Doug nodded and made his way back to the cabin. Andrew went into the toilet and locked the door, then discovered he really did need to go. While he relieved himself he was able to look out through the port hole at the lights sliding past outside. Then he shuddered. ‘You are a jealous bloody fool!’ he told himself. ‘Muriel isn’t up to anything. She is just being friendly.’
Having finished relieving himself Andrew left the toilet and made his way up on deck. He was wide awake now and curious to see what the harbour looked like at night. As he stepped through the saloon door he was surprised at the strength of the wind, and at how cool it was. He was also reminded of just how confusing things can be at sea at night.
‘All those lights!’ he thought, staring at the flickering channel markers and the background lights from anchored ships and the towns on Magnetic Island. Making his way forward to the focsle he studied the lights, working out which was which and noting the lights of a small fishing boats sliding at right angles across their course to confuse things even more. After a while he had them all sorted out. By then the launch was well clear of the marina’s rock breakwaters and was starting to butt into a head sea and to pitch. A shower of cold spray sent him back to the shelter of the port side of the saloon. From there he moved aft to the well-lit dive deck.
That allowed him a clear view out on either beam and also astern at the lights of Townsville. First he looked at them, picking out Castle Hill and Mt Stuart. Then he studied the bright lights of the port. The port was separate from the marina and there were three big ships there, loading or unloading in the glare of floodlights. The ships held his attention for a while and he wished the Port of Cairns was as busy. That Townsville was much busier was obvious at a glance. The fact that three large ocean-going ships were anchored out in the bay waiting for a turn at the wharves reinforced this impression.
A revolving, flickering light in the distance caught Andrew’s eye and he puzzled over this until the answer came to him. ‘A lighthouse!’ He rarely saw them around Cairns- not that he was often at sea at night. Now he studied the pattern of the light- the timing of the flashes. ‘Must be Cape Cleveland,’ he thought, remembering the bay from having sailed around it during the holidays with the Navy Cadets.
A thin, bearded man in his fifties, wearing old grey shorts and an open-necked, short sleeve shirt, came up the aft hatchway. He stopped and looked at Andrew. “You OK lad?” he asked.
“Yes sir. Just enjoying the view,” Andrew answered, and he was.
The man introduced himself as Andy and as the skipper. He chatted to Andrew for a few minutes, confirming that the lighthouse was on Cape Cleveland. Then, apparently satisfied that Andrew was alright, he made his way forward and up to the wheelhouse.
Andrew now relaxed and began to enjoy the trip. He relished the pitching and rolling and even the occasional drops of cold spray that were flung up as the boat punched into a large wave. After satisfying himself that he knew where the life jackets and lifebuoys were Andrew looked out at the now distant lights and relaxed. He stayed there until they were abeam of Cape Cleveland and the lights of Townsville were starting to drop below the horizon. By then they were meeting larger seas and it quickly became both cold and uncomfortable.
Satisfied both with his sea legs and with the handling of the launch Andrew made his way back down to the cabin. Now the movement of the launch was so lively he had to use both hands to stop himself falling and it took picking the right moment to climb into his bunk. Once there he lay back, wedged himself securely in- and promptly dropped off to sleep.
CHAPTER 17
WHEELER REEF
When Andrew woke up he lay wondering where he was and what had woken him. Realizing he was aboard the diveboat he noted the grey light filtering through the grimy porthole. Then he registered the vessel’s motion.
‘We are rolling more than pitching,’ he deduced. ‘We have either changed direction or the wind has.’ With that he struggled into a sitting position to look out of the porthole. This took some effort because the motion of the launch was very lively- not that that worried him. He was a good sailor and trusted the feel of the launch. As he peered out at the grey half-light of dawn the launch shouldered a larger than usual wave aside. The whole vessel shuddered and a shower of spray obscured the view. Seen from that level the waves looked enormous and quite daunting but Andrew knew from experience it was an illusion.
