Ocean Research - 15. IOR Chapter 15

I estimated that I had about two maybe three days before the cargo ship arrives, with the brand-new Ocean City, which Mr Lloyd had named Abrolhos Ocean City, and I could hardly wait to see the look on Joshua’s face when he learns about this.

Mr Lloyd had told me before he left Perth, that he is in regular contact with the ship’s captain, and when the cargo ship is getting close then he would call Joshua to spring he surprise on him, and I have an A3 sized copy of the layout plans with me to show him, after his grandfather tells Joshua about it.

When we arrived at the yacht, I didn’t see any sign of the new Swath Catamaran, but as I walked over to the other side of the Silver Cloud it was moored alongside the catamaran, and it looked great, as I climbed on board to have a good look around.

As Joshua suggested the two cabins had been removed to make way for another twelve seats, all facing forward, without a table, the crew mess and kiosk had also had some changes, with it been totally stripped, and another six seats added, and one long kitchen area taking up the full width at the front of inside, but only a third the size in depth.

This now made the Swath Cat, which has been named Silver Storm, able to carry a total of 30 passengers with the single bathroom opposite the stairs remaining unchanged. On the deck outside, there are two large 3 by 3-metre storage crates, for storing cargo in, and along the outside back wall of the main deck cabin there is a number of cupboards, and above them storage racks for holding 6 scuba tanks.

When I climbed up to the bridge, I saw an addition at the back, which is another bathroom for the crew, while the 4 by 2 metre outside deck now having a roof over it, and half high walls, to provide some extra sheltered space, with a table and seating for four installed along the back wall.

Let’s take it out for a spin, I know you want to see how she operates, and we definitely want to see what it is like,” Nathan comment, with James and Joshua nodding their heads in agreement.
“Well I shouldn’t until I have the results of the exams, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go for a short cruise,” I responded, “I want to tag along too, that way you won’t get into any trouble, as you will be acting as my 1^st officer,” Captain Amanda said as she jumped on board.

“Release the mooring ropes please and let’s get going,” I called out, as I returned into the bridge, and I spent a few moments going over the instruments before getting it started. With three chairs on the bridge, I took the centre one, and after letting the engine warm up a little, I guided the Silver Storm away from the Silver Cloud and headed south-east towards Morley Island, as I wanted to take a look at the area that may be suitable for the Ocean City.

“Where are we heading?” Captain Amanda asked me as she took the seat to my right, and soon after Joshua took the remaining seat. “I thought we would head out to that little sheltered bay north of Morley Island,” I replied casually. “Any reason for going there?” Joshua asked me, looking suspiciously at me.

“No, it is just an area that I would like to do a short dive, and now is an ideal time, since we have the captain on board, and we have no urgent business to deal with at the moment,” I replied. “I like your thinking, and I may join you,” James said, as he came up the stairs to the bridge.

After just fifteen minutes of travelling, we arrived at Morley Island, and I had Joshua set the anchors, about 250 metres from the island, before shutting off the engine. James and I spent ten minutes preparing for the short dive, before entering the water, with Captain Amanda setting up the dive flag on the roof of the bridge.

The instruments on the bridge gave an estimated depth of 10 metres, but I wanted to check that with the depth gauge that is part of the scuba gear, to be certain, and that there is a big enough area at that depth to fit the Ocean City into place. With a sandy bottom, we covered a large area around where the boat is anchored, with just a small raised rocky coral that is about 50 metres in diameter in the area but that would not be a problem.

There was a huge amount of fish in the area, as well as playful New Zealand Seals and Australian Sea Lions, who swam around us for most of the time we were underwater.

Once I was satisfied with the are being suitable, we slowly headed back to the surface, stopping once for about five minutes to allow for proper decompression. I knew that we would need to set up some marker buoys to mark a safe passage from Morley Island, past a number of rocky coral outcrops and out to sea, just north of Campbell Island, and south of Gibson and Serventy Islands.

Once back at the barge just off Rat Island, I organised for the refilling of the two scuba tanks, before going to have a shower and change into some fresh clothes. Once in my office, I checked for emails, and fond two waiting for me, one from Mr Lloyd, letting me know that the ship was now two days away, with an ETA of 1400 hours, and the other from the Director of the Department of Fisheries, asking if any action needs to be taken to ensure the safe passage of the cargo ship that is delivering the special package.

