2018-02-14
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The two next days brought no success for our divers. Underwater world, as always, was at its best, but quantity of the findings did not rise. Onthe second day, in the evening, the friends were having a dinner at theship’s rear deck in the open air. Thesunset was burning downbeautifullyon the horizon and the air stood still, which happens rarely in these places. All the worries and problems of our friends had drowned long before at one of the reefs and they felt a greater desire to philosophize or simply laugh.
‘Uncle!’ Bob called Josh. ‘Generally, why do you look for these shipwrecks? What do you want to find there? Treasures?’
This simple question suddenly caused a long silence on the ship.
‘Great job, Bob!’ Josh complimented his nephew. ‘Right, friends, it isa good time to figure out what we really want to find here. Does anyone have anything to say?’
They had been thinking for a minute, but Yegor already looked at the door of the salvationcupboard. Mike caught his eye and gladly joined him. Having looked at his friends,Josh headed for the first bottle.
Twenty minuteslater, the friends were ready to give Bob a comprehensive answer. Mike spoke first:
‘You see, Bob’, he said slowly,‘treasures are not the main thinghere, though, of course, we would be happy to find them. Anyway, it is not so important.’
“And what is important, then?” Bob asked, cracking his second tinof beer, as he did not have respect for wine.
‘Oh, if only it were so easy to explain, my dear nephew!’ Josh continued for Mike. ‘Unfortunately, or fortunately, you are so young! You have to live for long and have to bring to life dozens of wishes before you can understand us. And then, you will understand that sometimes, there is a great difference between anticipation of something and a real pleasurefrom the same thing. Most likely, over time you will also become overgrown with everything that is thought to be a standard of a happy human life on earth. But, if you save your romantic soul, you will feel that this ‘everything’ is far from everything that you really need. And namely after that, you will look for this ‘something’ that makes you really happy.’
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‘Perhaps, you will be surprised’, Yegor continued, ‘that this ‘something’ is not expensive houses, cars or huge sums of money. Often, it is just the sea, the sun and people, who make youfeel happy and who think as you do.’
‘And who also like drinking a good wine,’ Mike finished Yegor’s thought and filled the glasses.
‘And what about the shipwrecks and the treasures?’ Josh said laughingly. ‘Who would let us go herefor the whole month without an important reason?’
The friends laughed cheerfullyagain and raised their glasses high.
‘Josh’, Yegor addressed his friend, “how heavy are Australian taxes for discovered treasures?’
‘Twenty-five percent,’ his friend replied with professional airs,as he had already studied this issue.
‘Well, if we run across the treasures indeed,’ Yegor continued, ‘I will build some station here, like ‘Swain Romantic Corporation’ with a good helicopter pad and a cozy restaurant.’
‘Do you consider accepting partners?’ Mike asked him.
‘Well, I’ll have to join you, too,’ Josh sighed. ‘I tried those dishes that you cooked without me. You will go to the bad without me…’
The friends laughed again and raised their glasses.
The Father looked at them from Heaven smiling.
‘Everything is going right, My dear romantics, all is correct. Oh, itis a good time for Me to give you something more on the bottom for such good thoughts’.
* * *
That morning Bob woke up at dawn. Although, it would be more correct to say that his alarm clockthat he had set the day before woke him up at dawn. A true purpose of his early awakeningwas fishing.
The day before, he tortured his older fellows with dozens of questions on that topic. And then, he was absolutely ready for an independent and serious fishing. Bob faithfully followed all the advice that the experienced fishermenhad given him in the eve. First, he drank a cup ofa good strong coffee, then, he looked at the horizon for a minute andonly after that,he threw a hook with a bait overboard. He did not repeat the Russian proverb that Yegorhad been teaching him for a long time,but came up with his own variant. It sounded like this: ‘Let interesting and unusual fish be caught, so as to surprise everyone’.
After that, Bob put his fishing rod on board and sat on the steps nearby. The sky began to dawn and expanse of a still sea around the ship was clearly seen. First fifteen minutes of fishing Bob spent in complete silence. Nobody on the bottom tried to make him happy or surprised. Bob was about to change the bait, when he heard some small splash overboard. The lad stood up quietly, sneaked up to the board and looked over cautiously.
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A big light-brown sea turtle was lying on the surface of the water justtwo meters away from the ship. Its head, peeping out the water, was too looking thoughtfully at the horizon. But Bob gasped in surprise for another reason. One word was written in big and clearly seen letters on the back of the turtle:Kathy…
Bob whispered it several times in utter disbelief. Then, the light came down on him and he rushed to his cabin for a camera. But, as ill luck would have it, he could find it only in a few minutes in the furthest drawer. When Bob finally ran out to the rear deck, there was no turtle near the ship.
The boy sighed in frustration and sat down on the steps. ‘Well, it is okay, they will believe me anyway. Today’s fishing is unusual for sure. I imagine how surprised they will be!’
Fifteen minuteslater, yawningYegor was the first one to come out of the cabin. He greeted Bob as usually and was about to sit at the table with an ordinary cup of coffee, when Bob suddenly interfered.
‘Yegor!’ Bob addressed him pompously. ‘Can you imagine that I just saw a turtle with a word ‘Kathy’ on its back?’
Yegor looked at himsomewhat sharply and asked slowly:
‘Did you see the phone number near the name?’
‘No,’ Bob repliedamazed.
‘Well then, it could have been not your Kathy,’ Yegor sipped his coffee noisily. ‘Relax, man, and keep cool doing nothing until it swims here again with a proof that it is really her.’
Five minuteslater, Mike was a second person to sitdown at the table. After Bob briefly told him the story about the turtle, he heard another question instead:
‘Did it say anything?’
‘Not really,’ Bob said thoughtfully. ‘It kept silent.’
‘Then relax, my boy! Judging by your stories, Kathy would not keep silent for sure. She would definitely pour out everything that she thinks about you.’
Josh was the last one to come out of his cabin. When he heard the story from his nephew, he thought for a moment, and then,spoke to him seriously:
‘You know, Bob, if you do not want to feel guilty, write her a letter, put it in a bottle, plug it up and throw into the sea. And, one more thing’, uncleJosh hesitated for a moment, ‘Bobby, you’d better not go fishing so early. Have a good night rest – a young body needs a good sleep. And these damned chips – do not eat so much of them for night…’
Meanwhile, angel Few was wiping with a smile the inscription from a shell of a big beautiful turtle: the desire of his ward Bob to surprise everyone was fully complied.
* * *
The angels of our friends on Heaven were happy and excited. Remoteness from the whole world obviously did a power of good to their divers. They had already begun to find more and more fine and good ‘notes’ in their souls.
‘I wonder’,Angel Few asked his friends, ‘what else the Father prepared for them on the bottom?’