“About two metres,” he muttered, estimating the wave height. He slid out of the bunk, noted that Doug was still asleep, then slipped quietly out of the cabin. The motion was so lively that he had to hang on tight as he climbed up to the saloon. With each wave he could feel his leg muscles working- one moment his weight pressing down hard and the next relative weightlessness.
There was only one person in the saloon; a middle-aged man who had joined them in Townsville. He looked tired and scared. Andrew gave him a cheery good morning and looked out. The sea was certainly rough, just tumbling waves as far as the eye could see. To get a better look Andrew slid open the leeward (port side) door and went outside. The wind was fresh and bracing and he breathed deeply and looked happily around, ignoring spatters of cold spray that were whipped in to his shelter.
A couple of miles ahead he saw a vessel bobbing on the waves. A few minutes observation revealed that the other vessel was anchored. ‘We must be nearly there,’ Andrew deduced.
He was right. Sub Lt Sheldon appeared from up in the wheelhouse and informed him that they were approaching Wheeler Reef. Andrew had been to the Great Barrier Reef a dozen times but found this one quite different and somehow scary. The Great Barrier Reef is actually thousands of smaller coral reefs, most formed in long lines with narrow gaps between them. But Wheeler Reef is nowhere near any other reef. It is just a pimple in the ocean, a few hundred metres across and surrounded by deep water. As a result there was very little shelter in the limited lee and the waves were unpredictable, sweeping in from either side. As well there was an obvious ocean current flowing away from the reef in a northerly direction.
This was not what Andrew had been expecting at all. At other reefs that he had visited, like Green Island, Oyster Reef or Michaelmas Cay off Cairns the boat had moved inside a shallow lagoon and anchored in calm, clear water. But here there was no lagoon at all, just a welter of foam where the waves broke over the reef.
The launch moored to one of the permanent buoys placed there by The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to protect the reef from anchoring. Andrew watched this bit of seamanship with interest, then looked across at the other vessel. It was the larger boat that had been tied up opposite them the night before.
Dave came by and, seeing Andrew’s gaze, nodded towards her. “The Trevally. Rolls like a bastard. You are lucky to be on this one.”
Andrew could see the other vessel rolling and could only agree. He turned and made his way back into the saloon, finding Carmen and Muriel among the others now gathered there. Muriel looked a bit pale and tired but she gave him a smile and came over to stand beside him.
“How are you Andrew? Sleep well?” she asked.
“Yeah, OK,” Andrew replied. He managed a grin but was puzzled. She seemed different from the night before.
Dave called loudly to the group. When he had their attention he said, “We will have breakfast, then I will give you a dive briefing on this place before your first dive. Please be ready for the briefing by seven thirty.”
A glance at the clock on the bulkhead told Andrew it was only just after six so they had plenty of time. The food was placed on the table by Dave and the Trip Director and they were told to help themselves. Andrew was hungry and quickly collected a bowl of cereal and two slices of bread, then moved to sit in the lounge section of the saloon. It was obvious that some of the others were having difficulty with the rapid rolling and rocking of the launch but that only made him feel superior, like a seasoned ‘old salt’.
To boost his morale even more Muriel came and sat next to him. As
they ate they talked, discussing the rough weather, the cold wind, and the fact that there was almost nothing of the reef visible. Now that the test was approaching Andrew felt himself becoming anxious but he concealed this and chatted happily with Muriel and Carmen.
His morale got an even bigger boost when a tired-looking and tousle-headed Doug appeared and Muriel barely acknowledged him. After a perfunctory good morning she seemed to ignore him. Then she concentrated on being friendly to Andrew.
Feeling considerably cheered he went below to go to the toilet and change. By 7:25 he was standing on the dive deck dressed in bathers and T-shirt. He then received another irritating little niggle from Muriel. She appeared wearing a white bikini, the bra cups of which were held by only a strap around her chest. The cups were made of some stiff material and barely covered more then half her breasts. They were very revealing. The fact that others must also be able to see them caused him a wave or embarrassed irritation.
