Ahoy Miranda

Alan and Lydia were finishing breakfast before making an earlier start on refit work at 7:00 to push progress along when a skiff powered by a small outboard arrived and a female called, "Ahoy Miranda."

Alan looked out and called, "Oh hi Vera, have you become lost."

"No you cheeky sod. I have your mail and newspaper. Patricia Briscoe said the mail includes one official looking letter and she asked me to deliver it in case it's urgent. Ted and I have been blue water sailing for the past three weeks and I heard that you have a real beauty staying with you."

Alan called Lydia over to the solid side of the aft deck and introduced her to Vera Shanks.

"Ah Mrs Shanks a committed potter. How nice to meet you."

"Call me Vera and we must catch up soon," she said, moving her craft up closer to give Lydia close inspection. "I must rush back and get the place tidy as my daughter Robyn arrives later this morning with her new baby and will expect to find the house shipshape. I told Alan some time ago you may use my kiln to fire big pots if you wish."

"Omigod look at that shed. I thought it was for temporary accommodation. You have proper studio."

"Yes I'm still arranging the interior and hope to get started at the wheel on Friday."

"Then you'll want some clay?"

"Yes if you would be so kind."

"Yes and no problem and I'll arrange to Ted to take us around to the city next week in our yacht as it's actually faster going by boat that motoring l48 miles of twisting roads for the greater part that leave most of us car sick. I need new pottery supplies as well."

Lydia watched Alan sitting and looking at the long envelope overprinted the official emblem and name of the country's Marine Department. Why was her action man looking so nervous?

He moved and slit open the envelope.

Alan then sat back.

Lydia waited and wondered if he thought the envelope was packed with a party drug powder.

Or had he lost the right to permanently use a 62-foot boat in the sounds?

Her next thought was they should be hard at work on the refit.

Not wishing to be caught in inexplicable suspension she cleared the breakfast table on to a tray and took everything to the gallery where they were supposed to be working to finish by the end of that day apart from the installation of appliances.

She returned to the aft deck just as Alan let out a frightening bellow that she didn't think it sounded if he were gripped in a heart attack.

"We've got it, we've got it," he shouted in glee.

"Got what?"

"Combined Marine Department consent and district territorial authority resource management approval to strengthen our waterfront with some dredging and to creating a permanent mooring jetty parallel to the bank for Miranda,"

"That sounds good."

"It's fucking great, a triumph for conservatism and knowledge of law. In my submission requesting approval I had pitched my specific requirements to minimalize permanent disturbance to the natural environment and gave in detail my business case as providing a much needed service to support our community."

"I thoroughly researched legal and political aspects and ensured all my intentions requiring planning consent would appeal to their engineer advisers as embodying conservatism and as best practice and as a result the approvals would fall below requirements for my project to trigger the threshold of the notification and invitation for public objection."

"That process would have stalled the project for months, perhaps for up to two years while the investigations, hearings and deliberations crawled to their ultimate conclusions."

"That sounds as if you're applicable was defensible impregnable."

"God Lydia, you are so knowledgeable and understanding."

That comment surprised her because all Lydia had thought she'd done was to choose words that appeared fitting for the moment.

"Come on," said her excited man. "We are on our way to the lodge for coffee and I'll make phone calls to try to get the dredging barge here within the next 48 hours and as that work finishes the pile-driving barge should arrive."

Enthused, Alan added, "The crew on that barge will create a vertical steel retaining wall long the bank. Then more piles for the dock to run laterally against that piling will arrive and the crew will need more timber barged in to build the narrow berthing wharf over those piles."

"Um it all sounds hi-tech and noisy to me" Lydia said and Alan said the bangs of the heavy weight dropped from the tower of the pile driver to force them through sediment and hard in substrata to hold them firm would be music to his ears.

"But what if instead of the existence of a firm substratum there is only a mushy bog below the water bottom?"

"There's a fat chance of that happening," Alan smiled. "Before your arrival I commissioned 10 test narrow diameter bores sunk and core samples taken for analysis. The results showed our piles would be anchored into very suitable terra-firma."