‘Oh, you can be sure that it will be something interesting,’ angel Asli replied. ‘I think, it must be something not very great, otherwise they will be too anxiousabout it. Even a bottle made them examine it for the whole evening. But, it must be something interesting for sure, soon we will know that.’
‘I am so happy for my Bob!’ Few continued. ‘He learns so much with your romantics. Where else can he get that? Oh, I hope that he will not be ‘stuck’ to all his screens again, when he returns home. They distract him so much from his real life.’
‘The Father will give a prompt how to help him,’ angel Sain said. ‘The most important thing is that he is honest and sensitive. Little by little, he will make right conclusions in his life. He is only twenty.’
‘By the way, the Father’s idea about the bottle was just brilliant,’ angel Nias added cheerily.‘It is so small, but it made our divers so happy. Oh, I would give them a bottle on the bottom every day! And each time, it would be older and older.’
‘That is why we are only angels,’Asli replied with alaugh. ‘Only the Father knows exactly what and when to give them and what will not harm them. Benefiting their souls is the most important thing. And, if we only had a chance, we would bestrew the sea bottom with ships. But. what would happen to our romantics after that?’
‘Exactly!’ angel Nias agreed. ‘But, I always want to make them happy so much.’
‘Wait a little, they will come here and be happy with us forever,’ angel Manif replied. ‘And now on earth, they are like at school: they have to learn and understand the main things,and true values of life.’
‘Well, I wishthey succeed in everything there,’angel Nias, sitting nearby, looked at Manif warmly and smiled. ‘Likewise, I worried about you, my dear, two thousand years ago. As you can see, everything worked well. This time, it will workas well. I have no doubtin it.’
Manif came closer to Nias and hugged him.
‘Thank you, my faithful friend! For everything, for everything!’
‘Isn’t it time for us to fly for a swim in some waterfall?’ angel Few offered,‘while our treasure hunters are sleeping on their ship.’
‘Well, we are always ready to do that with pleasure,’the angels around him responded and soon, they flew together in the sky towards beautiful mountains.
* * *
That morning, Mike and Josh explored a new reef. Underwater visibilitywas worse than the day before, but still good enough. Divers could see every large object at a distance of fifteen-twenty meters. The friends, as always, paid their attention to large reefs, while not forgetting about underwater creatures around them. There was plenty of themthere.
That plenty, of which you will never be tired.
Life of areef is a spectacle that one can watch eternally. That is why, the people like much to have aquariums at home. And a real reef with countless underwater inhabitants is much more than just an aquarium. Therefore, the friends were staring cheerfully at everything around them customarily, assuddenly,something inside them drew everyone’s attention to a small, ordinary looking reef.The divers swam towards that reef, not saying a word.
When Josh and Mike were finally above it, they uttered a sigh of surprise and fascination – there lay a large wooden boat underneath. It was heavily overgrown with corals and damaged by many storms over long years, but it was a true large boat forabout twenty passengers’ seats.
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When the first excitement of the friends slightlycalmed down, they began to explore it in detail. The divers took pictures of every detail that could cast some light and help them deduct the age and belonging of theboat. Having examined every inch of it, they swam to inspect thearea around it. However, they returned soon: there was nothing interestingaround there, neither oars, nor any other item of dry land origin.
During the time remaining until emerging, Mike and Josh were trying by all means to find the boat’s name on its sides and back part. But, it turned out to be as trying to find an inscription on any reef nearby there.
Nevertheless, the first true sailing trophy was found! The friends swam around the small boat once againemotionally, memorizing this placewell, and came to the surface.
This news will make Bob and Yegor happy, for sure. They needed to make a good dinner tonight on this occasion and open the best bottle of wine. Neptune has respect for divers who are happy with his gifts. As always, the Russian, Yegor,found a more precise proverb for that case: ‘A gift has a short life, if one does not drinkwell to celebrate it’.
* * *
The evening feastat the table in honor of their first serious finding on the bottom was well underway. Before the nightfell, Yegor and Bob came down to the small sunken boat,as they also wanted to touch it with their own hands. They came back from the dive excited and inspired. Needless to say, that search for shipwrecks is always an interesting and unusual activity.
When the bottle of wine on the table came to an end, the friends began discussingquietlydifferent ideas about this boat on the bottom.
‘Gentlemen!’ Josh spoke solemnly, as he would always speak in an official and solemn manner. His tall height and natural staidness always rendered a well-foundedtint to his every word. And, it was not surprising that all his clients trusted himmuch. ‘If we could not find the name of this boat, it does not mean that we cannot invent it now. Besides, we definitely need some working title, as not to confuse this small boat with other ships.’
Everyone laughed out loud. It seemed that the boat made the team more confident about their project.
‘I suggest the following’, Mike began, ‘we found the bottle, the pole and the boat as a part of theproject called Avos’. Without it, we would not dive here and would find nothing. That is why, I think, a new name should somehow be connected with it. Maybe, we should call the small boat Avos’-1?’
‘Too technical for a name,’ Yegorrepliedwincinga little. ‘But, the idea itself is nice. You know, there is a very similar word in the Russian language – avos’ka [1], which is quite funny and fits both the general topic and our ‘firstling’. I suggest giving this name to our small boat.’
‘Oh!’ Bob exclaimed. ‘I too know one funny Russian word balalaika. Ieven have a picture of it in my phone.’
‘This isn’t the same thing, Bobby. Tough’, Yegor scratched his head thoughtfully, ‘I think that these two things are equally useful for the humankind.’
‘Avos’ka… Sounds funny,’ Josh said. ‘I’m for it!’
The other treasure hunters nodded cheerfully.
After that, Yegor filled the glasses and tried to speak solemnly in Josh’s manner: ‘For Avoska!’Though, all his solemnity caused a burst of laughter among the friends. No, this role suited only Josh.
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A little later, the friends began discussing planof their future dives. They had almost finished exploring the area; only the third point marked on the map with a large quantity of concentrated dots remained.
The divers adopted a decision to sail there the day after tomorrow. They decided to dedicate the whole next day to Avos’ka and its surrounding area. It was crucially important for them not to miss the tiniest detail. It was uncertain, when they would have a second chance to dive there.
* * *
Mark was sitting in a spacious office looking through the news on a big screen of his inseparable computer. Everything seemed just fine and he turned aroundin his chair contentedly. For more than twenty years, Mark Schultz had worked in that company, dealing with aftersales service and selling of cars in Germany and abroad. Over that time, the company had developedmuch and opened two new branchoffices in the country. At the moment, he was working on the opening of the third branch.
Schultz had already become the second person in that company and had a good share of stockin it. From a business perspective, everything went quite well for him.