She seemed oblivious to this and chatted happily until the Trip Director called for silence. Andrew stood beside Muriel and scowled at Doug, who was clearly ogling her bosom. To take his mind off this Andrew counted the people present. He was surprised to reach a total of 16 students and 6 staff, including the skipper.
The Trip Director hung up a blackboard with a sketch map of Wheeler Reef on it. He then explained the layout and the hazards. Andrew was dismayed to note that the area under the launch and astern of it (it lay head to the prevailing South East wind and facing towards the reef) was nicknamed ‘Shark Alley’. Vivid images of Max Pullford’s torn and bloody stump flooded his mind and he swallowed, doubting if he had the courage to go ahead with the diving.
The other features of interest were ‘swim throughs’ and a sand cay in the centre of the reef which appeared at low tide, and also a warning about the current. By the time the briefing was over Andrew was wondering how he could get out of the diving. So scared had he become that he was sweating and felt chilled. But pride was involved too.
‘I can’t let Muriel know I am a coward,’ he thought miserably, feeling horribly trapped. So, when they were told to suit-up for an introductory dive, he just pretended he was happy and got busy. Concentrating on the technical aspects helped. So also did helping the others. But Muriel did not help by continually bending forward and by the way she did not fully zip up her wet suit so that it squashed her breasts up and made them even more obvious.
After struggling into his wet suit and buckling on his weight belt Andrew helped Muriel into her BCD and tank. She then helped him, her hands fussing about his body to check straps and to tuck in gauges and loose ends. It was nice but also irritating. So was the proximity of her trembling breasts close to his face. He found it a real relief when she finally zipped the wet suit right up. It helped him to watch Carmen being assisted by a handsome young English tourist who clearly thought she was nice.
Then Andrew’s thoughts were moved from sex to the perils of the deep when Dave called the Advanced Course candidates into a group and briefed them for their dive. On hearing that they were going to remove face masks and also practice using alternate air sources Andrew became quite anxious. That was made worse by looking out over the tumbling waves at the sheer vastness of the sea, and then by having to enter the water by the ‘giant stride’ method. He had only done this once before, from the side of a swimming pool, and it was infinitely harder here, mainly because it was into such deep water. Not that it was the depth that worried Andrew- it was the things that might lurk in it!
Almost gulping and hyperventilating with anxiety Andrew pulled on his fins and shuffled along the narrow side deck to take his turn. With mounting trepidation he watched Carmen and Doug jump in. Then it was his go. ‘Shark Alley!’ he thought. But Muriel was close behind him and there seemed no way out. He adjusted his face mask, placed the regulator in his mouth and edged forward so that his fins were protruding over the side. Then, at a nod from Dave, he stepped forward, holding his regulator and face mask firmly as he did.
Andrew struck the water and went under, noting with half his mind how cold it was- and how wet. Amidst a flurry of bubbles he bobbed to the surface almost at once. Remembering to signal he was alright he at once inflated his BCD some more and looked around, very conscious that he was floating over Shark Alley, with his legs dangling down as attractive bait! Then Muriel jumped and his focus changed. It was borne upon him that the current was indeed strong as he was already drifting past the stern of the launch. To counter this he began finning backwards upstream. As he did he took off his face mask and spat in it, rinsed it and replaced it. Then he switched to using his snorkel and rolled onto his front to fin forwards against the current.
In doing so he had to look under the water and that scared him. By turning his head he could see the bottom of the launch. Its rudder and propellers were plain to see in the clear water. Studying them helped and he was amazed at how little of the launch seemed to be below the water. But looking down was scary. Way down underneath Andrew could just see the bottom- white sand, sloping down and shading off into murky blue-black depths. That gave him incentive to swim towards the shallower water of the reef in the wake of Carmen and Doug.
Muriel joined him and they swam together through the choppy seas until they reached a small dive buoy. By then they were a hundred metres from the launch. Carmen and Doug were waiting, clinging to the buoy. Dave joined them, then the other four on the course. By then Andrew was feeling puffed but he had no time to recover as Dave at once signalled dive and went under.