"God knowing you like I do already I should have anticipated the footprint will be been tested for immaculate conception."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Lydia shrugged accepted her effort to use appropriate words of encouragement had missed the mark that time. Well for fuck sake, she wasn't an engineer.

Alas Alan turned sulky when advised it would be 10 days before the dredging barge arrived.

Anticipating her role was to do something supportive, Lydia said, "Get on the radio and invite Arch down for a roast dinner and we'll all get pissed"

Alan smiled somewhat cheerfully and said, "You appear to be a local my woman."

* * *

The morning was windless on the day Lydia set off with the Shanks to the city and they motored with the sails down all the way on the scenic journey through dozens of small islands and past the entrances to two other sounds.

The Shanks were pleasant company and Vera and Lydia sat in the stern on comfortable deck chairs while Ted steered the 45ft yacht from the upper open deck console in peace, away from the chatter about potting.

The wind was up in the afternoon to provide them with brisk sailing conditions for the homeward journey and Ted enjoyed explaining the basics of sailing including navigation to his interested guest.

Lydia arrived home with almost $3000 dollars of materials and tools including clays, kiln furniture, moulds, fritts, callipers, carving and sculpture tools, oxides, glazes, underglazes and a dozen other essential bits and pieces and knew she'd need to make other purchases.

Lydia understandably that evening was eager to get started and after dinner when the generator shutdown she went over and under 12-volt battery powered lighting worked on setting out or storing her purchases while Alan was in the wheelhouse of the Miranda sorting out accounts for payment.

Lydia thought he was investing heavily in the purchase, refit and wharf for the Miranda and she couldn't imagine it a viable business could be built around the Miranda: it would just be a money gobbling hobby.

Late that evening Alan gave her his business plan to read and she went to sleep reversing her earlier opinion; she now was convinced that under targeted promotion there certainly was potential for the Miranda to more than earn her keep.

* * *

The huge and seemingly never-ending refit progressed as the couple stuck to the task, almost never leaving the site apart from their regular visit to the lodge for dinner on Sunday.

Arch their neighbour delivered their newspaper and any groceries or other orders each day and that that was a huge time-saver for them. He also walked about examining their work and pointed out imperfections and that was appreciated because in his youth Arch had completed an apprenticeship as a painter and home decorator.

Alan also sped things along by bringing in two specialists to sound-insulate the engine room and install the automatic fire protection equipment.

Fire was one of the biggest threats in the isolated community.

Lydia had already seen the effect of lightening causing a forest fire in part of the huge national reserve rising from the east bank further up the sound. In the absence of roads, four helicopters each with a monsoon buckets attacked the fire, filling the buckets from the sound.

The McKenzie family, just beyond Arch's property, totally lost their garage and workshop and parked inside their trailer boat, two tractors and two farm motorbikes when fire broke out just after midnight while the family slept on unware on the far side of their house.

The sound of petrol and paint containers exploding awoke them, but by then and that could do was to helplessly watch until the fire-ravaged structure collapsed on to the burnt-out shells of their vehicles.

Alan told her the Miranda would be fitted with basic fire-fighting equipment for use to fight any fire aboard and for use to attack any waterfront fires threatening property along the sound.

"It's certainly not all honey and roses living in what appears an idyllic situation," said Lydia as she and Alan returned with Arch in his boat after viewing the devastation.

Arch surprised her by gravely quoting the very appropriate philosophical saying, 'Such is life'.

* * *

Eventually it was time, December 23, the day of the re-launching of the Miranda.

The wharf was completed and the last crew on the job had cleaned up everything under Alan's supervision and a tent would be erected later in the morning to serve as a bar.

Lydia had been producing pottery for several weeks, sticking to decorative plates, bowls and vases initially and the first large plate she was really pleased with was gifted to Claire who hung it at the end of the hallway in view of people entering the lodge through the front door.

A big array of pottery was now on display for sale and Vera Shanks and her visiting cousin had volunteered to look after pottery sales in the studio as Lydia would be involved in the launching.

Everything was ready for the big event at the top of the tide at 1:15.