As for his angel Anrie, who was alsopresent in that office then, he did not seem to look much cheery at his earthly ward. How many times he tried toplant an idea about vacation into his head that he and his wife Marta neededindeed.
Mark leaned back in his chair and stared for several minutesabove the computer screen at a big picture with beautiful sea view that had been hanging for a long timeon the wall in front of him.
‘Such a beautiful picture!’he thought. ‘Whowas it, whogave it to methen?’
His angel smiled, ‘These were your children who presented this pictureto you for your fortieth anniversary’,
‘My children presented it for one of my birthdays, it seems,’ Mark began to remember. ‘What a vivid sea landscape, just like a real one!’
‘Aha’, the angel echoed cheerily. ‘Then, I scoured the whole city to find it. I remember, even angel Blos helped methen.’
‘Oh, it’s been a long time since I have snorkeled,’ Mark was still thinking. ‘And my Marta has recently recalled about the sea. Maybe, we should go on vacation somewhere for a few weeks?’
Mark thought for a moment, butthen, he shook his head and moved closer to the computer again.
The angel was anxious. The vacation was about to fail, he had to do something immediately. He asked the Father for helpin his mind. In one minute, Mark’s boss Heinrich joyfully came into his office. His sun-tanned face was shining with a smile, as just a few days before, hehad returned from his trip to Thailand.
‘Hello, Mark!’ he said happily. ‘How are you doing here, my dear?’
Friends shook hands.
‘What a tan you’ve got!’ Mark said withsome envy. ‘You look even out of the way for winter Germany.’
Heinrich laughed out loudcheerily.
‘Vacation, my friend, is always a decentthing!’ he replied. ‘Or else, what for have we been working such a long time? To provide our childrenwith a good ground and to live well ourselves. We always need to keep the right balance between work and restin this life.’
The boss looked intently at his friend.
‘By the way, you haven’t travelled for over a year, haven’t you? That is not very good, my friend. Take your Marta and fly to some beautiful corner. Colour of your skin looks like this greyish computer.’
Mark stretched himself dreamily and smiled.
‘Maybe you are right, Heinrich, why not take a rest and go somewhere,’ he replied with a smile. ‘You’re right, it’s long we have not dined with Marta at sunset on the beach…’
The boss patted him on his shoulderapprovingly.
‘It’s decided! I order my friend to go on vacation immediately!’ he commanded with a laugh and came out of the office.
Angel Anrie smiled gratefully: ‘Thank you, Father!’
A minutelater, Mark Schultz called to his Marta:
‘Hello, darling!’ he said happily. ‘I have decided something! We’re going on vacation to some islands. Call our agent Elsa; let her find good travel variants for us.’
Having listenedto joyful twittering of his wife, Mark added:
‘Yes, start packing our big blue suitcase. One more thing’, he looked again at the picture hanging on the wall, ‘do not forget to pack our snorkeling masks and flippers. We’ll swim good and proper at sea.’
Angel Anrie turnedaround himself from cheer, ‘I did it!’ He palmed the picture on the wall smiling, looked cheerfully at Mark one more time and flew back home.
* * *
‘Dolce Dive’ catamaran weighed its anchor. Mike and Bob raised sails togethercheerily; Josh was standing at helm. Meanwhile, Yegor fastened the anchor on the bow of the ship and kept looking out for any shoals around. A fresh morning breeze was blowing small waves over the water surface, filling the divers’ sailsvividly.
The passage to the next place of their dives should have lasted for slightly less than three hours. The friends had to swim around several groups of reefs andonly after that,they entered the desired area. To have fun, the divers took out their spinning rods again. The eveningbefore, they suddenly remembered that they had not eaten fresh sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi. And this happened in the middle of the ocean full of products almost ready for that dish! All in all, they definitely wanted to fill the gap in their fish menu.
Besides Mike and Yegor, Bob took out his spinning rod, too. After his last morning fishing, he apparently considered himself a more experienced angler than before. Soon, three friends’ spinners went underwater. Mike took place on the left side of the catamaran, Bob took place on the right side, and Yegor made himself comfortable in the center of the ship’s rear deck.
For the next fifteen minutes, the fishermen turned their headsaround in silence, looking at their spinning rodsstanding still and at the spinning rods of their friends.
‘What fish is the most delicious for sashimi?’ Yegor broke the silence.
Josh, standing at the steering wheel, brightened up.
‘It depends ona person’s tastes, but wahoo, snapper and perch are considered to have the softest flesh. As for me, I prefer ablue perch. It has such big eloquent eyes and its tender meat is quite as good.’
Bob,who was sitting on the rear deck, gulped and sat closer to his spinning rod.
‘I also like fresh salmon,’ Mike added. ‘But it lives in cold waters and here, wahoo and perch will be the most delicious, I guess.’
Twenty minutes passed. Fish was not biting.
‘Our dear Josh!’ Yegor began speaking somewhat gently, looking at his spinning rod without any noticeable interest, ‘what softest meatfrom the dry land do we have on boardnow?’
‘Oh!’ Josh exclaimed emotionally. ‘We’ve got lamb meat on the bone and steaks of Black Angus beef. They are made of special black cows; their capitalof production is the city of Rockhampton, which is just in front of us. These steaks are my favorite, that is why, I took a couple of dozens on board. Nothing’s comparable to this dish, if you cook steaks on barbeque and add a special sauce.’
All the anglers on the rear deck, without saying a word, began to wind up their spinning rodssynchronously.
‘Dear Joshie!’ Mike, who pulled up the fishing reel first, addressed his friend. ‘Let me stand at the wheel for a while. Get some rest and defrost your delicious steaks, which you’ve just mentioned, in a microwave. After all, by good luck, we’ve happened to be very close to their capital.’
After that, Mike gave a significant look at the other fishermen.
‘Friends!’ he appealed to them. ‘Don’t you mind eating sashimi some other time?
‘No, no!’ Yegor and Bob cried in response.
‘Anyway, we are not Japanese to eat raw fish and, what is worse, for breakfast,’ Bob added. ‘We are in Australia and here, folks like eating a delicious meat!’
Chapter 6.
The sailing ship.
By the afternoon, ‘Dolce Dive’catamaran was anchored in a convenient sandy lagoon. The friendsfinallyreached the third place. The crew decided to spend the rest of the day solving household issues and leave diving for the next day. The divers checked water supplies, food and fuel one more time. Their independent sailing had beenlasting for fourteen days already and it was time to conduct a smallcheckup.
After the detailed inspection of the ship, Josh voiced his opinion at the table.
‘We have enough water, my friends! On-board desalinator does a good job and satisfies our needspretty well’, he sipped a hot coffee and continued, ‘food supplies will last for nearly ten more days, even if all the fish around us ignores our spinners.’
