Cyberbile & Grounded
Page 10
HARBOURMASTER: I beg your pardon?
FARRAH: It was a phase I was going through.
HARBOURMASTER: I understood it was more than that.
FARRAH: Turns out it wasn’t.
HARBOURMASTER: Oh. Okay. [Beat.] So what are you going to do now?
FARRAH: I’m not sure. All I ever wanted to do was go to sea.
HARBOURMASTER: Better to find out before we invest all that money in you.
FARRAH: I guess.
HARBOURMASTER: Thousands of dollars to train every pilot who works in this port.
FARRAH: But considering the hundreds of millions of dollars in shipping they’re handling that’s not a lot.
HARBOURMASTER: That’s right. And 23 is the number of pilots working too.
FARRAH: Twenty-four counting you. Because you’re still active.
HARBOURMASTER: You’re well informed.
FARRAH: For an amateur.
Pause.
HARBOURMASTER: I understand you were out on Nobbys the day the Pasha was grounded.
FARRAH: Yep.
HARBOURMASTER: That must have been a pretty exciting story to tell your friends. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you in the media.
FARRAH: I didn’t think it was right to speak about it.
HARBOURMASTER: Right?
FARRAH: No.
HARBOURMASTER: I don’t understand.
FARRAH: I watched the humiliation that went on in the media, tearing the captain to shreds over it and I watched the joking that went on and all the rest of it and it made me really sad. Because, as a professional mariner that’s such degrading thing to happen to someone. Because the public and the media are more than happy to tear someone to shreds when they’ve done the wrong thing but nobody talks about all the times when ships are brought in in bad weather completely safely. I actually felt disgusted to live in a culture where it’s okay to rip people to shreds when there’s been a disaster but the day-to-day job that pilots do just goes completely unnoticed. People only take an interest when something goes wrong. Yeah. So that’s why I didn’t want to say anything. [Pause.] What?
HARBOURMASTER: You’re sure you don’t want to work for me?
FARRAH: Nah.
HARBOURMASTER: Too scared?
FARRAH nods.
’Cause look what can happen to you, huh?
FARRAH nods.
And you’re gonna add to that masters who’ll refuse to be brought in by a female pilot, and when you’re at sea, you’re gonna add maybe being one of the only women on a ship and you’re gonna add the possibility of pirates boarding and being one of the only women on a ship.
FARRAH: Yeah.
HARBOURMASTER: And you’re gonna add fires at sea and when you’re third mate having to possibly perform medical procedures on your male colleagues and possibly having to perform medical checks on rescued foreign male seafarers.
FARRAH: Oh.
HARBOURMASTER: And you’re gonna add some moral questions because Newcastle is the biggest coal port in the world and you’re gonna wonder about contributing to the world’s pollution like that. I’m not saying you’re gonna be a greenie, I’m just saying it’s gonna occur to you that you are part of that chain.
FARRAH: Yeah.
HARBOURMASTER: So you’ve got a lot of things to consider.
FARRAH: Mmm.
HARBOURMASTER: Like what?
FARRAH: What?
HARBOURMASTER: If you had to bring the Pasha back into this port what would you consider?
FARRAH: First I’d consider the tidal range.
HARBOURMASTER: Why?
FARRAH: Because the bigger the tidal range the larger the current that’s flowing. The current affects how the ship handles on the water and how much you’re getting pushed around by the current.
HARBOURMASTER: And I bet you know what the tidal range is in Newcastle port, don’t you?
FARRAH: The highest astronomical range here is 2 metres, 2.1 but that’s a rare circumstance, you don’t normally get much above 1.7, 1.8 metres.
HARBOURMASTER: What else?
FARRAH: Is the rudder working?
HARBOURMASTER: No.
FARRAH: I would assume it would have been sheared off when it hit the reef.
HARBOURMASTER: Actually when we were getting it off the reef.
FARRAH: Right.
HARBOURMASTER: You’ve got a basically dead ship with no propellor blades and no prop shaft. Anything else?
Pause.
FARRAH: I’d also consider the amount of freshwater in the harbour.