Earlier in the morning Alan had tested the Miranda's new diesel engine. His next task was to lower her stern with jacks after removal of the railway sleepers holding her level.

He was assisted by Jamie and Arch until she was back down on the appropriate incline on the slipway and held from moving by temporary wedges driven on sleepers under the keel at the stern and by the twin bow anchor chains wrapped around two sturdy trees trucks and bolted securely.

Lydia had been shown how to release more chain by controlling the dual anchors hydraulic systems to slowly allow the boat to slide down the slipway.

Jamie and Arch would be on Jamie's launch pulling the line attached to Miranda's stern to start her momentum as the holding wedges were knocked away with sledge-hammers and under Alan's call Lydia would operate the electric motors slowly releasing more chain. The tow rope strain would also ensure the boats remained on a straight line as she entered the water.

At 10:00 Buzz Charles landed his 6-seat chopper on the lawn, He knew Allan well because in when Buzz was unable to get any other engineer to respond urgently he called Alan to examined the problem of roof sag of his hanger housing four helicopters and workshop.

Alan designed and supervised the installation of a replacement main beam in the roof of his hanger, all accomplished without any further deflection of the roof.

Lydia was frantically waving at her first sight of her parents and sister who were waving back at her as the helicopter descended.

The family arrived at Lawson City earlier in the morning and had to wait for Buzz to complete a routine early morning crew-change flight out to a hydrographic survey vessel mapping in Murchison Bay.

Among the small flotilla of small boats arriving were one carrying a news team from nearby Lawson City and Claire Johns ferried across the sound in their IRB a news film team that had arrived by chopper from a national TV station. The crew set about filming from the ground and would film the actual launching from the air.

Alan asked the film unit director why go to the trouble to film from the air.

"It should look more spectacular from the air sir and we have learned from an unidentified person that the vessel may fall off the slipway on the way down and land in the water capsized and sink."

Alan looked surprised by that statement but as Arch slipped away with a perhaps guilty look on his face Alan guessed who had contacted the TV station and said philosophically, "Yes there was always that chance of a terrible mishap."

"Yeah mate we are hoping something like that will happen otherwise why are we here," said a TV cameraman.

Kate Kennedy rushed at her elder daughter and hugged and kissed Lydia excitedly and after sister Olivia had stopped to greet some people she'd recalled from her short stay with Alan during her paddling adventure tour some months earlier, she had her emotional reunion with her sister, who was unexpectedly dressed in sneakers, jeans and a colourful potter's smock.

"Where's the party dress?" queried her sister.

"Later, first I have a job to do to help control the launching."

Olivia had introduced her father to Alan and they were already engrossed in conversation looking at Miranda. She then seized a woman dressed like many others as if they were attending a garden party to host royalty and pulled her over to Kate.

"Mom here she is. Kate Kennedy please meet Claire Johns, Lydia's great friend and standby mother-consultant."

The two women shrieked and slammed together in a hug as if they were long-parted sisters.

A few minutes later Kate hugged her daughter and cooed, "Darling well done; your Alan is such a sweet man and your father and I can't wait to have him join our extended family."

Fred and Patricia Briscoe arrived just before noon in their launch, leaving staff to run the store. Fred was a retired naval engineer and Alan grabbed him and they inspected the slipway, the large trees with the anchor chains around them and checked by eye up at the tree line.

Fred confirmed that the vessel was sitting level on the slipway made up of old railway sleeper with two 80ft lengths of steel runners as solid guides almost touching both sides of the keel to keep the Miranda on the straight and narrow.

Alan had greased the inside of those runners that morning and also greased the middle section of the sleepers beyond the end of the keel to the water to add smoothness to the continuation of the slide.

"Rest easy Alan. In my opinion your set-up for launching the Miranda of perhaps 70-75 tons gross is shipshape. I'll ride in the launch with Jamie to check that his alignment with the stern tow in straight and he's maintaining good tension on the wire rope.

"That's much appreciated Fred. I'll brief Lydia who'll be releasing the twin chains simultaneous to ease of the braking completely so that there's a bit of a splash at the end for the TV cameraman up above to capture footage he'll appreciate capturing. They've probably film the launching of 100 foot-plus pleasure craft for millionaires."

