Page 27 of Below the Deck

‘Oh good, we’re all here,’ said Captain Taylor, as Sam arrived in the salon, walked over to the dining table and took the empty chair next to Nick. The rest of the guests were already seated, coffees in hands, and Johanna and Brett stood either side of the captain.

Sam glanced around the table, looking for a sign that any of his fellow guests were responsible for the shout of pain he’d heard below deck. Eleni was holding Nick’s hand, smiling and bright in a long-sleeved pink kaftan; Talia looked bored and disinterested, with Rory rolling his eyes and tutting impatiently beside her. Only Lucy looked pale and anxious, her chair shifted away from her boyfriend’s; his mouth was turned down sulkily.Maybe she’s given Mark a bollocking about his drunken performance last night?

‘Thanks for joining me,’ said the captain. ‘I’m sorry for gathering you all here already this morning – I know some of you haven’t eaten breakfast yet.’ She paused to take a sip of water. ‘Unfortunately, at around midnight, our satellite Wi-Fi went down – and with it, one of the communication links we have with ports and marinas in the area.’

The internet’s gone down? Is that all?Sam breathed a sigh of relief. He’d worked that out already. It was annoying, sure, but they could survive without going online, couldn’t they? This wasn’t a big deal – not a big enough deal for a morning meeting, anyway.

‘I’ve not been able to figure out what happened yet,’ said Brett. ‘Or how to fix it. And there aren’t any specialist engineers here in Huahine, or none that we’ve managed to get a hold of anyway. We might need to wait until we get to Raiatea tomorrow to get it fixed.’

The captain nodded. ‘We’ll do our best to find someone tomorrow. But it’s possible we may not get it back up and running until we arrive back in Tahiti, I’m afraid.’ She paused. ‘As I say, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.’

‘I’m sure we can live without the internet for a day or two, can’t we?’ Talia said, her tone dismissive. ‘I’ve barely even used it since we got here.’

Ha, that’s bullshit.Talia had been surgically attached to her phone for the whole trip so far; even over dinner, Sam had caught her – trying to be subtle, but failing miserably – peering down into her handbag, then putting her hands inside and swiping and tapping with an urgent expression on her face. There was no way she’d not been rinsing the Wi-Fi since they’d been out here – and there was no need to lie about it. Sam had been using it too, to stay in touch with his sister and his mates – there was nothing wrong with that.

Rory shifted in his chair, clasped his fingers together and stretched his arms out in front of him: his classic gesture to say he wasabout to get down to business. ‘Well, of course, doing without Wi-Fi for a while is no problem,’ he agreed, giving Talia a paternal pat on the hand. ‘But the captain also mentioned some issues with communications,’ Rory went on. He turned towards Captain Taylor. ‘How serious are these issues, Captain? Will we still be able to make contact if we need to during our sail tomorrow, for any reason – if we get into any trouble?’ He said the last words with a laugh, but Sam caught the note of anxiety in his voice. ‘We don’t want anything going wrong.’

Captain Taylor offered him a tight smile. ‘Well, first up, I’m not expecting us to get into any trouble. And second, it’s only the satellite part of the comms that have gone down – ourmain method of communication, which is two-way radio, is still up and running as usual. So, no, this isn’t a serious issue, and I’m not concerned. If we need to make contact, we’ve got other ways of doing that.’

‘And I’m going to keep trying my best to resolve the issue,’ added Brett. ‘I’ve got a few more things to try.’

There was a pause as the room digested this.

‘Well, that’s good to know,’ said Rory. ‘In that case, I’m not sure what else there is to discuss – let’s just get on with our day. Does everyone agree?’

‘That’s fine with me,’ said Lucy firmly; Mark shrugged next to her.

‘It’s cool,’ agreed Sam.

‘Yeah, all good,’ said Nick. ‘Sure that’ll be all right with you too, Els? You can stay off the family WhatsApp group for a bit, right?’

Eleni glanced at her husband, rolled her eyes and smiled. ‘Yes, of course I can. Captain, that all sounds perfect.’

‘Well, that’s settled then,’ said Captain Taylor, pushing her chair back and getting to her feet. ‘I’ll head to the control centre now and try to make contact with an on-shore engineer in Raiatea in advance of our arrival.’

‘Sounds good,’ said Nick. ‘Hey, have we got a bit of time to play with those water toys today? I’m still dying to try out my skills on a jet ski.’

‘Bloody marvellous idea!’ Rory clapped with boyish excitement. ‘What do you say – can Noah or one of your deck boys sort that out for us?’

Johanna nodded briskly. ‘Of course. How many of you would like to use them? We have two jet skis, and two peoplecan ride them at a time. Rory and Nick – anyone else?’

‘Not me,’ Eleni said, shaking her head with a laugh; Talia also murmured ano thanks.

‘Me neither,’ said Lucy. ‘Water sports aren’t really my thing. I think I’ll go and enjoy the hot tub for a bit.’

Mark scowled. ‘Not in the mood either,’ he said sullenly. ‘Probably need a bit more sleep – I’ll see you all later.’ He stood and stomped indoors, stroppy as a teenager.Those two look like they’re on the rocks …

‘Sam?’ Nick turned to him. ‘Up for it, mate? Come on – it’ll be a laugh. Your foot’s healed up all right now, hasn’t it?’

Sam puffed the air out of his cheeks. His footwasfeeling a bit better now, and he didn’t want to miss out. He’d never been on a jet ski before, but it looked like good craic. And it might be just the thing to blow away the grog of cobwebs that still lingered in his brain this morning.

‘Ah, sure, go on then. Johanna, lead the way.’

Out on the stern of the main deck, Noah and Kai released the jet skis from the garage behind the swim platform. As Kai prepared to launch them by lowering the platform, Noah handed the three of them safety helmets and life jackets.

‘Okay, gents. We can take two of you at a time. Who’s coming first?’

Rory frowned. ‘Can’t we all go? I thought the jet skis could fit two people each.’