Hank was very excited. He was allowed to go out on the open ocean!
Well, he wasn't allowed to go by himself, as he still didn't have his V- word, but the Dispatcher told Hank that he could join Rosie, the new assistant coastguard ship, out at sea as a one off. This made Hank feel very thrilled. He knew that Theodore would be jealous of him, because he got to go out into the open ocean for a change, and that was something he had always wanted to do.
So he hurried on, hoping that it will be fun working with Rosie for a change.
Rosie was waiting for him at the mouth of the harbour.
"Are you ready to go?" She asked him.
"Yes I am!" Hank replied enthusiastically. "I can't wait to get started!"
"Hang on a moment!" Rosie barked. "I have to be loaded with oil skimmers first!"
"Sorry Rosie- wait, what are oil skimmers?" He asked curiously.
"They're machines used for cleaning up oil. Didn't the Dispatcher tell you we were working with an oil spillage today?"
"Hank tried to remember, but all he could remember was that the Dispatcher had attempted to tell him something before. Oh- maybe that had been it.
"I think he may have mentioned something." He admitted, not willing to let on the truth to her.
"Hmph! Well, you better do as I say- oil spillages are a nasty business to deal with." Rosie warns him.
"Oh yes, Rosie, I will!" The harbour tug promised.
"Good! It's a strict job." Rosie warned, before she moved away to where the spillage was.
"I'll do my best to help her." Hank said to himself, before he followed her to their destination.
...
The oil spill was nasty- it had spread rapidly and the oil tanker had been moved out of the way to be checked over for potential risk of other spillages. Rosie had obtained special permission from the MMO organisation to clean up the mess, and was preparing to start work.
Hank was amazed when he saw a machine which looked very strange and a little scary. They looked a little bit like spiders with four orange cylinders in each corner, and a strange fan inside it.
"Now Hank, make sure that nothing interferes with our clean up." Rosie told him, as she waited for her oil skimmers to be unloaded.
"Okay!" Then, Hank had a thought.
"Gosh, that thing will get in her way when she gets her oil skimmers ready. I better bump it away!"
And he did. He gave it such a hard bump that he broke the pipe by mistake, sending more oil in the water.
"Oops." He said to himself
"Hank- what have you done?" Rosie asked. She sounded very cross.
"I was trying to help..."
"Well, you've just broke the only oil skimmer that was cleaning the oil! You're lucky I have two!"
"I'm sorry, Rosie. It was an accident." Hank told her.
"Just go and tell passing ships not to come here." The assistant coastguard ship snapped.
"Alright," Hank said sadly. And he moved away.
"I do wish Theodore was here..."
...
After 40 minutes, the oil spill was done away with and Rosie's oil skimmers reloaded- plus the one that Hank broke by mistake.
Rosie was still very cross with Hank for breaking the oil skimmer.
"Well, our next job is to check on Lilly Lighthouse and all the marker buoys in order to ensure that ships have safe navigation into the harbour." She informed the little harbour tugboat.
"Alright Rosie- you can count on me!"
"I'm leaving you in charge of the marker buoys. I'll see to Lilly Lighthouse, and you are to let me know immediately if there is anything wrong with the marker buoys. Understand?"
"Yes I do, Rosie." Hank told her, but he felt a bit hurt by how she was ordering him to do things without saying 'please' or 'thank you.' He almost wished he was at home in the Big Harbour. But he was still on duty with Rosie, so the two set off for their inspections on both the marker buoys and Lilly Lighthouse.
...
Soon, they reached Willy's Island, which was where Lilly Lighthouse stood. Her job in the Big Harbour is to warn ships about rocks in the ocean, particularly at night time, which is when she uses a special light beacon to show ships where rocks are. Foduck sometimes called her 'The Night Guard' as she was responsible for getting any late night cargo ships in safely without any accidents.
"We're just here for an inspection, Lilly!" Rosie called. "It's just a routine coastguard inspection."
"I see." Lilly said gravely. "And what might young Hank be doing with you?"
He's checking marker buoys." Rosie answered.
So that was what Hank did. He dutifully checked the marker buoys within Rosie's sights, as the only condition the Dispatcher had told him about being allowed to leave the harbour for the day was that he had to stick with Rosie, and if they had to separate, then he wasn't allowed to leave her sight until they were back in the harbour.
But all the buoys were fine. They had recently been maintained, so poor Hank had nothing to report, and so he decided to tell Rosie this.
"All the harbour buoys are in order! What do we do now?"
"Hank, be quiet!" The assistant coastguard hissed crossly, before she continued her interview with the lighthouse.
Hank felt miserable. Rosie hadn't been very kind to him lately, which was strange as she was a very friendly and enthusiastic coastguard vessel -usually.
"HELP ME!"
Hank's thoughts were cut off by a scream for help. A young woman had fallen off the oil tanker which was being pulled by George back to the harbour.
"Kelsey Williamson's overboard!" A man shouted.
"Quick, we have to go back for her!" A woman shouted
"We can't- we're being tugged to the harbour!" A third, gruffer voice cut in. "It'll be too late!"
Hank knew what to do, but he had to disobey the Dispatcher in order to do so.
He moved away from Rosie as fast as he could, and he zoomed over to where the woman had fallen. Then, he secured his tow rope to his lifeboat before throwing it out to sea.
"Get in, quick!" He called to her urgently.
Kelsey used her remaining strength to clamber into Hank's lifeboat and soon she was safely aboard. As Hank pulled her in, the crew aboard the tanker cheered.
"Hurray for our heroic tug!"
"Way to go Hank!" George shouted encouragingly.
Hank! What are you doing?"
"Well, I only..." Hank trailed off miserably.
"But Hank saved that girl's life! She could have drowned!" Lilly protested.
Rosie paused.
"You know, you're right, Lilly. Well done Hank. You've proved yourself."
Hank perked up immediately.
"Really, you mean it?"
"Yes. You saved her life." Rosie smiled. "You're like a proper coastguard vessel now."
"Thank you so much for saving me, Hank!" Kelsey told him. "For a tug boat, you're very fast!"
"Thank you." Hank replied.
"Don't worry about the oil skimmer incident. I'll put in a good word for you to the Dispatcher. And, I'm sorry I was so bossy and horrible. I can be like that sometimes when I'm working, as I have a lot to worry about- lives to save and marine pollution to stop, not to mention helping navigations."
"Don't worry, Rosie- I think you're great at your job."
"Are you sure? You did just do my job!" She replied jokingly, and winked at the harbour tug and everyone, even Kelsey, laughed.
...
The day ended on a happy note: Kelsey was checked over and was found to be uninjured; Hank was declared a hero by his friends; the Dispatcher promised that he will consider 'Volcano' as Hank's V word; Rosie and Hank both became close friends, and best of all; Rosie learned to think of other's feelings, so she isn't so bossy anymore.