"Yeah but in a setting like this? I don't think so. I noticed them flying their chopper up sound coming in, probably to get extra footage to make this shoot look more interesting. Well you best get going Alan, I'll radio you when about 15 feet of the stern section is in the water and then it will be safe to let it rip."

The bar had opened at noon but Alan wasn't drinking or eating anything until the Miranda was tied up to the bollards. His helpers had been briefed for the second time and the two guys, one on each side to knock out the steel wedges at the keel at the stern, had guys hovering to pull them clear if they lost their footing when attempting to get clear.

At 1:00 Alan gave one blast on Miranda's hooter and boaties who had tied their craft up at the dock quickly got their people aboard and crossed to the other side of the sound to watch the launching from the water.

At 1:15 Allan gave three blasts on the hooter. The wedges were knocked out. He was advised in the wheelhouse by radio that everyone was safely clear of the vessel.

Alan gave the order for Lydia to slowly let out more chain.

Jamie gunned the motor to put tension of the stern towing line and almost imperceptibly the Miranda began moving stern-first back into the water, moving quicker and quicker each second as the two chains dropped to the ground and Miranda increased the release rate steadily.

Alan received a hand-held radio call confirming what he already knew from the instrument panel that the rudder was in the correct position and then came Fred's call to 'let her rip.'

The thrust of the accelerating motion as the chains rattled out created a huge bow wave and the spectaculars cheered as Miranda fully floated into the water and a long afternoon and a sumptuous banquet was in store for everyone who wished to stay.

Alan wiped his forehead and hands with a towel and started the engine, ready to switch to the auxiliary if the main engine failed but not worries.

"It went perfectly," Lydia said sweetly, moving up against him. "Brilliantly organized and executed."

"Thanks my darling; will you marry me?"

For a moment she gave the impression she'd experienced a hearing problem.

She stuttered something and he said, "Yes will you marry me."

"Yes, yes," she choked and said, "Oh god, all the tension; I need to visit the bathroom."

"Right you go and I'll berth the Miranda. Tomorrow we'll go up sound on a shakedown cruise with Arch and Jamie and Claire at a time to suit them. Arch agreed months ago to be my first mate on all sailings."

When the Miranda was secured alongside the dock Alan held Lydia, his fingers crossed behind her back and asked, "When would you like to get married?"

"Oh soon," she said. "The sooner the better and we need to talk about the possibility of children."

"Yeah right. Now you have virtually allowed me to choose the date, and without pressure, right?"

"Right."

"Well taking everything for granted it's already a goer. The wedding will take place at the lodge at 1:15 on Boxing Day."

"What?"

"Boxing Day in three days' time and fortunately your family is here and will attend."

"Oh yes. But three days to my wedding?"

"Our wedding."

"Oh yes, our wedding. I can't do much better than wear jeans."

"What rubbish. Vera Shanks has made your wedding dress and Claire went to the city and bought you a going away outfit for when you do go away on a late honeymoon."

"Vera is expecting you down at her place at 8:30 in the morning for your first and final fitting. In her earlier years she was a professional dressmaker and on their yacht she noted your size and you may have remembered her asking about your first wedding and what did you choose as your wedding dress and why."

"Omigod I remembered that discussion and wondered about those questions because she knew I was a widow."

"May I make the announcement of the wedding at the function tonight? I'd also like us to invite everyone in the marquee to attend the wedding and to enjoy the banquet to follow. Claire's serving staff will distribute acceptance cards and collect them before the main course is served. "

"Omigod I'm having trouble thinking; I appear mentally to be caught in a whirlpool. I can't understand why I wasn't involved in the planning of my own wedding."

Alan smiled and said there was one more shock to come but he'd give her time to prepare for it.

"One more shock? Give it to me now; I think I can take one more."

"I've paid for Veronica Pullman your best friend in Houston according to Olivia who also said you two email each other regularly, to come to the wedding along with her husband. They are touring this country now and Veronica is willing to be your chief bridesmaid and Olivia wants to be the second bridesmaid if you wish that to happen."