The trip up the river was hilarious. Three pregnant women in various stages of their pregnancy and various stages of undress lay all over Dave's old fishing boat as it chugged up river against the tide.
His best mate Charlie stopped repairing nets as they motored up to the fish board wharf to refuel. "Christ Dave their all up the duff, is that all your work?" he asked with a grin.
His question fired up Donna, she wrapped herself around Dave as he finished tying up. She moaned out loud so Charlie could hear, "Come on lover it's at least an hour since we've had one, let's do it."
Betsy waking up to what Donna was doing sang out, "Not her Dave, it's my turn."
Laughing at the look on Charlie's face Dave joined in, "not now girls, wait till we're underway, so Charlie can't watch." Charlie was now standing with his mouth open staring as Betsy and Donna bare foot and obviously pregnant pranced around teasing Dave.
They in turn knowing they had captured Charlie's full attention put on a show. They both rubbed against Dave, talking suggestively whilst giving Charlie tantalising glimpses of their boobs.
Unbeknown to Dave women from the processing staff sitting in the sun along the other side of the shed out of his view witnessed the exchange. Their catcalls and laughter rang in his ears as he finished refuelling. "Well Dave," Annabelle said as they pulled away from the wharf, "That's made your reputation as a stud."
At the island Dave ferried them ashore in his dinghy landing them on the soft white sandy beach. They made their way to what Dave had called his hut. "It's big" Annabelle exclaimed as he unlocked the door and let them in.
"It's massive but it's got no dividing walls inside, it's just like a big barn," Donna squealed as she danced around on the concrete floor.
"It's been here for years I've rebuilt it and extended as a place to store my gear and a place to sleep, when I stay up her after bream in the winter," Dave explained.
"It's really quite comfortable for a barn," Annabelle said as she inspected his open fire place and the pots on their swinging metal arms.
"Well its not lined or sealed, but it will have very high ceilings if I finish it off into rooms," Dave explained as he started the generator and pumped water into the tank.
"Look let me get the fire going and boil the Billy."
"I'll make a pot of tea and we can sit out at my net table and discuss whether we want to try living here."
While Dave chopped wood and got the fire going the three girls prowled around making plans. When he next checked to see what they were doing they had found some old paper and a pencil and had started to draw up ideas.
Dave could hear them talking about rooms and furniture when he finally brought out cups of steaming tea and coffee and joined them.
As he sat down he took control. "Right let me give you a few facts."
"We are two and half miles up river from the major tourist centre. You can see the buildings in the distance on a clear day. The city's lights are easier to see at night."
"The river divides here; this island sits in the middle as the river flows around both sides."
"There is a little fishing village about half a mile across the river from the rear of our island. We own the whole island. Some of it is swamp, this sandy ridge and beach is the best of it."
"It's secluded, protected from the winds by those trees. You really have to drop around here on the north easterly side to find my camp. The main channel runs along the far deep west bank so not many boats come near this little cove."
"There is no town water or electricity. I supply my own with a big old 240 volt generator and a spear pump. I installed septic tanks when I rebuilt, so our waste does not pollute the river."
"I have bought a few solar panels but haven't installed them yet. When I install them and a wind generator I probably won't need to run the old generator very often. That will make it a lot quieter."
He started to grin. "As the head of my family with three pregnant wives my major worry would be health care."
"I've thought of how we could overcome the difficulty of getting you to a doctor or hospital in a hurry."
"As long as the weathers ok, I can ferry you over to the village in my dinghy."
"If the weathers bad the state government's emergency service helicopter and the helicopter run by the life savers could land here on an area cleared on the salt flats."
"I have a marine radio, but if we want to live here I will get one of those satellite phones. Your mobile phones may work ok."
"I take my catch to the fish market early most mornings so shopping would not be a problem."
"Around the back I have a cold room for my catch. It works well when I run the generator. It will keep food in good condition."
He sat back and sipped his tea. "Well what do you think?"
They all started to talk at once until Annabelle raised her voice and told them to "shut up!"
"Right oh Betsy; you're the youngest you're first."
"I love it" Betsy cried. She produced the piece of paper they had been working on. "Look we have paced out some areas in the barn and we think we could have four or five bedrooms."
She looked at Dave, "You would have your own room if we could convert and use that upstairs area, where you store nets at the end of the barn as the master bedroom, it would need stairs and a rail but it would be very big."
Annabelle looked at him "how much will it cost to make it liveable?" she asked.
About 50 grand if we do it all at once, but if we do some ourselves it will be a lot less," Dave replied.
He could see the looks of dismay on their faces and quickly went on "Don't worry about the money. I have fished for years and until I bought that houseboat I haven't spent much, it's all in the bank."
"I have enough to pay for the work and a lot more."
He turned to Donna, "you haven't said anything what do you think."
"I made up my mind while you were lighting the fire. All we need now is to christen it."
"What are you going to do to christen it?" he asked.
The three girls burst out laughing. "I'm disappointed you had to ask," Donna told him.
"My god you've got a wicked grin," Dave exclaimed as Donna stuck out her tongue and asked, "Can we all roll up in from of the fire tonight while we love you?"
When he didn't answer she quickly made up his mind for him.
"You will find out that my grins not the only thing about me that's wicked," Donna cried as she grabbed the girls and said, "We'll get the blankets off the boat, while you set up an area in the barn in front of the fire where we can christen the hut."