Ocean Research - 9. IOR Chapter 9

The fisherman who had sold me the fish offal earlier had arrived in his old fishing gear, and his beard was now bright blue, “This could be fun sir, care to join me on the helideck,” I responded, “I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” the captain replied, as he broke into laughter.

“The second officer I see, permission to come on board, sir,” the gentleman said when he arrived at the aft of the ship. “Permission granted Captain Blue Beard, my captain saw you arriving and will join us on the helideck, where the two crewmen should be at work,” I responded, as the gentleman stepped onboard and climbed the stairs, where I shook his hand.

“This way please sir, this is indeed a treat to have you come here, please join us for breakfast once the business has concluded, and after that I will give you a full tour,” I said. “The name is Isaac, and yes I would like to enjoy a fancy breakfast and a ships tour thank you,” the gentleman replied, as I led the way through to the main stairs and up to decks to the owner’s deck.

“Holy shit” a voice exclaimed before the door slammed shut, and I just burst out laughing, “I think you just scared the life out of my good friend and the ship’s owner,” I said to Isaac, who started to laugh as well. “I will stay indoors and watch it all on the ship’s monitoring system, just through there you will find them,” I said to Isaac as we approached the door to outside. Once Isaac was outside, I dashed to Joshua’s cabin and quickly knocked before entering.

“That scared the crap out of me, who is he?” Joshua said to me as I closed the suite door, “Turn on your tv and switch it to the monitoring channel,” I instructed Joshua, as I sat down on the lounge, and the television came to life and we soon had it on the correct channel and the correct camera, with the audio, turned on.

“Get your backs into it, you lazy swabs, scrub those decks until it is shining, or I will feed you to the sharks,” we heard Isaac say, and we were now laughing uncontrollably at what we were watching, with Isaac pacing backwards and forwards on the deck, and on the edge of the screen we could see the captain watching it all happen.

When the phone rang, I reluctantly stood up to answer it, “Is that you Mr Ashburton? This is Bosun Luke speaking, just wondering what that god-awful smell is, coming from somewhere on the ship,” he asked, “I suggest you look at the security monitoring screen and switch it to the Helideck and you will get your answer,” I replied.

“What the hell? Does the captain know about this?” Luke asked me when he saw the mess on the helideck, and two of the crew on their hands and knees and a man with a blue beard ordering them to work. “Look at the screen a little closer,” I responded.

“Oh wow, is that why I heard a lot of laughter in the early hours of this morning?” Luke asked, “Yes, that was the captain and myself, and the smelly mess on deck is a result of me doing some early morning shopping for some fish offal, and Captain Blue Beard is the gentleman who sold it to me, and who arrived unannounced to join in on the prank,” I explained.

“What did they do to earn such an awful punishment?” Luke asked. “Both of them attempted to smuggle their lady friends onboard at 0130 hours this morning, and I got a little carried away with threats from ghosts of the Dutch mutiny ship, the Batavia and Captain Blue Beard,” I replied.

“Oh, that is so good, at least they now know not to go against any orders,” Luke said to me, “Maybe you can pass that on to the rest of the crew when they get up. Can you take over supervising Patrick and Judd, as I think our Blue Bearded friend has had enough of this charade,” I suggested?

“Yes sir, I will be there very shortly,” Luke replied, and he ended the call. “By the way, I have invited our friend to join us for breakfast,” I informed Joshua, “Ok see you in the Sundeck lounge in ten minutes,” Joshua replied, and I headed out of his suite to go and get our visitor.

I stood next to the captain for a few minutes as we watched Isaac continue to bark orders at the two crewmen, who I am sure were now fearing for their life. When I caught Isaacs attention, I indicated for him to come to us. “Right your lazy landlubbers, you keep working on cleaning up this deck, I want it spotless by the time I get back,” we heard Isaac say before he headed in our direction, and just after Luke had arrived, just in time to heard Isaac’s orders.

“Isaac, this is the ship’s Captain-James, and the Bosun-Luke,” I said making the introductions and they shook hands before Luke excused himself and headed for the helideck. “You heard Captain Blue Beard, get scrubbing, this has to be all done by 0900 hours today,” Luke said keeping up the charade.

“We are having breakfast in the sundeck lounge if you care to join us, Captain,” I said to James, “I will be there and thank you for the entertainment, this is one thing that will stay with me for a very long time,” the Captain replied, as he faces Isaac. In the sundeck lounge, I turned on the television and changed the channel so we can keep track of what is happening one deck up, and directly above us before I sat down on the lounge.