HARBOURMASTER: Very good. The freshwater sits on top of the saltwater, some of it mixes in but the bulk of it sits there like an extra buffer you’ve just got to push against.
FARRAH: Right.
HARBOURMASTER: But that was really sharp to think of that.
FARRAH: Thank you.
HARBOURMASTER: Really. You’re good. You could do this.
FARRAH bites her lip to stop herself from crying.
FARRAH: Thank you.
SCENE EIGHTEEN
CHLOE is seated when FARRAH holds a large peppermint swirl on a stick.
CHLOE: What’s that?
FARRAH: You tell me.
CHLOE: It’s a peppermint swirl.
FARRAH: Which the White Stripes have been using for their ‘Icky Thump’ tour promotion.
CHLOE: They always use a peppermint swirl.
FARRAH: Yeah.
CHLOE: So what’s so special about this one?
FARRAH: Have a look.
CHLOE looks at it.
CHLOE: ‘Icky Thump’ tour pins. Where’d you get these?
FARRAH: Ordered them online.
CHLOE: But you can’t get them except on the tour.
FARRAH: Thought that might make you crack a smile.
CHLOE: Nah, that’s the advantage of being a retro punk, you never have to crack a smile.
FARRAH: I shouldn’t have said that.
CHLOE: Why not, it’s what you really think.
FARRAH: It isn’t.
CHLOE: Then why’d you say it?
FARRAH: Because I’m a total idiot.
CHLOE: And why are you here? Aren’t they bringing in that stupid bloody ship today.
FARRAH: Yeah.
Pause.
CHLOE: There’s no way.
FARRAH: Come on.
CHLOE: Forget it. I thought we could get back to… you know… how we were, but now I’m not so keen.
FARRAH: There’s going to be half of Newcastle out there, all along the breakwater, right round past the Crown Plaza. It’ll be something to see.
CHLOE: A big damaged ship. So what?
FARRAH: Chloe, how often have the White Stripes been to Newcastle?
CHLOE: Never.
FARRAH: And if they came do you think I’d come to see them with you?
CHLOE: I don’t care.
Pause.
FARRAH: Get behind me, Satan.
CHLOE: Yeah, you should.
FARRAH: Yeah, I am.
CHLOE: And if anyone else would be friends with you, you wouldn’t bother with me.
FARRAH: Who else would be friends with me?
CHLOE: No-one.
FARRAH: No-one in their right mind.
CHLOE: You saying I’m crazy now?
FARRAH: If the cap fits.
CHLOE: You’re just as crazy.
FARRAH: That’s right. And I’ve had no-one to share it with. No-one. You don’t even know what I’ve been through these last few weeks. Because when that ship grounded it was so foul. And I just wanted it to go away. But it was like every day was another reminder of how dumb I’d been to think I could ever get away from here and meet someone, anyone who doesn’t think that being into ships is just the stupidest thing for a girl to be into.
CHLOE: Well, at least you’ve been practising your violin.
FARRAH: What?
CHLOE: Feeling sorry for yourself and playing the smallest violin in the world.
FARRAH begins to leave.
Wait. What about my peppermint swirl?
FARRAH: Here.
She hands it to her. CHLOE looks at it.
JACK enters.
JACK: Got one for me?
CHLOE: You a White Stripes fan?
JACK: Not really.
FARRAH: Hi, Jack.
JACK: Hi, Farrah. Whatcha’ doin?
FARRAH: We were just heading down to see the Pasha come in.
CHLOE: You go with him. Don’t worry about me.
FARRAH: Come on. We can both go with him.
CHLOE: Nah. I’m not really interested.
JACK and FARRAH act out the following disaster scenarios.
JACK: You know that when they pull it off the reef it might break apart.
CHLOE: Yeah?
JACK: Like right down the centre. Imagine that.
CHLOE: That would be pretty spectacular.
JACK: An’ all the oil comes glugging out in one giant whoosh. Bam!
FARRAH: Won’t be doing surfing at Nobbys next semester.
JACK: Word up.
