Foduck And The Lifeboat
Foduck is the safety tug. He is equipped with safety tools and it is his job to make the Big Harbour safe for everyone. "Okay," he said to a small motorboat, "You are in perfect condition." He then checked a platform vessel. The one thing he checked was its lifeboat.
There is a strict rule about lifeboats. All boats must have a lifeboat for safety reasons.
Foduck can remember some lifeboat mishaps, even though he wasn't there for the most of it: A long time ago, Hank lost his lifeboat and therefore he couldn't do any work. There was the time when Emily ended up getting a bruised bumper trying to save her own lifeboat. And one time, George burned his lifeboat by accident.
"Those were some memories," said Foduck, "Yeah, some memories." George was annoyed about Foduck mentioning that mistake of his. "You're lucky that I'm not going to turn you upside-down," George said to Foduck quietly.
Foduck ignored George and set off for work. "All right," said Foduck, "Time to move a barge." The only barge that was available for today was Shelburne the sea barge. "All right then," said Foduck. Foduck set off with Shelburne. "I hear that there is an old crane ship near the sandy beach," said Foduck. "Okay," said Shelburne in his slow voice.
In an hour, Foduck arrived at the sandy beach with Shelburne. "Where is it?" asked Shelburne. Foduck used his radar. "Over there!" he said. He turned to port and found an old crane ship.
Foduck approached it very carefully. "This thing has to go," said Foduck, "We can't leave it here. Shelburne, get ready to take it apart and we'll move it to the junk dock." "Why take it apart?" asked Shelburne. Foduck turned to face Shelburne, and said, "Because it's too dangerous to take it in like this. It must be dismantled first."
Shelburne had been listening to Foduck, so he didn't pay attention to what's happening behind Foduck. The crane hook jerked a bit and hooked onto Foduck's lifeboat. The moment Foduck turned to face the crane, the crane hook lifted his lifeboat clean off of Foduck's deck. But neither Foduck nor Shelburne noticed.
"Let's go," said Shelburne. "Okay," said Foduck. Foduck and Shelburne started taking apart the crane ship. They pulled down its mast and crane mechanisms. Then Shelburne loaded them in his deck. After taking down more of the mast, Shelburne began to take apart the deck.
After working and taking apart the ship, all that was left is a broken down hulk. "Now we tow it to the junk dock," said Foduck. "What about all of this junk in me?" asked Shelburne. "We'll drop that off, too," said Foduck.
So, Foduck tied his towropes onto the old hulk and took it to the junk dock. He also had to tow Shelburne with him on his way to the junk dock. But they didn't see that Foduck's lifeboat washed up onto the sandy beach. When Foduck delivered the remains of the old crane ship, he was still unaware about his missing lifeboat.
Foduck left Shelburne at the junk dock so he can unload his rubbish. After that, Foduck returned to the Great Ocean Docks. He was getting ready for the next job when he found out about something. He looked at the reflection on a building's window and realized that something is missing.
"Ahhhh!" Foduck cried, "My lifeboat is missing! My lifeboat is missing!" "What?!" said Emily. "My lifeboat is missing! My lifeboat is missing!" shouted Foduck. "What?" said the Dispatcher, who was surprised. "No!" cried Foduck, "I've broken a rule! I'm no use to anyone now!" "What are you talking about, Foduck?" asked the Dispatcher.
Foduck decided to return to his dock and stay there, probably for the rest of the day. "Foduck," said the Dispatcher, and that's when he saw that Foduck's lifeboat was missing. "Oh," said the Dispatcher, "Foduck."
Emily and Hank approached Foduck. "Foduck," said Hank, "What's wrong?" "I've lost my lifeboat," said Foduck. Emily and Hank could easily see that Foduck was missing his lifeboat. "I remember that this happened to me," said Hank. "I know," said Emily.
Without another word, Hank raced off. "Wait!" said Emily and she followed Hank. "Where are you going?" asked Emily. "To find Foduck's lifeboat," said Hank. "Wait up!" said Emily. But Hank didn't wait. "We don't know where it is!" said Emily.
That's when Hank finally slowed down. "Okay," said Hank, "So where was Foduck working today?" "I'm not sure," said Emily, "All I remember is when he brought in an old hulk with Shelburne." "So that means he went salvaging?" asked Hank. "Yes," said Emily, "But I'm not sure where he was working."
"Hmm," said Hank, "Maybe we should check out the sandy beach." "Why?" asked Emily. That's when she noticed that Hank was looking at an old wooden frame. "I bet this must have belonged to that old wreck," said Hank. "You're right," said Emily, "This piece probably fell off of the old wreck."
"And It came from the direction of the sandy beach," said Hank. "Then let's go," said Emily. Both tugboats headed off towards the sandy beach. When they arrived, they searched the whole beach. They looked at one place and they looked at another.
Finally, Emily found something red on the sandy beach. "Could this be?" thought Emily. "Yes," said Hank, "It is!" "Foduck's lifeboat!" said Emily. The two tugs were happy to have found Foduck's lifeboat. Emily picked up Foduck's lifeboat and took it back to the Great Ocean Docks.
Foduck was still sitting in his dock. That's when he heard two happy whistles. "Hey, Foduck!" said Hank, "Look what we got for you!" "What is it?" said Foduck, sad, but trying to smile. "This," said Emily. Emily showed Foduck his lost lifeboat. "My lifeboat!" said Foduck, "You found it." "We found it at the Sandy Beach," said Emily.
"Really?" said Foduck. "Yes," said Hank. "Hmm," thought Foduck, "I wonder if that old crane took it off of my deck while I was talking to Shelburne." "Well," said the Dispatcher, "Now that you have your lifeboat back, will you return to work?"
"Yes," said Foduck, "Emily, Hank, thanks for finding my lifeboat." "I remember when I lost my lifeboat," said Hank, "So we decided to find yours." "Thanks," said Foduck, "You are good friends." "Of course we are," said Emily and Hank.
Soon enough, Foduck had his lifeboat placed behind his smokestack and he was all set. Emily and Hank smiled. Foduck was glad to have his lifeboat back. "I'm ready to go back into action!" Foduck became the happiest tug for the rest of the day.
"Okay," said the Dispatcher, "I've heard that Cumberland is visiting the harbour. I want you to bring him in." "I'm on it!" said Foduck and he raced off. "I'm glad that Foduck is back to normal," said Hank. "Me too," said Emily.
Just then George returned to his dock. However, he looked all scorched out. "Hey," said Hank, "What happened to you?" "Don't ask!" bellowed George.