Would I be able to get a place to clean up a bit, as I seem to have absorbed some of that smell,” Issac said to me, “Yes of course you can, I should have thought of that earlier,” I replied, as I led Isaac back upstairs and into the vacant cabin opposite mine. There are fresh towels in the cupboard and take your time, I will see if I can find some clothes that will fit you,” I said as Isaac entered the cabin and whistled.

“Wow, this is very comfy, I am scared to ruin any of it,” Isaac said to me, “Go ahead, I will be in the lounge when you are done, as I stepped out and closed the cabin door. I went into my cabin and found some newish station work clothes that are still in good condition, as I gathered them up and crossed the hallway.

I knocked and called out but got no answer, so I slowly opened the door and heard the shower running, so I placed the clothes on the bed, before leaving, before I went back down to the lounge, where Captain James and Joshua were seated. “Isaac is just having a shower in the spare cabin, to get rid of some of the smell, he will be down shortly” I explained, as I sat down.

“Mr Alliston was telling me that he received a shock of his life this morning, when he saw a strange man with a blue beard in the passageway outside his suite,” Captain James said to me smiling broadly, “Yes, I hadn’t managed to let him know before then, so when he saw Isaac, he swore and slammed the suite door shut,” I responded.

“While I am thinking about it, Kip I was not able to get any suitable ship carpenters in Geraldton, so I decided that we will skip that idea for now, and you can choose a guest cabin to live in when we are on board the Silver Cloud, ” Joshua said to me. “That is fine with me mate, I will take the big one at the front, on the upper deck,” I replied smiling.

“Eh? Oh no, you won’t that is my suite, you cheeky sod. Yours is one of the guest cabins on the main deck,” Joshua replied. “Wait, you own that catamaran too?” Captain James asked surprised, “Yes, he does, as he is in deep trouble with his grandfather for buying this monstrosity, and ordered for him to buy something a lot smaller to live and travel about on,” I responded.

“Does that mean you are going to sell this ship, after such a short while?” Captain James asked, “I hope not, I plan to twist my grandfather’s arm and let me keep it and maybe use it for cruises up and down the west coast, to help pay for itself,” Joshua replied. “That sounds like an excellent idea,” I said in response, “and it will keep me and the crew very busy if it works well,” the Captain added.

“Since there is no need to delay the Silver Cloud, once they are stocked up with provisions, they can follow us out to the Abrolhos Islands, I am not sure where to anchor her at the moment, but somewhere where the seas are not too rough,” Joshua stated.

“I recommend between the two big islands, East and West Wallabi Islands, and just north of Seagull Island, as you will be protected by the worst of the weather at that location, except when you get a rare northerly wind,” the Captain recommended. “I will pass that information onto the Captain of the Silver Cloud, thanks,” Joshua replied.

We had an enjoyable breakfast with our guest, who is a retired cray fisherman, that now works part-time at the fishing co-operative, and he had spent many years living and working on the Abrolhos Islands, before deciding to remain based on the mainland.

Shortly after 0800 hours, Luke appeared and reported that the deck was now cleaned of fish offal, and it has been scrubbed and disinfected to rid of any lingering smells. Captain James thanked Luke for his work, and that he can take a rest till the industrial bins arrive.

I asked to be excused for a few hours, as I needed to do some shopping before we set off for the islands, and the captain granted me the time off, and Joshua announced that he would come with me. After I had changed into casuals, we left the ship, and returned to the Silver Cloud, where Joshua informed the Captain of the planned changes, and suggested that she order provisions for a total of two weeks, with him and me living on the Silver Cloud when it arrives, and to prepare to follow us out to the islands in the morning.

“I don’t know what you planned for shopping, but may I suggest that we buy some things to personalise our cabins, maybe some pictures, a few nick nacks, some Music CD’s and DVD’s and so forth, and I will pay for it,” Joshua said to me as we headed down to the main deck.

I still think I will be more comfortable in the forward cabin on the upper deck,” I commented, “Don’t start that up again, or I will call on Captain Blue Beard to deal with you,” Joshua replied and we both burst out laughing. “Actually talking about Isaac, I have another job for him this afternoon, if he isn’t too busy,” Joshua commented, “You mean as part of the welcome committee for the volunteers?” I asked, and Joshua smiled and nodded his head.

“I like that idea, let's go and find him first,” I suggested, and so we headed off the Silver Cloud and hailed a cab. At the Fishing Co-op, we asked to speak to Isaac, and we were informed that he had knocked off for the rest of the day, as he said he had to go to the pet shop for some reason,” the young man we spoke to replied.

