Ocean Research - 8. IOR Chapter 8

“How many crew do you have onboard currently Captain?” I asked, “Just four at the moment, Olivia who is also my life partner, and we share my cabin around the corner, and then there is our chef Trent and his partner Alex, whose our chief steward, and they occupy the officer’s cabin and we managed to get by with us four and three casual crew for the trip from the Med to here, with the casual crew leaving us a few days ago,” Captain Amanda replied.

“That is all we need for now anyway, so it is perfect, I will move into the owner’s suite, and we will make a few changes and put Kipling into what was the gym, once we have made some changes to it, including taking out that storage locker, to give him some more room, and we will make the sky lounge our private lounge,” Joshua announced, which surprised me a little.

“So, what are your orders, Mr Alliston?” Captain Amanda asked, and I saw Joshua think about this for a short while. “I will go and find a suitable ship’s carpentry team to do the work I needed to the gymnasium area, you will remain here for now, until that work is completed. Meantime, Kip and I have some work to do on the MV Researcher, as we have a new crew to get into shape, and supplies to be brought on board before the arrival of the volunteers tomorrow afternoon at 1430 hours, “Joshua replied.

“Thank you for the tour and briefing, we will see you again before we leave to go out to the Abrolhos Island, and again when you sail out to us, when the work is done,” I said as we left the bridge and headed downstairs to the main deck and back onto the harbour.

Back onboard the Researcher, we headed to the sundeck lounge to relax for a short while, and to discuss things about moving over to the Silver Cloud. “Karen and Nicholas have organised a local ship with two cranes, to come out to the islands to assist with the clean-up. They have a former cray boat, that they will bring with them, that will have two industrial bins on the deck, to collect all of the ruined huts, and transport it back to cargo ship and once it is full it will head for the mainland for disposal,”Joshua informed me.

“That sounds good, will the boat be able to get close to the islands that will be cleaned up?” I asked, “We will use the existing main jetties which have escaped any major damage, so we will collect all the remains, and put them in wheelbarrows, and take them to the boat to unload it into the bins. We will be taking four industrial bins with us, as the helicopter is no longer needed,” Joshua replied.

“Sounds like it is all organised, all we need now is the volunteers and we are ready to go,” I responded, and Joshua nodded his head yes. A few minutes later the crew started to walk into the lounge and looking at my watch, I saw that two hours have passed very quickly.

When Captain James entered, everyone stood up, and Adam, Patricia, Andrea, Natalie and Luke followed him in. “Good afternoon, my name is Captain James, this is my 1^st Officer Adam, most of you have already met 2^nd Officer Kipling, and this is Patricia my Chief Engineer, Luke our Bosun, Chief Steward Natalie and Chef Andrea.

This job is not what you may be used to on chartered yachts, as we are working on a conservation project in the Abrolhos Islands, west-north-west of here, and it will take us 4 ½ hours to get there tomorrow after we have collected our paying volunteers. Your jobs for the next month will be to provide a good standard of service, but you will not be required to provide a top service like you would for high paying guests.

The ship’s owner, who is here today, Mr Joshua Alliston and his marine research partner, and they will be on board for some of the time, both of them are marine research scientists, who are working closely with the state’s Parks and wildlife, to clean up the devastation caused by the recent cyclone.

You will have ample time to explore the islands as well as snorkelling and swimming, as this ship will be based out there for the next month with a short trip back to the mainland halfway through that time. Abrolhos Island is an A-class marine reserve, so you must abide by all Parks and Wildlife regulations.

Apart from the volunteers, we will also have two Parks and Wildlife rangers with us, to monitor and assist with this clean-up project, and if I receive any reports from the rangers, that you are breaking any marine reserve rules, then you will instantly find yourself without a job, and soon be on your way back to the mainland and on a plane home.

You have had plenty of time to get familiar with the yacht, so shortly we will have provisions arriving, so everyone will need to pitch in to get the provisions brought on board and stored away. At 1800 hours, you are free to go and look around Geraldton, go to a restaurant for dinner or check out a pub or two. Be aware that the owner will not allow any unofficial visitors on board this ship, so don’t try sneaking someone onboard just for some overnight fun, as you will soon find yourself without a job.

Work begins at 0800 tomorrow morning, so I suggest that you return reasonably early, so you can get a good night’s rest, that is all thank you,” the Captain said. “Provisions have just arrived, Deck and Steward crew to the aft main deck,” Luke announced, and the room was soon mostly empty, with just James, Adam, Joshua and myself remaining.