The divers burst into a cheerylaughter. Steaks of the famous Australian cows that had been eaten not a long beforerevived their feelings.
‘The situation with the fuel is practically the same,’ Josh continued to explain. ‘It will be enough to start the engine twice a day and charge all the batteries on the ship, at least, for ten days or so.’
Mike and Yegor exchanged looks.
‘So, it means, we have to stop by some port in a week,anyway’, Mike said first, ‘to replenish our food and fuel supplies.’
‘And also, visit some local pub with a fresh beer and yummy sausages,’ Bob added dreamily.
‘And don’t forget to call our loved ones,’ Yegor raised his finger edifyingly. ‘Because now, we are diving in wild waters with dozens of snappy sharks.’
After that, Yegor folded his hands cunningly and continued speaking imitating a female voice.
‘It is possible that we can also find some beautiful antique tiarahere…’
The divers burst out laughing, butthen, they nodded in unison. After all that, Josh took a map and a special ruler.
‘Then, it is better for us to choose a place for refueling and for a short restbeforehand,’ he said. ‘Besides, the weather can change really fasthere. No wonder why we listen to the weather forecast several times a day over the ship’s radio.’
‘What are the good variants of ports to enter we have here?’ Yegor asked looking at the map.
Josh put the ruler on the map and began measuring something.
‘We have to swim three hundred seventy kilometers to Bundaberg port,’he finished his first measurement.
‘Bundaberg?’ Yegor repeated suavely, ‘Isn’t it that small town where people manufacture a wonderful rum that in the recent past was the favorite drink of all sailors of the world?’
‘Exactly,’ Mike repliedwith laughter.
‘But, these three hundred seventy kilometers mean a two-day journey for us, and we can buy therum at any liquor store all over Australia,’ Josh made a stand against Yegor.
‘But, it is rum’s Homeland,’ Yegor said romantically, butthen, he gave up finally. ‘Okay, let’s move further.’
‘Distance to the other port called Mackay is three hundred forty kilometers.’
‘Not much better,’ Mike reacted.
‘I agree,’ Josh replied and moved his ruler on the mapagain.
‘About two hundred forty kilometers to Rockhampton. However, there is no good port on the seashore and we will have to sail forty kilometersmoreon the Fitzroy River to reach the city.’
‘Not much fun,’ said Yegor. ‘Many different mosquitos might inhabit these rivers. Besides, they are of different types of navigability in different seasons. I think we should not take risks in unknown places.’
Josh and Mike looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
‘There is a nice place in Gladstone,’ Josh continued his measurements. ‘There’s a big port and a citythere. The distance is just two hundred thirty-five kilometers.’
‘That sounds better,’ Mike replied.
‘But, there’s one drawback,’ Yegor made a wry face. ‘Gladstone is a big commercial port and its landscapes are way too industrial. The contrast with Swain is right enormous.’
Josh moved his rulerslightly on the map again.
‘Then, we have only one good variant – a port in Rosman. The distance is’, Josh looked at the rulerintently, ‘only two hundred twenty kilometers!’
‘If we go off at dawn, we will manage to reach the port by the end of the day,’ Mike estimated quickly.
Yegor pulled the map and took a good look at that place.
‘There are some good beaches and the city itself is not so big,’ he skewed his eyes at Bobslyly. ‘There, we will definitely find a good country pub with excellent sausages and a cold fresh beer.’
Bobby livenedinstantly.
‘So? Let’s vote!’ he said. ‘Who’s for sailing to Rosman?’
Four hands raisedat once. It seemed that everyoneincluding Yegor was ‘hooked’ on the advertisement of the local pub.
* * *
The next morning was surprisingly calm. The sea resembled a big mirror that reflected white fluffy clouds. Josh and Yegor were the first couple to go underwater. As they began to embark on zodiac, a big flock of dolphins swam near the catamaran. The whole crew on the ship froze and stared after themfor a long time.
‘It is a good sign,’ Mike said with a smile and waved to his friends. ‘Have a nice dive!’
Josh and Yegor waved in response and Bob swan off from the ship. Underwatervisibility was wonderful. Having descendedalong the reef slopeat the depth needed, the friendsswam further along it beingcarried by a fair current. The sea was not very deep in that place – a flat sandy bottom was ten-fifteen meters below the divers. Josh and Yegor glanced in different directions, as usually, searching for something sunken,not forgetting to look at local inhabitants of the reef.
Although, they did not have to search that day, as a sunken ship found themitself. It merely came out of the blueslowly. Josh and Yegor faced its rear parthaving swumright to it. It came so unexpected and yet so real that the friends held not knowing what to do: a big wooden sailing boat was just in front of them.
Outwardly, it was about forty meters long and only one mast with a small cross-section survivedon it. As in a beautiful fairytale, Josh and Yegor stared at the ship for a few minutesfascinated,before they regained ability to do and to think in general.
Yegor swam closer to the back part of the ship with its name on it and began to clean letters with a knife. It was composed of four letters only: SOVA.
Yegor and Josh took several pictures of the back part of the ship, came down to the sea bottom and swam around. Obviously, the sailing ship remained in a good condition, because it was lying on an open sandy bottomaway from the reef. Despite whole bushes of corals on some of its parts, it looked really magnificent and grand.
Near the ship’s bow, the friends found a large hole in its hull,two by two meters, which, apparently, was the reason of its wreckage. The divers shone a flashlight though it, but did not swim inside – a visual inspection was enough for the first time.
Josh and Yegor tried to take pictures of all interesting details on the ship. They read its name at the bow once again to make sure that it was called Sova. When the divers inspected the bottom part, they swam to the upper deck. The distance to the surface was only eighteen meters; therefore, the friends had enough time for the dive.
Having inspected everythingon the ship very carefully,the divers found four entrances leading inside the ship. Two of them were quite narrow and overgrown with corals, but the other two entrances allowed the divers to swim inside with their equipment. Josh and Yegor photographed everything around them, using the camera flash to light up the inside part of the shipas far, as possible and looked into all the illuminators and artillery compartments. Of course, least of all divers wanted to come across someone’s remains. They were lucky – it seemed that the crew of the sailing ship managed to survive in quarter boats during the wrecking.
Soon, diving computers of Josh and Yegor started beeping, reminding them that it was time to float up. The friends exchanged looks and began ascending above the ship, at the same time taking pictures of it from different sides.
When Josh and Yegor came up to the surface, they immediately took regulators from their mouths, however, they did not want to talk for some reasonat all.
‘Well’,Yegor broke the silence,‘our dream has come true finally, my friend! I cannot even believe that we actually found a shipwreck.
‘That’s true’, Josh replied slowly, ‘just an hour ago, we had been dreaming about it and now it became a reality of our life.’