I picked up my phone and dialled the phone number that was listed at the bottom of the email. “This is Kipling Alliston wishing to speak to the Director please,” I said when the call was answered, “Yes sir, I was instructed to put you directly through, if you called,” came the reply.

“Sir, this is Kip Alliston speaking, I have just read your email, and just by chance, your Fisheries officer – James and I have just completed a scuba dive today, of the area of where the special package will be delivered to.

Monitoring the radar to the location, I could see a number of rocky coral areas that would be best to be marked with buoys, so mark a safe passageway,” I said when I was connected to the Director.

“That is what I like to hear. I have already checked and our office in Geraldton, already has a set of twelve marker buoys, that are weighted down by 2-tonne weights, I will have a barge deliver them to you first thing tomorrow,” the director responded. “Very good sir, have them call me when they are approaching the Easter Group of islands, and I will meet them at the north end of Serventy Island,” I said.

A few minutes after the call, there was a knock on my office door, and I called out to enter, with James being the one knocking. “I just got this email from my boss in Perth ordering to come and speak to you as soon as possible,” James said to me, and I chuckled at this.

“Fast on his fingers on the keyboard, your boss is, I was just speaking to him on the phone a few minutes ago,” I replied, as I indicated for him to sit. After our little scuba trip today, I found an email waiting for me from your boss, asking if there was a suitable shipping passageway to a safe anchorage area within the Easter Group of islands, and would they need marking with buoys, and I informed him there was such an area,” I said to James.

“Ok, any idea what it is all about?” James asked, “I can’t say just yet, but you will know fairly soon, anyway, he is arranging for the Geraldton Fisheries office to send over some buoys tomorrow, so we will need to start setting them out as soon as they arrive,” I replied. “Awesome, another field trip out in our new toy,” James said smiling, which made me laugh.

“Not a toy, but yes we will be going out and meeting the barge and assisting with placing the buoys. For the next few days keep this info to yourself, as there is something big about to happen to this area,” I said, “Ok, not a problem, you’re the research chief, so I will take your lead with this,” James said before standing and leaving.

I went in search of Captain Amanda, to let her know that James and I needed to go out in the Silver Storm tomorrow, for a specific job for Fisheries, and she said that she would send Olivia out with us this time, as she was disappointed at missing out today,” Amanda announced. “Not a problem, and thanks,” I replied before heading back to my office.

Studying the navigation maps for the Easter Group islands, the area just north of a large reef between the small islands of Shearwater and Crake, is a large open 6.5 square kilometre area, with no hidden rocky reefs, which would be an ideal safe anchorage spot, which I named Shearwater Anchorage.

A dinner time, I announce to everyone present, that Olivia, James and I are heading out in the morning to map out a safe anchorage area and entry passage in the centre of the Easter Group of islands, at the request of the Director of Fisheries, and Nathan said he would remain on the barge, as he had some office work to do, and Joshua elected to stay on board the Silver Cloud.

The following day, we set off at 10 am, after been informed earlier that the barge would be arriving at 11 am, at the suggested meeting location, and there was a barge crew of two plus two additional Fisheries staff, who wanted to come out and check out the islands.

With the additional staff, we had the job of marking a channel and an anchorage area completed by 4 pm, and we set off back to Rat Island, with the supply barge following, as it would be staying overnight, before heading back to the mainland in the morning. Pleased that we now had a safe marked passageway, all we had to do now was wait for the arrival of the large package.

Just before dinner, I received a call from Mr Lloyd, informing me that the ship was being delayed by at least one day due to a storm front approaching, so it would have to ride out the storm before it attempts to approach the islands. He also informed me that he would be calling me, to have a video conference with everyone on the island, with the call set for tomorrow at 3 pm our time.

With the main saloon on the Southern Cloud already having Video conference equipment, it would be just a matter of turning on the cameras, and microphones and connecting the call. The next morning after seeing off the crew and passengers on the barge, as they set off back to the mainland, Joshua and I headed over to Rat Island, to check the air terminal and give everything a clean, as it is needed to be done every two days, with the number of regular light aircraft arrivals made six days a week.