“The volunteers arrive in Geraldton at 1430 hours tomorrow, can we be leaving no later than 1500 hours?” Joshua asked the Captain. “Yes, that is not a problem, but we will be approaching the Abrolhos Islands after dark, so we will have to take the last part of the journey very slow.

“How about just going to Turtle Bay on the north-east side of East Wallabi Island, that way, you won’t have to worry about any reefs until morning,” Karen suggested, as she and Nicholas walked into the room. “Excellent idea, we will do just that, the Captain replied.

“What time are we loading up the industrial bins, sir?” Adam asked, “they should be delivered at 09 00 hrs, so we can lift them onto the helipad and secure them down, as soon as they arrive,” the captain replied. Before heading off to go and get some sleep, the Captain stopped me so he could speak to me.

“Kip, keep a close eye on the crew when they return, if there are any attempts to sneak any unauthorised people onboard, I want to know about it right away, no matter what the hour,” he said to me quietly, “Yes sir, understood,” I replied with a nod of my head before leaving.

I began my night watch shift as usual, and I was informed at the changeover, that only the permanent crew had returned so far, so there is still seven crew out and about in Geraldton somewhere.

At 0130 hours, I was surprised to see Joshua walk onto the bridge, holding two cups of tea. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I would bring you up a drink,” Joshua commented as he handed over a cup to me. “Thanks, mate, much appreciated, these night shifts can get quite boring sometimes,” I stated just as I saw movement on the harbour.

“Can you stay here and watch, while I go and make sure no crew try to sneak anyone onboard,” I asked Joshua, “Not a problem, go for it,” Joshua replied, and I quickly made my way down two levels to the boat deck, and towards the aft, so I could watch the crew from above, as they board the ship.

Sadly, I was right in expecting at least one new crew member would try to smuggle onboard an unauthorised person, and as he and the young lady that he had his arms around, stepped onto the bottom step, I spoke up, now that I could see who it was.

“The third deckhand, you will report to me immediately in the sundeck lounge on the level that I am standing on now, and say goodnight to your lady friend,” I said out loud, as the other crew members were approaching. “Oh shit, I am busted, you better go, sweetness, thanks for an awesome night out, maybe we will catch up soon,” I heard the deckhand say to the young lady, and she stepped off the ship and walked back the way she came.

I was about to turn and head inside when I spotted another crew member say goodnight to his lady companion, and I waited until I could see who it was, disappointed to see that it was Judd, the Canadian Lead Deckhand. “Judd report to me in the sundeck lounge immediately,” I said to him before heading inside, where I picked up the internal phone and pressed the number for the Captain.

“Sorry to wake you sir, Kipling here, I have just stopped Patrick bringing onboard a lady friend, just as they stepped on board, and Judd said goodnight to his lady friend as soon as he saw that Patrick had been caught, I have summoned them both to the Sundeck lounge, oh and Mr Alliston is minding the post while I am down here,” I reported, when the Captain answered his phone.

“Be right there,” the Captain replied before the phone disconnected. I sat back down on the lounge and waited for the two crewmen to appear. Moments after they did, they started fidgeting with nervousness, as the Captain arrived, and I stood up. “Captain on Deck,” I said, and both crewmen snapped to attention.

“Nothing said yet sir, they arrived moments before you,” I said softly, and the Captain nodded his head, before taking a few steps forward so he was just half a metre away from both junior crews, and looked at each one before stepping back and looking back at me.

“I wish it was back in the old days Mr Ashburton, I think 20 lashings and walking the plank would have been the best punishment for disobeying a direct order, don’t you think?” the Captain said to me with a big grin and a wink, then changing to a straight face before turning around, just missing the horror looks the two men had on their faces just moments ago.

“We could always wait until we get out to the Abrolhos Islands, I hear that the ghosts of the Dutch sailors who mutinied from the ship Batavia, still haunt the place, sir,” I replied, which had the Captain laughing, and both men went ghost white, “Now that is an excellent idea, I heard they found a mass grave there recently too,” the Captain responded, as he took a bigger step forward so he was only centimetres from the two crewmen.

“You were clearly warned this afternoon, not to even try to attempt to smuggle any unauthorised people on board, yet you were both caught trying or attempting to try… So, let me ask you this gentleman, what do you think I should do with you,” the captain asked the two men, and there was a long period of silence.