Afterwards, Josh looked at Yegor and said thoughtfully:
‘I’ve strange feelings in my soul, buddy. It is difficult to formulate themeven.’
‘A precious cupboard will help us,’ Yegor smiled in response. ‘Well, friend, it is time to inflate a drift signal. The guys need to come down to the ship before the nightfalls.’
Josh pulled the drift signal out of his pocket, still thinking aloud:
‘ Sova. A very interesting name. What does it mean? There’s no such word in the English language. Is it someone’s name, name of a city or just an abbreviation?’
* * *
Later in the evening, the friends were sitting on the rear deck of the ship at the table, as they would. It seemed strange, but they did not want to talk after such a great event. They were smilingcalmly, asif it were after a successful ending of some serious and responsible work. Although,some coffee and a bottle of the best wine did their job: soon,liveliness gradually returned to them again.
‘So, gentlemen!’ Josh began, ‘today, we have changed our status from the hunters for shipwrecks to founders of a shipwreck. Congratulations!’
‘Thank you,’ Bob responded seriously and asked, ‘and’ what can we do in this statusnow?’
Everyone kept silent. Finally, Yegor started speaking.
‘We have no idea, Bobby. We have been in that status only for a few hours and also, for the first time in our life,’ he smiled broadly. ‘But,we’ve got four heads, intuition and a true shipwreck. Therefore, you shouldn’t doubt that we will come up with a brilliant idea soon.’
‘And, we also have a sacred cupboard,’ Mike added cheerily. ‘If we are short of ideas, we will always find ‘fuel’ for inspirationin it.’
The friends burst out laughing and filled the glasses.
‘Well, my friends,’ Josh said raising his glass of wine. ‘To our sailing boat Sova! Let it bring us good luck.’
They clinked their glasses, as Russian Yegor taught them and drank their wine with feeling. That day, even Bob did not stand out among his friendswith his beer on such occasion.
‘So’, Mike continued the conversation, ‘we need to outline the plan of our actions. Any ideas?’
‘Of course, I wish we could dive into the Internet right now’, Yegor began, ‘there, we would find the information about this ship, what it was carrying and location of its rooms inside. This information would be very useful for our work inside,but we don’t have the Internet.’
‘Instead, we have a small book with images of the sailing boats. I read it a little before going onthe trip,’ Josh entered the conversation. ‘The design of our sailing ship reminds me of a frigate or a corvette of the first half of the nineteenth century. A frigate is a military vessel; a corvette is a multipurpose ship. It would be great, if we draw its looks with the help of the pictures we’ve made. It might be very useful now.’
‘Can anyone of us drawhere?’ Mike asked.
Bob raised his hand.
‘Bobby’, Yegor asked him smiling somewhat mischievously, ‘didn’t you learn to draw with the help of the Internet?’
Everyone at the table roared with laughter.
‘Not really,’ the guy responded smiling broadly.
After that, he took a sheet of paper and, in a couple of minutes, hedrew such a good caricature of Yegor that the latter regretted about his jab.
‘Well done, nephew!’ Josh said, looking at the drawing with a smile. ‘Then, take our camerasand go to the cabin to draw the sailingboat. Meanwhile, we will listen to the weather forecast for tomorrow over the radio.’
Josh switched on the radio and turned up the volume – the weather forecast for sailors was broadcasted at the beginning of every hour. After several minutes, they heard a mechanical voice from the loudspeakers. As our friends were listening to the weather forecast, theirfaces becamemore and more upset.
As it turned out, Fiona cyclone was approaching to Queensland State, their place of diving, from the Fiji Islands with windspeed of up to one hundred twenty kilometers per hour. It was to reach Australian shores in two days.
When the weather forecast was over, the friends kept silent for one minute more.
‘Gentlemen, apparently, our plans havechanged,’ Josh began speakingfinally. ‘One hundred twenty kilometers per hour by the open reefs is a big deal.’
‘Yeah, I would not like to be herewhen it comes. And we ain’t got any other options. Tomorrow at dawn, we need to go away towards the shore,’ Mike agreed.
‘At least, we will have the Internet,’ Yegor introduced an optimistic note to the situation. ‘Such cyclones don’t last for long. Two or three days, andthen, we’ll be absolutely ready forexamining the ship inside.
After that, Yegor turned towards the mess room, where Bob was drawing the ship and shouted:
‘Bobby, how about beer and yummy sausages at the pub tomorrow evening?’
* * *
The angels bathedin a beautiful lake next to a small waterfall. From time to time, they swam under its colorful streams and gamboled there: swam, doveand played. Having swum to their hearts content, they cameout to a small shallow, and sat in a circle on sandy bottom.
‘I stillfeel so happy that the Father came up with such a wise and fun idea about this shipwreck,’ angel Nias said first smiling.
‘That’s true!’ angel Few laughed. ‘Our romantics have a lot to think of. Right, it is unlikely they will forget about that.’
‘Exactly,’ angel Asli agreed. ‘And, we will never allow them to forget anything important from what happened and what will happen to them.’
‘By the way,’ angel Sain threw water up with his wing and it showered our smiling friends as a rain. ‘The Father sent Fiona Cyclone just in time, too. It is very good that they have enough time to thinkoverthat allthoroughly and make right conclusions.’
‘All right, my friends! Let’s fly and look how they wake up,having eaten their delicious sausages,’ Angel Manif suggested. ‘They will receive a lot of news today. I cannot wait to take part and help them to understand everythingcorrectly.’
The angels splashed in the water slightlymore and flew to theEarth. The Father looked at them with a smile – His older children hurried to rescue His youngerones. What else could be as beautiful and touching for the Father! Good luck to them; and He will alwaysbe next to them for sure.
* * *
That morning,the friends woke up very late. Even birds singing desperately outside the window could nothave disturbed their good sleep. Yesterday’s long passage from the reefs to the shore and delicious sausages with beer in the pub did their job – the divers needed a good rest.
At nine o’clock, Yegor was the first to come out of his room into garden and sat at the table that stood by the door. He had nothing to do, so he took a sheet of paper and began to draw the word Sova with a black diving marker. At times, he raised his head and looked with a smile at children playing briskly in the swimming pool nearby. After a quarter of an hour, Josh came out from the next room. He greeted Yegor and sat at the table too.
‘Good morning, Josh,’ Yegor smiled. ‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Just marvelous! Actually, I’ve been awake for an hour already, surfing the Internet and searching for the information about our finding,’ Josh replied.
‘Very good news!’ Yegor rejoiced, turned the sheet over and prepared to put down the information.
But, Josh looked at his friend somewhat thoughtfully.
‘Actually, there is nothing to write, Yegor. It seems that we’ve found a ghost ship. I did not find any information on the Internet about the ship with such a name.’