For a few seconds Andrew experienced a mild panic attack. Then he saw that he was the only one left on the surface so he lifted his arm and began releasing air from his BCD. Very gently he slipped under. For a second or so he had a waterline across his face mask- half sky and half underwater. Then he was below the surface. Suddenly it was easier. The water was crystal clear and he could see the bottom, the other divers and the coral outcrops.
Glancing around he saw that the place they were descending into was a circle of sand ringed by large coral outcrops. These sheltered them from the current and from the deep water. Andrew began to relax, noting dozens of brightly coloured small fish flitting around. He settled to a kneeling position on the sand beside Muriel, forming part of a line of divers. Dave came down in front of them and Doug and Sub Lt Sheldon behind them.
Knowing that he had to remove his mask got Andrew all flustered so he tried to think about something else. He looked around at the coral and the fish, rather than watching the others. To his own surprise, when Dave moved in front of him and indicated it was his turn, Andrew just calmly slipped the mask off, replaced it and cleared it.
‘It worked!’ he thought. ‘The training really works.’
After that the practice at using another diver’s alternate air source was easy. He and Muriel faced each other and did this. All the time her eyes seemed to sparkle and he was sure she was smiling. It made him feel much better. The testing done Dave led them on a swim, the depth averaging only 10- 12 metres. To Andrew’s surprise he really enjoyed this. First they slid out through one of the gaps in the coral and went along beside a steep wall of coral with the sandy sloped dropping away on their right into the blue depths. Here they saw a huge coral trout and dozens of smaller creatures.
Dave led them into a narrow ‘canyon’ in the coral. The width varied from only about three metres to about ten metres and the depth a fairly uniform ten. Andrew found it fascinating but gloomy, lots of shadows and the coral predominantly a brown colour. After checking remaining air they reversed course and swam back out of the twisting canyon to the open water. Once they were back in the sandy circle they then swam into a wide ‘inlet’ in the coral. Andrew liked this better as it was wider and there seemed to be more fish and prettier coral.
They swam up a side passage for about fifty metres, the passage winding and twisting but wider and nicer that the first canyon. There were some amazing coral formations along the gully and Andrew felt
much safer from possible shark attack because of the protective walls. On returning to the main ‘inlet’ they followed this for about another seventy metres, swimming into ever shallower water until the rippling waves were only a few metres overhead. This ‘swim through’ was ten to twenty metres wide and Andrew liked it best of all. He was particularly struck by a shoal of several dozen large rock cod that they encountered. The fish were each a metre long and were just swaying almost stationary in the wave motion.
‘This is what the tourists all pay to come and see,’ he thought.
That was the end of the dive. Dave led them back to the dive buoy and signalled surface. That was a relief to Andrew, but only a small one as he realized he had been enjoying himself. On the surface he happily chatted to the others after inflating his BCD. Only later, as they allowed the current to take them back to the launch, did he remember to worry about sharks.
Trailing behind the launch was a float line and also the inflatable safety boat so it was easy to grab on and haul himself up to the stern. The Trip Director stood there on a small steel grating taking their fins and helping them to climb up the ladder. The effort involved was a rude shock to Andrew. He was amazed at how heavy all the gear felt. It was a genuine relief to have Carmen help him remove his BCD and air tank. Unbuckling the weight belt was also a relief.
He helped Muriel remove her air tank and pack the gear away. Then his jealous irritation returned as she peeled off her wet suit to reveal the bikini- or rather, her body. This emotion stayed with him when the group were seated in the saloon lounge. Muriel sat beside him but Doug sat opposite and Andrew could see his eyes continually flicking to stare at Muriel.
They had to calculate their residual nitrogen and the time they needed to stay out of the water before the next dive. Dave and Sub Lt Sheldon both checked their calculations and Andrew was pleased to find he understood and could work it out easily enough. Dive logs were then filled in and signed by buddies and instructors. After that they had an hour and a half to rest.
Davey Jones's Locker Page 19