“Sir, if I was you, I would not hesitate to sack us and send us home, but I ask please sir, that you give us this one and only last chance, and I will make sure that you will not regret it,” Judd said, and the captain looked back at me, “I still think we should leave it to Captain Blue Beard sir, and have the pirate cut off their willies with a blunt sword, and feed them to the sharks,” I said to him, which brought another look of shock from the two men as they covered their groin region.

“Get to bed the both of you, and don’t let me regret letting you stay,” the Captain said, “Oh and gentlemen, you will both report to me at 0600 hours sharp, on the aft main deck for cleaning duties. Dismissed,” I added.

Both crewmen dashed out of the room, and as soon as they had gone both the Captain and I burst out laughing, “oh you are good Mr Ashburton, I wouldn’t want to cross you,” the Captain said when he calmed down a little.

“That is just the start of it sir, tomorrow morning, I plan to have fish blood and guts scattered all over the deck, ready for them to clean it up,” I replied with a huge grin, “Goodnight Mr Ashburton,” the Captain said as he left the lounge chuckling all the way.

“What was all the laughter that I heard going on, the Captain seemed to be very happy when he went through to his cabin?” Joshua asked me when I entered the bridge, “I caught two junior crewmen attempting to smuggle some lady friends onboard, and we were having a bit of a laugh at their expense,” I commented casually, which has Joshua chuckling.

“I read recently of a mass grave, found on the Abrolhos Islands, dating back to the days of the Batavia shipwreck and the mutiny, and I sort of exaggerated a little that there are still ghosts on the island, and suggested to the captain to let the ghosts handle these two crewmen,” I said, which made Joshua laugh.

“You should have seen their faces, they were literally scared shitless,” I added. “Tell them the rest of its Mr Ashburton,” the captain said from his cabin door. “There is more, oh please tell me,” Joshua begged. “Well, the captain stated that they had been clearly warned and asked them what he should do with them.

Judd the lead deckhand stated that if he was in the captain’s shoes that they would be fired and sent home, and at that point the Captain turned to look at me, and well I got kind of carried away…” I said. “Go on, I want to hear all of it,” Joshua asked.

“I suggested to the captain that we leave it to Captain Blue Beard, and have the pirate cut off their willies with a blunt sword, and feed them to the sharks, which had them covering their groins quick smart, before the Captain ordered them to bed, but I managed to let them know they are to report to me at 6 am for cleaning duties,” I informed my friend.

“And the rest Mr Ashburton,” the captain said to me. “After they headed for their cabins, the captain complimented me on my quick thinking, and I said that it was just the start of it and that I plan to have plenty of fish blood and guts covering the helipad, which they will have to remove every bit of it before the industrial bins arrive at 0900 hours,” I informed Joshua who was now laughing even louder than the captain.

“Where may I ask are you going to get the blood and guts from? And how much of it?” Joshua asked when he had calmed down, I was hoping that you or the captain would take over my watch shift at 0500, so I can go down to the fisheries co-op, to buy some, and I was thinking about 25 kilos should be enough,” I replied.

“I will volunteer to take over at 0500, goodnight the both of you,” the captain said before closing the door to his cabin, I better get to bed too, enjoy the rest of your shift, and please join me for breakfast, in the sundeck lounge at 0700,” Joshua said to me, before leaving the bridge.

I had no problems finding a plentiful supply of fish offal, and when asked what I needed it for, I soon had the seller laughing loudly after telling him what had happened just 4 hours earlier, and he wished me good luck as I headed back to the ship.

I had changed into some work clothes, from the station, which I had with me, and with a pair of wellies on, I started the process of scattering all of the fish blood and guts all over the helipad deck. When I finished, I had time for a quick shower and to get dressed in my uniform again, before heading to the aft main deck, with the two crewmen looking very tired and still half asleep.

“I hope you have plenty of energy, as you will need it, go up to the helipad, which is on the owners deck, you will find what you need for cleaning just inside the door that leads out to the helideck, oh and it needs to be completed before 0900, when the deck will be used for supplies for the trip to the islands,” I said to Judd and Patrick.

“Yes sir, we will get right onto it,” Judd replied enthusiastically, and after a nudge in his side, Patrick agreed, as I watched them head off to work, as as the internal phone rang, so I headed inside to answer it. “Mr Ashburton, you may want to look at who is approaching the ship,” the Captain said to me, and I turned around, to see the shock of my life.