Josh opened a bottle of ginger beer and took a few sips. Yegorwas thinking overamused the newsher heard from his friend.
‘And, I wasn’t able to decrypt the word Sova as well. I did not find any cities or understandable abbreviations with these letters.’
‘Wow,’ Yegor could only say. After that, he put a cap on his marker and put it abovea clean sheet of paper.
‘It seems, I haven’t much to add, my friends,’ they heard the voice of Mikecoming up to the tablefrom behind.
The friends shook hands.
‘All that I’ve found is a Swedish word that is translated as dream. No other useful information for you.’
‘A Swedish word?’ Yegor was surprised. ‘Does that mean we found a Viking ship? Did they sail so far too?’
‘Not really,’ Josh replied with a smile. ‘Vikings navigated until eleventh century and their ships were totally different. And our ship was probably made in the middle of the nineteenth century.’
‘Good morning to everyone!’ they heard Bob’s voice. Heshook hands with the divers.
After the lad had sat at the table too, Josh asked him:
‘Bob, haven’t you searched anything about our shiponthe Internet this morning?’
‘Well, Kathy’s called me,’ the guy replied,being much embarrassed. ‘Well, you know her… All in all, I didn’t have time for anything else.’
Everyone at the table burst into a cheerfullaughter.
‘All right, friends,’ Yegor changed the topic. ‘Whether it is a ghost or not, we need to have a breakfast anyway. Breakfast ends at ten o’clock at this hotel, so we have to hurry up.’
All the divers stood up immediately and headed to the hotel’s restaurant. A few minutes later, it started to rain: Fiona Cyclone finally reached the Australian shores.
Half an hour later, sated divers came back to the table and saw Yegor’ssheet ofpaper floating in a puddle of wateron it.
Josh and Mike came to the table to take it under the shed, but suddenly, they frozeover it. Yegor and Bob felt intuitively that they saw something unusual there and came closerone after another. In a moment, they stood astonished next to them.
On the paper, they saw a word that Yegor had drawn that morning. Because of water, it stood out on the backside,so it could be read clearly, but in reverse. Now they could see the word AVOS.
‘Avos’…’ that was the only word that the Russian diver could have whispered.
* * *
The divers were sitting at the pub’s veranda looking at the rain in silence. Sausages were good that day, but nobody even thought about alcoholicdrinks for some reason.
‘So’, Josh began speakingfinally, ‘we all have a ghost ship made around the beginning of the nineteenth century on hand and it is called Avos. If you have any thoughts left, sharewith us, please.’
After a minute of total silence, Bob spoke first:
‘Guys!’ he startled happily, ‘I recall a movie about a ghost ship. It was called The Black Pearl. There was also a captain…’
‘Bobby, Bobby!’ his uncle interrupted him. ‘We all have watched this movie, too. If we rely on it, we have to be ready to meet underwater pirates with heads of hammer sharks and octopuses,so far.’
Everyone laughed out somewhat weirdly and fell silent again.
‘You see, Bob’, Mike decided to continue this topic, speaking either to the guy or to himself, ‘it was a fairytalethere, but we live in a real world.’
Yegor raised his eyes.
‘I don’t think so,’ he pronounced thinking.
‘What do you mean?’ surprised friends asked him in unison.
‘Is the reality, where such things can happen, much better than a fairytale?’ Yegor asked in return.
‘And what does that mean?’ Josh tried to understand his thoughtcompletely.
‘Look, if someone can make such fairytales in our real life, where could we find a true reality?’
The silence fell there for several minutes more.
‘Perhaps, Yegor is right,’ Mike said quietly. ‘I reckon,the One, Who sent me here for my birthday, does such things to us. And it seems that He is in reality for sure.’
‘And, what should we do now?’ Bob asked somehow piteously.
‘Follow Him, of course!’ Yegor replied emotionally. ‘This Someone is a kind storyteller and, obviously, he’s very cheery. He leads us in this voyage so interesting! Like He is trying to explainsomething really importantfor us. And we should just follow Him and guess correctly what He is trying to tell us.’
‘Is he really kind?’ Bob asked Yegor incredulously.
‘Absolutely!’ his uncle Josh responded. ‘Did anything unpleasant happen to us during that time? On the contrary, we had so much funand amusement.’
‘Do we have to do anything now?’ Bob asked one more question.
His older friends exchanged looks and finally smiled. Apparently, they began to understand something.
‘You don’t have to do anything special, Bobby,’ Mike answered for everyonethere. ‘We must live on and do what we used to do, meanwhile trying to understand all the important things that Someonewants to tellus. I think we will find many interesting answers on that shipwreck.’
‘I’veseen the weather forecast,’ Josh changed the topic. ‘It is too early to sailback to the site tomorrow. We’d better replenish our fuel and food stocks. Bythe day after tomorrow, the sea will be calm and it will be easy to come backthere. I cannot wait to diveand see this fantastic ghost shipinside.’
‘Avos’, we will find something interestingthere,’ Yegor replied by the same token. ‘For some reason, I have no doubtin it anymore.’
‘Neither have I,’ Mike added in a serious tone.
‘I have no doubt as well,’ Josh said.
Everyone looked at Bob who, for some reason, kept silent.
‘Tell everything about that laterto me too!’the lad cheerfully came out of the affair with honor.
Apparently, that film about the pirates on the ghost ship left anindelible imprint on him.
The friends headed to the door, but Yegor stopped them.
‘By the way, my friends, we definitely need to replenish our cupboard’, he said and added, ‘it seems that many of these puzzles cannot be solved if we are bone-dry…’
Chapter 7.
Back to the reef.
‘Dolce Dive’ catamaran was returning to the Swain. Even though it was the early morning, the friends managed to have sailed quite far away from the shore. The ship’s tanks were filled with fuel again, refrigerators were stuffed with delicious food and aperfect wine was in the cupboard. The sun was shining brightlyover horizonafter two days of rain.
The sea calmed down and seemed to have forgotten about the recent cyclone with a strange name. Besides the fuel and the food, the divers also bought additional ropes and underwater lights. After that, they went to a local garden supply shopand bought a couple of short shovels, buckets, several water-resistant strong bags and some more tools. The salesperson,whoformed their purchase, was sure that it was intended forhouseholding needs. He would have been surprised, if he had known what our friends were going to dowith it.
Besides everything else, at the hotel, our divers printedout all possible variants of internal structure of sailing ships manufactured at the end of eighteenth to nineteenth centuries. Just in case,Josh also contacted his law firm at the Gold Coast. He asked them to look through all the laws and regulations concerning their discovery and also prepare all the necessary documents,if they really find something.So, this short break onthe shore was quite useful for our friends.