FARRAH: And even if they get it off without that happening, there’s no engine and no steering.
JACK: So instead of coming in all straight through the entrance it might go out of control and take out the breakwater.
FARRAH: Bam!
JACK: And if it’s still wheeling around, out of control, it might take out the pilot station.
FARRAH: Smash!
JACK: And if they can’t get the speed up and it’s totalled all along the harbour, they might accidentally jam it through one of the barriers so that it ends up in the park.
FARRAH: Leaking oil all over the park.
JACK: Yeah, or it might sink, right there in the harbour entrance.
FARRAH: Fwooh!
JACK: Right there and it just sinks and no ships can get in or out for months.
FARRAH: Whoa!
JACK: And if the tugs lose control of it it might be this giant out-of-control ship, spinning wildly until it suddenly…
FARRAH: … with an eerie creaking sound…
JACK: … rrrrhhhhhhhahhh…
FARRAH: … falls over on its side and crushes the thousands who have lined the foreshore to watch it come in.
They tip over and fall on top of CHLOE. They all get up, laughing.
CHLOE: You really think something might go wrong?
FARRAH: Sure.
JACK: Either way it’s gonna be chronic.
FARRAH: A real woot fest.
CHLOE looks at JACK and then FARRAH.
CHLOE: Yeah, alright then.
JACK: Alright what?
CHLOE: Where do you want to watch it from?
SCENE NINETEEN
FIGURE 1: That morning, when I was about to bring the ship in, the swell was down and the wind was looking a bit dodgy and there was the forecast of a front to come through later in the morning.
FIGURE 3: The Pasha was way out in the Stockton bight with the salvage tugs and by this stage the wind was up to 35 knots from the west, the north-west, it was really starting to blow. And I was thinking we’re probably going to have to delay the entry of the ship until the wind eases off.
FIGURE 4: I remember getting out of the helicopter and walking along the deck of the Pasha and the other pilot, Scott, said to me ‘what do you think?’ and I said ‘ah well, it’s a bit breezy, I suppose’.
FIGURE 5: Anyway we climbed our way up to the bridge and I went through the passage plan with the salvage master and the actual captain of the Pasha Bulker, the Korean captain, he was there but very much in the background. I outlined to the salvage master what I was going to do. And when I got my pen out my hands were shaking and I was surprised, I didn’t think I’d be that nervous but I was.
FIGURE 6: The salvage master was concerned like I was about the wind conditions which at that stage were gusting up to about 46 knots and he’d just turned the ship around in a big turn to allow us to land on it in the helicopter and as a result he’d lost all speed, it was down to, when we started the piloting, it was down to a speed of about two and a half knots.
ADULT: I knew I wouldn’t be able to get the ship in safely with that sort of speed so I guess that’s when you call on your experience over many years of working this pond and all the ship-handling skills that you’ve got. So I called another one of the tugs out who wasn’t supposed to be assisting with the Pasha and I hooked him up. When the speed got up to 4.6 knots I was a lot happier and we headed for the breakwater. And that was when I saw that more than half of Newcastle was out there there watching me. It was just mind- blowing and… it was a very public job. Three quarters of Newcastle were out there on the foreshore! They were all down Stockton side, they were right from Nobbys breakwater, all the way down to Crown Plaza. So I get to the entrance of the harbour, the ship starts rolling off a bit to port, but we got through the entrance no problems at all and I thought this is pretty good. We were coming down past Nobbys toward the pilot station and I’m trying to co-ordinate six tugs.
CHLOE: Why is he going so fast?
FARRAH: If you keep the speed on you have more control.
ADULT: When it’s slower the ship tends to skate and blow around. But if you have too much speed your tugs can’t hold you in position. But I looked up at the foreshore and there were just people everywhere and I remember thinking ‘If I stuff this up I’m gonna be on every television news program in the world tonight’.
FARRAH: If he stuffs this up he’s going to be on every television news program in the world tonight.