“Thanks for that, we will see if we can find him there,” I said, as we turned to leave, “Hey are you the guys responsible for him turning his beard bright blue today?” we were asked, and without stopping we just laughed and waved goodbye. Luckily there are only a few pet stores in Geraldton, so we soon located Isaac, and much to our surprise, he had a beautiful multi-coloured Macaw bird on his shoulder.

He was smiling broadly as he talked quietly to the bird, and as we approached, “Watch out Pirates on deck, pirates on deck” the bird squawked, which made us stop in shock. “He is a beaut eh, and only cost me a few thousand dollars, and he already has a pirate vocabulary of about 200 words,” Isaac said to us happily.

“Scrub the decks ya lazy swabs, scrub the decks,” the bird said to us, and all we could do was laugh. “I wish we had him this morning, it would have made it even more enjoyable to watch”, Joshua commented. “Indeed it would have Mr Alliston, now if you are looking for me, how can I help you?” Isaac replied.

“We are, and I would like to employ you and your macaw, for some light work, over the next four or five days, with meals and accommodation included, if you are free,” Joshua replied, “I can be, just let me know when and where, and I will be there,” Isaac answered.

“Pieces of eight, pieces of eight, walk the plank, walk the plank,” the Macaw squawked, which had us laughing again. “Did you see the swath catamaran named Silver Cloud when you came over this morning?” I asked, “Yes I did indeed, a nice yacht that one is,” Isaac answered. “Good, like that, is my floating home for the next few months, and it will be leaving Geraldton tomorrow morning at about 0900 hours, and you had better stock up on seeds and nuts for your friend,” Joshua replied.

“Riteo, we will be there, what is the destination?” Isaac asked, “The Abrolhos Islands, we are doing a job for Parks and Wildlife, cleaning up the mess after the recent cyclone,” Joshua replied. “Excellent, it has been quite a while since I was out there last, did any of the huts survive?” Issac replied, “No, every single one of them, on all the islands were destroyed, as well as most of the small jetties, only the main jetties survived mostly untouched,” I answered.

“Shame, I would have liked to have seen my old home on Bushby Island again, but that is fine, you have to expect these sort of things to happen,” Isaac said sadly.

After spending a few hours shopping we arrived back at the ship in time for a late lunch, and I out a load of my new clothes through the wash and dryer, so I have a plentiful supply of clothes while I am with Joshua, and I was just putting everything away, when Joshua knocked and entered my cabin.

“Don’t get too comfortable here, your main home will be on the Silver Cloud remember, and here have a look at this, I just received it from the family base at Wake Island.

“Joshua, you will probably see in the news tonight your time, a news item about a new project the WA State government is looking into, here is a copy of the statement from the Ministers of Fisheries and Minister of Tourism. Regards your grandfather, Hamysh”.

“The WA state government has announced today that we have secured the financial and professional support of the world’s most dedicated Marine Science Conservation and Management organisations, Lloyd Family Corporation. Already they are assisting us with the cleanup of the Abrolhos Islands which was recently devastated by the cyclone, which from initial reports, totally destroyed all fishing structures on the islands, including the majority of the landing jetties.

The corporation already has personnel on-site, who will be assisting the Parks and Wildlife - Marine branch, with the cleanup operation, involving a group of willing volunteers. As of tomorrow, the cleanup will commence, and when completed, a study will be done to consider the best options for the islands, with the Commercial Fishermen’s industry hoping that they will be permitted to continue being based on the islands, during the cray fishing season, and the tourist industry calling for allowing tourists to be able to see the islands in greater numbers.”

“They are talking about us, and it sounds like my grandfather has been busy behind the scenes with his planning again,” Joshua said after reading the email. I think we need to rethink this whole thing again before we start putting anything back on the islands, firstly when is the Cray fishing season?” I said to my friend.

“I think it is from October through to March, but don’t quote me on that, so mostly Autumn and Summer months” Joshua replied. “Well, what my new thinking is that there be a basic permanent population of about 20 people, to assist with the management and running of the islands, that consists of Parks & Wildlife, Fisheries, and basic services, like a supply store with a post office, a medical clinic, and a school.

During the cray fishing season, will be the busiest time for the island, with 92 boats as we have suggested, about 30 boats less than what is currently based on the islands, if we have a lease based accommodation service for the fishermen during that time, and during the rest of the time, it can be made available for tourists, this way it keeps everything in one location, so that other islands, can remain as bird and animal sanctuaries,” I suggested.