They were coming back to their shipwreck fully prepared not only technically, but legallyas well.
‘Josh, what should we do by law, if we find treasures on that ship?’ Yegor asked his friend.
‘Actually, it is not spelled out well bythe law,’ Joshreplied smiling,standing at the wheel. It seems that people don’t find such things very often. The main thing is that we should demonstrate our findings to the state honestly and pay twenty-five percent of the value found. Then, we will rule out the situation on-site. My boys will prepare all the necessary documents, just in case. We will only have to list our findings.’
‘And one more little thing,’ Mike intervened their conversation with laughter. ‘We will have to find such treasures on the ship and give them right titles. But this is a real trifle.’
Everyone burst out laughingcheerily.
‘What could these ships transport at those times, generally?’ Bob asked his friends.
‘They transported different cargos at different times,’ uncle answered. ‘Once, many prisoners were transported from England to Australia. Later, in the days of manufacturing and agricultural development, all this became more like a casual commodity exchange.’
‘What do you think, uncle, what could our shipcarry?’ Bob took interest.
Josh smiled.
‘I think, nephew, our ship falls under the third category,’ hesaid looking at Bob playfully. ‘These ships carried cargos under general sea name OGKWIT. ’
‘And what is OGKWIT?’ Bob even leaned forward and stared at him with interest.
Mike and Yegor came closer too.
‘OGKWIT, Bobby, means Only God Knows What Is That,’ Josh replied.
The friends’ cheerful laughter silenced the end of his phrase.
* * *
Kathy was sitting at the table in her favorite café, drinking a delicious cappuccino. Sometimes, she looked at her phone screen with a picture of smiling Bob. Each time, she smiled in reply. She missed him so much! Their yesterday’s conversation could last forever, if only her phone did not run out of battery.
Oh, Bobby, he is such a storyteller! Yesterday, he had been telling herfor an hour about some kind of a shipwreck. But itis fine, as long as he finishes his voyage and comes back home safe and sound. And TV shows plenty of terrible sharks in the ocean. It is good that Bobby does not dive, but just sails on the ship. Oh, those men! Something is always drawing them somewhere. Why do they ever find some wet shipwreck more interesting than this city with its beautiful parks and wonderful shops?
Kathy took a sip and looked at the street. Birds were cheerfully leaping in the branches of a tree nearby. People were walking peacefully down the alleys orreadingbooks on benches. So beautiful! What else does one need in life? It is as good as in God’s pocket and cappuccino is always delicious. Kathy sighed feeling sorry for all men in general and for her Bobby in particular.
In general, one thing was not clear to her in that life: why cannot she live without this funny, simple guy? Look at all these young men: many of them would be glad to be friends with her. Perhaps, she could find a calm ladamong themwho would never leave her for love or money,runningaway somewhere to the end of the world for the whole month.
But for some reason, she was scared of the thought of losing Bob. Kathy tried so hard to tackle it, tried to start living without this lad, but every time she felt so bad that she immediately decided to reconcile herselfwith him.
The girl smiled again to her Bobby on the phone screen, finished her coffee and went outside. There, she was met by the cheerful sun, singing birds and gentle breeze. Kathy stood still for a while and then, she walked further on her business.
Her angel Gley watched her go with a smile. His favorite ‘Kitty’ was becoming kinder and kinderslowbut sure.
* * *
The next morning, after along passage anda good night’s sleep, the friends sat at the table for the first council. They had just one issue:aninvestigation of the sailing ship. ‘Dolce Dive’ catamaran was anchored on the old location, so that it took the diversonly a few minutesto reach it. The friends filled their cups with a delicious coffee, spread sheets of paper with pens and even, put a small laptop on the table that theyhad never done before.
‘Dear treasure hunters!’ Josh began speaking first, as usual. ‘We are going to explore this ship. Unfortunately, we do not have any practical experience in this field; therefore, we should make up a clever plan. This plan should consider security issues and describe a competent sequence of our internal operations. Please,giveyour opinions on this subject.’
After a small pause, Mike began speaking.
‘Friends, our trip to the shore was quite useful. We have spent many hours surfing the Internet and searching for the necessary information about shipwrecks.Now, we have dozens of plans for internal arrangement of cabins and rooms typical for sailing ships of that timein our computers. Our goal is to determinewhich plan is the most suitable for our sailing ship. This will help usmuch to understand what we should inspect first.’
‘I think, I will add some details,’ Yegor joined the conversation. Of course, a cargo hold and a captain’s cabin will be the places of primary interest for us. In the first place, we will see what cargo this ship carried. All the treasures that we will find should be located in skipper’s cabin, if the ship did not carry any special treasures that demand special premises.But, it is not likely. I don’t think that one could carry such treasures to Australia. This is the destiny of pirate ships or, at least, of some Mediterranean ones.’
‘I agree’, Joshsaid, ‘besides, there is a possibility of finding nothing. The captain could take all the treasures on the quarter boat.’
Yegor smiledto himsomehow cunningly.
‘I would agree with you, my friend, if we were talking about a simple shipwreck,’the Russian diver sipped his coffee and looked thoughtfully into the distance. ‘But, our ship’s name, as it turned out, can be read backwards as Avos. How many of you think that there’s a slightest coincidencein this?’
All the divers thoughtfor several minutes, but none objectedto Yegor.
‘That means that the location of treasures inside the ship will probably be not according to the general rules’, he continued, ‘but according to the same good old Avos’ plan.’
Yegor smiled broadly and happily, and finished.
‘That means, my friends, anything can happen.’
‘All right…’Josh thoughtfully continued the topic after some time. ‘That is very unusual. On the one hand, we have a real shipwreck made nearthe nineteenth century. One the other hand, we live by the modern Avos’ plan, which, apparently, has control over time and all circumstances, in general.’
‘That’s even more interesting,’ Mike said with a smile. ‘I’ve never thought that my birthday present would be so colossal.’
‘I will also have a birthday in a couple of weeks,’ Bob said in a cunning and pathetic manner.
The friends at the table burst out laughing.
‘Alright, gentlemen,’ Yegor continued after a short pause. ‘Let’s move to the technical side of our dives. I will tell you in a few words aboutgeneral safety regulations during the diving in caves and internal premises of a ship. After that, we will think how to apply them on our sailing ship.’
The friends moved closer to the tableand prepared to listen.
* * *
An hour later, Mike and Yegor were the first couple to go diving. Their zodiac was filled with many things and equipment, which they were going to use for working underwater. First, the friends wanted to tie a rope with a buoy to the sailing ship. That would make their dive easier. Yegor had to do this job. Mike, in his turn, carried a reserve balloon with a regulator, which was needed for safetyissues during the internal work on the ship.
