Life Of Deckhands

Dedicated to all sailors.

Prologue

It all started, like, I can tell you a story from my last ship. Do you know about deckhands? If you know, then great. If not, read this book to explore the story of Captain Jack and Boson Edward while travelling on the Pacific waters.

The sea voyage is full of enthralling events about fighting, revenge, and pirate theft. It makes me sad to know the difficulties our sailors face on deck. You can hold my hand and take this adventurous sea trip with me.

Chapters:

Copyrights

Prologue

Chapter 1: A Day in the Ship

Chapter 2: Be in Your Cabin

Chapter 3: The Call

Chapter 4: The Master Plan

Chapter 5: Accident

Acknowledgements

Also by Jose Heavena Fernando

About The Author

Chapter 1: A Day in the Ship

The sea voyage started in the Persian Gulf to reach the long beach. The destination was the port in the USA, located in the Pacific Ocean. All the sailors started to board the ship. They were loaded with valuable goods to transport to other countries. There are two kinds of groups on the vessel: high-grade officers and low-grade ratings. The high-grade officers were the captain and chief officers, and the low-grade ratings were deckhands.

The deckhands perform manual duties like mooring, cleaning, and cargo handling. A deckhand plays a pivotal role in operating and maintaining the vessel. Almost 90% of goods get transported by ship. The world's economy depends vastly on voyage income.

Ship maintenance requires the hard labour of deckhands and the precise planning of bosuns, chief officers, and captains.

A Bosun with 30 years of experience on boards. People call him Edward, and he was known to be a trustworthy and loyal person in his work. He has broad shoulders, curly hair, dark brown eyes, and ideal abs. All his works would be of premium quality, utmost precision, and perfection. He has a good record of being sincere, authentic, and devoted to his company.

Edward says ships are known to be she because they require more paint to look good than cosmetics do to a woman. The vessel needs chipping, a process where rust gets removed from the metal and a new coat of paint are applied to maintain its beauty. The main job of deckhands is to paint the ship to keep it pristine.

Edward similarly takes charge of the crew and the equipment. The role of the bosun is to take a job from the captain and chief officer, distribute it to the deckhands every morning, and ensure it gets done. The captain wants Edward to paint the vessel in a few days without investing in quality work.

Captain Jack has spiked hair, a sharp nose, well-sculpted body features, brown skin, and chocolate-brown eyes. He wants to show the company how well he maintains the ship. But the truth is, a quick job doesn't last long. It can undergo wear and tear at any time. Edward knows this, so he disagrees and argues with the captain to do the work perfectly.

Edward points out that rust formation in the motor tanker will come soon in heavy weather when the ship sails in the Pacific.

The salty sea water and wind come in on the deck, and the paint will peel off soon. The low-quality painting can last only for 1-2 months.

Chapter 2: "Be in Your Cabin"

The next day, Captain Jack comes on deck and orders the Bosun to stay in his cabin and not do any work until he says. Edward has no choice but to agree with the captain. He sits in Cabin No. 12, following the captain's orders. The bosun gets bored and sketches about the ship the whole day sitting in his room.

The captain plans to sign off on Edward for not coming to work. Carl, the cousin of Edward and a deckhand, tells him to get a written statement from Jack for not allowing him to work. But Edward denies speaking with the captain, as he doesn't want to argue further.

But the cunning captain informs the company that Edward is not coming to work because he is lazy. Now the captain takes the lead in getting the work done by the deckhands.

Jack gives direct orders to all deckhands to do the chipping. The deckhands obey Jack's order and start the process. The captain makes the deckhands work for 34 hours without any rest. He disapproves of their sick and emergency leave. Without proper food and rest, the deckhands undergo physical pain and misery. Some shed tears while working. The workers feel like there are human rights violations and are slaves at work. Jack takes photos of the work done daily and shares them with the company to get a good name. But the truth was that the work was poor and of no quality. The company spends dollars on cosmetics and manpower. But unfortunately, they are wasted due to poor-quality work.

When the ship was travelling between the Persian Gulf and the long beach, pirates from the Strait of Malacca attacked the vessel. The captain gives work to deckhands without doing a pirate watch. The pirates boarded the ship without anyone's knowledge and took 60 lakhs of Indian currency-value engine parts.

The company conducts the investigation. Jack threatens the deckhands to say that we did the watch. But the deckhands refuse to say so.

The company's CEO from India calls Edward and connects through a personal call. Edward picks up the call and greets the CEO.

Chapter 3: "The Call"

The company CEO asks Edward about the situation and what is going wrong. Edward opens up the truth. He informs the CEO that he argued with the captain to do impeccable work to high standards using premium paints. But the captain just wanted to show off by doing quick work rather than doing the best job. It led to ego clashes between the captain and Edward.

The CEO makes a video call to find out what's happening in the sea. He speaks with the crew members of the ship. He inquires if they have any problems onboard. Bosun and Carl open up the truth. While some deckhands joined them, saying that it was true. They were not treated well.

Carl informs the CEO about what happened the previous month. Jack announced to the ship crew that he had taken provision, so they must never ask him for food anymore. He says you have to adjust to living with minimal food.

That morning, the chief cook kept 2 litres of juice for the deckhands. Carl asks the Chief cook, "How can sixteen people survive on a 2-litre juice?"

The chief cook sadly informs him that it was the captain's order. So workers must follow this rule for a month. The deckhands were sweating blood at work, and Jack had his peaceful zone.

The CEO gets angry at Captain Jack and yells at him. The captain's anger bursts at everyone.

Chapter 4: The Master Plan

The CEO tells the captain to be nice to everyone and calls off the meeting. But the captain has a grudge against Edward and plans to remove him from his ship.

The captain tries to think about the master plan to eliminate Edward. He invites a trainee seaman to his room to have black coffee together. Jack offers the trainee seaman 50,000 rupees to frame Edward. The trainee seaman and Jack decide to take revenge against Edward.

The captain tells the trainee seamen to write a letter against Edward, stating that he abused him and his religion. The trainee seamen file a complaint against Edward and give it to Captain Jack.

Jack gets the opportunity to fire Edward. So he doesn't leave the chance. The captain forwards the letter to the head office.

Chapter 5: Accident

Edward gets terminated from his job, finally. After the 10th day of Edward's termination, the deckhands miss him. But the trainee seaman climbs the stairs to fix the paint. His legs slip, and he falls from the stairs shouting, "Help me". The workers hurry up to him.

Blood oozes from his head, hands, and legs. A few deckhands carry him to the clinic to give him first aid. His wounds are covered and stitched immediately.

The day comes for sailors to visit their hometowns. All the deckhands rush out of the ship with cheerful faces. But, the trainee seaman travels home on a stretcher. Carl watches everything that has happened and feels like God has punished him for lying against Edward and for doing injustice.