original research submarine Aquaria, as it states on the bridge deck hull, carrying a permanent crew of 220 and capable of travelling all over the worlds oceans and seas,” Joshua stated to me.

“If you like, you can both travel back to the Abrolhos Islands with us, so you can have aq good look around inside,” Mr Lloyd said to me, “Sir, I would be delighted to accept your offer, and accept,” I replied, as we saw a dingy approaching from the direction of the submarine. “Don’t worry about the Silver Cloud, they already know about this, I spoke to Captain Amanda just before you both entered the restaurant,” Mr Lloyd said as we followed him onto the beach towards the now beached dingy.

When we boarded the research submarine, I was still shocked that I was getting the rare privilege to be able to see inside this enormous submarine. “Welcome on board, we are currently on deck three, and there are a total of nine decks, of which many of them are restricted access unless you have an escort.

Today is your lucky day, security officer Benjamin here will present you with an access card, so you can go to the general areas on the vessel, which is decks three to six,” Joshua explained, as we were presented with two access cards, of which mine had a blue stripe on the bottom, while Joshua’s has an orange stripe.

I followed Joshua, as we went through a large foyer and down a corridor, and into a small room, where there are two elevators. “In our short walk, we have passed the main cargo hold and the library. Just beyond here is the shopping mall, and one of the larger observation lounges,” Joshua announced as we entered one elevator and went upwards, to the next level.

“We are now on deck two, which is the location of the main bridge, junior officers quarters, and senior officer’s offices, we are permitted to have a quick look at the bridge, before we continue the tour. The level above us has the senior officers quarters and the observation bridge, and the executive conference room,” Joshua explained as we exited the elevator, and headed forward, through an odd-shaped passageway, and through two more doors.

“Joshua Alliston and guest, Mr Kipling Ashburton, requesting permission to visit the bridge,” Joshua said into an intercom, “Permission granted,” came a response that had Joshua looked surprised. “I was not expecting this but that was my step-father Daniel Atkins, who must be in command of the Aquaria,” Joshua explained.

Just over an hour later, after having been shown seven of the nine decks of the submarine, we returned to the executive observation lounge on deck six, where we relaxed, and I was informed that it would take us just over 1 ½ hour’s to reach the Abrolhos Islands, which is less than half an hour away, which surprised me a lot at how fast we would be getting there.