Yegor looked again at a majestic sailing ship and began to search for the highest point to fasten the rope. It turned out to be a broken mast in the middle of the ship. When Yegor was coming closer, he suddenly realized that the mast’s fragment with a small crossbar surprisingly resembled a cross. Yegor thought a little and tied the ropeto it securely.
‘Perhaps, it will be very symbolic to start working at that place each time,’he thought. When Yegor finished knotting, he swam closer to Mike who had already put the balloon in the safe place on the old deck. After that, the friends gave a sign to Bob by releasing several big bubbles from the regulator under his zodiac.
A minute later, the lad began to lower different cargoson the rope, which Mike and Yegor fetched to the sailing ship and put nearby the balloon. When no more cargos were left, the friends fastened it with the rope. Of course, they were not afraid of thieves. Theirequipment was themost worthless rubbishin the world for all theinhabitants of this reef. Thedivers did not know how strong currentscould be at that place; therefore, they secured the goods, just in case.
After that, Mike and Yegor continued to examine the shipoutside, according to their plan. It should help them to determine more precisely its type, age, and, possibly, location of its cabinsin detail. First, they explored and took pictures of all the topsides of the deck, found an anchor compartment, inspected and counted all the artillery places along the ship’s sides. Then, they measured length, width and height of the ship with a special rope having tick marks.
After that, their job was finished. The friends came closer to the mast and slowly began swimming up to the surface. At the depth of five meters, they stopped for decompression and looked at their sailing ship from above for three more minutes. From this distance, it looked very graceful and majesticas well.
* * *
‘I wonder what other findings the Father prepared for them inside the ship,’ angel Few asked his friends, playing with his one hand with fish in the pond.
At that moment, the angels were sitting together in the garden near Asli’s house. Cozy colorful chairs stood right by the water and the angels could look at the fish and even play with it.
‘Soon we will see,’angel Nias replied. ‘But do not even doubt that these findings will be not just interesting, but very useful for our divers as well.
‘To be honest, I still keep wondering, how quickly and lively the Father led our romantics to understanding such important things,’ angel Asli said smiling. ‘Apparently, now they have more faith.’
After that, angel Asli made a serious face and continued to speak imitating his Yegor’s voice.
‘The presence of treasures inside the ship will probably go to the good old Avos plan,’ he spoke out along with cheery laughter of his friends. ‘Two weeks ago, he did not even have such thoughts on his mind. And yesterday, he noticed the cross on the ship, what an eagle-eyed!’
‘Listen, what my chap has come up with,’ angel Nias said and continued with Mike’s voice. I have never thought that my birthday present would be so colossal. It is such a pleasure for the Father to hear these words from them!’
‘You don’t say so,’ Few gave a warm sigh. ‘Even my Bobby remembered about his birthday.’
The angels burst out laughing.
‘Your Bob is so young and sweet,’saidangel Leila. ‘All the things that helearnssoonwill be so useful for him in the future.’
‘Precisely. The Father and I will not let him forget anything,’Fewreplied.
‘Well, my friends!’ Sain addressed to the angels. ‘Perhaps, we should ask the Father what finding will be nextand after that, visit our divers.’
Everyone addressed the Father in their minds. In a moment, they smiled cheerfully.
‘As usual,’ angel Manif laughed. ‘Simple, fun andof genius. Our Fatherwon’t do in a different way. So, let’s fly? We are so interested.’
The angels flapped their wings and headed to the Swain.
* * *
‘For better understanding what and where we shall search, let me tell you about the way sailing ships were loaded at those times,’ Mike said looking at his computer screen. He had already downloaded all the necessary information when they were on the shore.
At dawn,the divers were sitting on the rear deck drinking their evening tea.
‘So’,the American continued narration,‘it was necessary to put cast iron and stone ballast on the bottom of all the deck ships to providea good stability. Therefore, there is no point in digging to the very bottom.’
The diversat the table nodded in agreement. They were not enthusiastic about digging out some ballast no matter how old it was.
‘Next, the heaviest load was put on the bottom: cannonballs, gunpowder, et cetera. The water compartment was located in front part of a ship, there the water was kept during a long journey. It was poured into the barrels. The lower barrels were covered with stones, and the upper ones were surrounded by firewood to prevent them from rolling during the ship’s motions.’
Mike took a sip of tea.
‘There’s hardly anything interesting about this load as well.’
‘We have enough water, we do not need it,’ Josh replied with a smile. ‘And we do not need cannonballsyet either.’
‘It all depends, Josh, don’t hurry,’ Yegor stepped in cheerfully. ‘Why don’t we go back to the port with two cannons on our catamaran’s bow? I think that would be a wide-scale advertisement for our expedition all over the news.’
‘Maybe we should grab a couple of ships on the way,’ the Australian lawyer muttered disapprovingly.
‘All right, leave all the jokes until later,’ Mike interferedwith a smile. ‘Let’s moveon. Ropes and other spare parts for sails and anchors were usually located behind the water compartment, by foremast. In those days, storms often damaged sails, tore off anchors, therefore, sailors had to keep a good stock of them. Then, load was stored in bales behind mainmast.’
‘And where did the ship’s crew live?’ Bob asked Mike.
‘Usually, they lived on the next floor,’ Mike replied. ‘Sailors lived closer to the bow, and then, if it was a military ship, soldiers, officers and warrant officers lived farther. Captain’s cabin, as a rule, was located at the end of the ship on the upper deck.’
After that,Mike finished his tea.
‘If it was a military ship, on the next floor, there were located the heaviest cannons, and if it was a merchant ship,there was a transported load. As a rule, there were a few cannons on merchant ships and they were placed a little bit higher.’
‘And how many cannons does our sailing ship have?’
‘Yegor and I counted twenty. Considering the fact, that our ship is forty-two meters long and ten meters wide, it seems more like a merchant ship with good armament. Though, it can also be a multipurpose corvette.’
‘How can we figure this out?’ Josh asked him.
‘Of course, captain knew best about the ship and its load,’ Yegor answered for him. ‘I think, we should inspect the ship from captain’s cabin. If there is some information about this ship, it must be located therefirst. If no, we will take a look into other cabins and bulges.’
‘I think,Yegor’s right,’ Mike supported his friend. ‘Besides, there is no difficulty in entering the captain’s cabin. It is located on the very top in the end of the ship.’
‘What do we know about the ship’s age?’ Josh asked again.
‘So far, we can say for sure that it is no older than of 1820s,’ Mike replied. ‘It has iron chains on anchors and iron beams for boats. All these innovations appeared at that time. I am afraid that we can’ttellanythingmore precisely about her age, so far.’
‘I can only add’, Yegor intervened, ‘that the sailing ships were used until the end of the n
