‘Let me do some research for you. See what I can find out.’ She wasn’t sure what she could do, but she had access to some useful data.
‘That’d be amazing,’ Jonas said, his face lighting up. ‘Once we’re up and running, there’s a job for you on the boat if you want it? We’ll need someone with knowledge to share with the guests about what they’re seeing.’
‘Thank you for the offer, but I’m hoping to find a new research position. I don’t want to say yes and then let you down if I need to leave.’
‘Well, how about we agree on something temporary? Any time you can give us will be valuable, and we can get someone else onto the boat with you that you could train.’
‘Can I think about it?’
‘Of course. Thank you, Astrid.’
She smiled and noticed Gudrun watching them with a raised eyebrow. She was desperate to know what they’d been talking about. Astrid grinned at her sister and tapped her nose.
Olafur roared with laughter. ‘Oh, Astrid, it is going to be fun having you around,’ he said while Gudrun tried to look furious with him but ended up laughing too.
6
AFTER THE LAST meeting he’d had with Jonas, Leifur was getting used to the idea of having a partnership with Iceland Adventures. Being his own boss for so long meant he was a bit of a control freak. Even if his mother didn’t tell him that all the time, he was self-aware enough to know, so he’d been careful not to be too dictatorial about how the boat trips were going to look. Besides, he had to bow to the greater knowledge Jonas had of the tourist industry in general. Fishing had nothing to do with this, and that was the only expertise Leifur had.
‘I love the idea of a sunset tour,’ said Jonas. ‘We could vary the times of that throughout the year so we always hit the right time for the sunset. Is it safe to be out in the boat after dark?’
Leifur had to remember that Jonas wasn’t a fisherman, so this wasn’t a stupid question. ‘We are out day and night. We’re not navigating using the daylight.’
‘Ah, good point. Although we’ll have to make sure the sunset is at the end of the trip, otherwise no one will see anything.’
‘And the rest of the timings can be planned now depending on how much daylight we have. In the winter, wemight only manage the sunset tour because the days are so short. But coming into the summer, we could have three tours a day.’ Leifur knew he was signing up for some long hours, but if that’s what it took to get his life back on track, he was willing to. It still didn’t sit well with him that he had to borrow money from Jonas to finance the changes toBrimfaxi. He needed to pay that back as soon as possible for his own peace of mind before he could think about taking his foot off the pedal.
‘Let’s decide on timings for the summer say to the end of August, so we can put them up on the website. Then we’ll see how things are going then. Does that sound okay?’
He nodded. ‘Sure.’
‘And which day do you think we ought to choose as a down day? It makes sense to choose a day when it’s likely to be quieter. Do we have any idea of that from the research?’
‘Obviously, the weekdays are quieter. Perhaps Monday makes sense after a busy weekend?’
‘That’s fine with me,’ said Jonas.
They carried on working until they had a timetable ready to put on the website.
‘I think I might have found someone to help you out on the boat, at least in the short-term,’ said Jonas. ‘She’s a marine biologist in between jobs, so we might not have her for long but I think she’ll be valuable in helping us with the set-up.’
Leifur felt his blood pressure rising. ‘I thought we just needed someone to look after the guests?’
‘Well, yes. She knows that would be part of the job. I think her knowledge of whales could be a huge selling point though.’
I know about whales, Leifur wanted to say. But he knew he’d come across as unhelpful and petty. It wasn’t his place to tell Jonas how to run a tour. If he wanted to waste money on a marine biologist, that was up to him.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Does she have experience of working on boats?’
‘I think so. I can check.’ Jonas was looking puzzled.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said with difficulty, realising he was being defensive. ‘It’s hard for me to let go.’
‘I understand. And I’m sorry if I’m making the wrong assumptions. I thought we’d agreed you’d need help and even if you were the world expert on whales, you’ll be in the wheelhouse most of the time,’ Jonas said reasonably.
When he got home, Leifur grabbed a beer and the tarpaulin and headed down to the water. He couldn’t afford to mess this up with Jonas. Once he’d decided to leave fishing behind, he thought the worst part was behind him. He now realised he still needed to learn to let go.
It was windy, and he sat watching the clouds scud across the sky, wishing he was out onBrimfaxi. She was almost finished. In just another ten days she’d be ready to sail again. Maybe then he’d have more perspective. Once he was back on board, what did it matter whether he was catching fish or finding whales? He’d be on the sea again, where he belonged. That was the most important thing.