ADULT: But no pressure, you know. Because I was thinking this is right up there. And I’d never done anything like it before. But I remember looking at all those people and thinking what a big deal it was for Newcastle so I said to the salvage master, ‘have we got a whistle for the ship?’ because normally we blow the whistle as we go around the corner and he said, ‘no, we’ve got nothing working at all’, so I called up all the tugs and I said, ‘on the count of three all blow your whistles’, and I went, ‘one, two, three’.
The FIGURES all make the sound of the tugs’ whistles (or it could be a taped sound effect).
And we did it again halfway again as we were going across the horseshoe.
The FIGURES all make the sound of the tug whistles again.
Because everyone was waving and everyone was just so elated to see the thing off the beach and finally in a safe position and just after we did the second one the harbourmaster rings me from the incident control room and says…
ALL: ‘You gotta do it again.’
ADULT: Everyone was really going berserk so we did it again just as we were approaching the Crown Plaza.
The FIGURES make the sound of the tug whistle and cheer.
FARRAH: Then he took it round and put it up against the wharf and they had webcams set up throughout the harbour broadcasting this live on the web. So he tied it up against the wharf and threw an oil spill boom around it and everybody just went off and had a night of celebration. Because everyone had had enough of it by that stage.
NIGEL: Name for me if you will the marine pilot who safely brought in the Pasha Bulker?
FIGURE 5: It’s not on the internet.
HARBOURMASTER: It wasn’t in the papers.
FIGURE 4: There was no ‘60 Minutes’ feature profile.
FIGURE 1: There was no mention in the Queen’s Birthday honours.
HARBOURMASTER: A job that goes unnoticed and unmentioned.
NIGEL: A quiet, careful work of immaculate skill and utter precision.
HARBOURMASTER: A sliding through velvet dark water in the still of night.
FIGURE 4: While Newcastle sleeps.
FIGURE 2: While Newcastle works.
NIGEL: Ships do their delicate dance on sunlight-spangled waves.
HARBOURMASTER: Turning on the head of a pin.
FIGURE 4
: Tug boats nudging them into berth.
FIGURE 3: Lines tied and rat guards mounted.
NIGEL: In wind-whipped weather.
HARBOURMASTER: The helicopters hover over rocking decks.
FIGURE 3: Pilots mount ladders and climb to the deck.
FIGURE 4: Pilots climb staircases up to the bridge.
FARRAH: And she asks herself
am I one who watches
who longs to sniff the salt air as my morning breath
who sees the wind whip her bedroom curtains
and longs to be out on the churning green sea
am I one for whom the ships whistle blows
a hard clear call
who harkens to the cry of gulls
and the wash of waves on a summer line load.
Am I the one?
SCENE TWENTY
The FIGURES become a ‘group’ of school friends, sitting in a circle, with FARRAH apart from them.
FIGURE 1: I think I would like to go into advertising because I love design and I love writing and you have to do both of those things. And there’s a really strategic side to it which is what I also love.
FIGURE 2: I thought I wanted to be a drama teacher but lots of things have happened and I’ve swapped around to public relations. Because that’s only a two-year course and I don’t want to have to do the four years that drama teachers have to do.
FIGURE 3: I dunno. I guess I’ll try and get a job somewhere else. I don’t even want to go to uni in Newcastle. I mean, for me, that’s not what I want.
FIGURE 4: I get so sick of this question.
FIGURE 5: Like from the age of 12 you’re asked ‘so what are you going to do?’
FIGURE 4: Try from the age of five.
FIGURE 5: Yeah, I have no idea what I want to do and I’m gonna choose my courses for Year 11 based on what I like, but I don’t know what I’m gonna do in Year 12. Or after. I’ll probably do a Bachelor of Arts and take everything a year at a time and just kind of go with it and see.
FIGURE 6: Some people just know what they want to do.
FIGURE 1: Like Farrah.
FARRAH: Yeah.
FIGURE 6: Since we’ve got to the end of Year 10 I’ve started to see how cool that is.
FIGURE 5: Like Farrah has just always known and she’s been really focussed while we were like…
FIGURE 4: … still being kids.
FIGURE 5: But she’s never wavered.