When we returned to the Silver Cloud just before lunch time, I went to check my emails and there was one there waiting for me, informing me that I had done very well in the exams, and as such I had graduated and was now officially a master for vessels up to 35 metres in length.

To celebrate, I headed to the Silver Storm, started it up and while idling, I quickly raced down to the main deck to release the mooring ropes, before heading out and completed two laps of Rat Island, before returning to the barge, where Joshua, Amanda and Olivia were waiting, and assisted with mooring the Silver Storm for me.

When I arrived on the main deck, with a big smile on my face, they all laughed. “So that was your celebration laps for getting your qualifications?” Amanda asked and I just nodded my head yes, before being swamped with congratulations from my friends.

At 2.45 pm, I walked over to the barge, where James and Nathan were hard at work, and I asked them to join me for an immediate staff and crew meeting in the main saloon of the Silver Cloud. Once back on the Catamaran, I headed for the nearest internal phone, and pressed intercom.

“Now hear this, all staff and crew please report to the main saloon immediately for a meeting, that is all,” I announced, before heading upstairs to my office. “What is all this about?” Joshua asked me as he stepped out of the sky lounge, as I approached my office.

“You will find out shortly my friend, I will be down there in a moment,” I replied, as I stepped into the office and grabbed the cardboard tube that contains the plans for Ocean City. When I returned to the main saloon all of the ship crew, the two government rangers, and Joshua were present, as I grabbed the remote for the Video conference gear and turned it on, then lowered the screen.

As I did this everyone sat down facing towards the screen, and I keyed in the code to connect up with Mr Lloyd’s office on Wake Island, and his face soon came up on the screen. “Good afternoon to you all, firstly I want to say to my grandson that what you said to your friend a few weeks ago about the funny feeling in your stomach, you are spot on, with your prediction, as today is that day,” Mr Lloyd announced.

I just smiled at this comment, as Joshua frowned at me. “Don’t be angry with your friend Joshua, he was just going by my orders, and I see Kip that you have the tube containing the information, you won’t need it as I have set up an information slide with everything on it.

Now to the announcement, tomorrow was to be the day that a special package arrives at the Abrolhos Islands, but as you have probably gathered already, there is a storm on the way, so the ship is being delayed by at least one day, as it cannot approach in rough weather.

As you know, I have been working with the Western Australian government to clean up the damaged caused by the cyclone, and to come up with a temporary solution for accommodating the crews of up to 32 fishing vessels. What most of you don’t know is that for the past six years my company has been working on an even bigger project than building the two biggest research submarines ever.

This project was originally destined for another location, but since there is a more urgent need for it here, I have decided to give it a trial for a few years. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Abrolhos Ocean City,” Mr Lloyd announced, as a sketch of what the city looks like came onto the screen and began rotating, to show all around it, with the fishing boat bays, and a sketch of the Silver Cloud and Silver Storm moored in their bays.

“Hold smokes, it is huge!” Joshua exclaimed in surprise, “That she is, standing at 25 metres high, with six levels, and a diameter of 100 metres, this building made nearly entirely of titanium, will have the bottom two and a third of the third level underwater. Consisting of eleven octagonal shapes joined together, it creates a large sheltered central area.

She will have an executive team of five people, of which four are in this room now, Joshua as Administrator, Kip as Deputy Administrator and Chief Research Officer, Nathan as Parks & Wildlife Officer and James as Fisheries Officer, the last person will be the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Reynold Armstrong, who will be joining you in about a week.

The city will have a total of 50 permanent staff, with the 18 senior operations staff arriving next week, and the remaining 26 staff will arrive by air in stages, but we have accommodation for a further 7 more operations staff and 8 more general staff.

At the moment only the senior operations staff have been employed with the interview and selection process for the rest of the staff to happen soon. For the seasonal fishermen, they have an entire level for their accommodation of 32 single and 32 double suites, and for hotel guest we have 4 VIP Suites on level one and 52 double suites and 6 family suites, all located on the underwater levels.