Storm in a Teacup Old Jack's Boat

Good day to you.

# This is the place to be for Salty dog and me

# Down by the harbour We'll be there

# Round every corner there's something to share

# Give us a cheer Our friends are here

# Just Salty dog and me

# Come on, Salty

# This is the place to meet Down at the end of the street

# Seagulls flying up in the blue

# There's always a cup of tea waiting for you

# Out in the sun Having some fun

# Just Salty dog and me

# Haul away, haul away

# Sing a song of the sea

# Hoist the sail I'll tell you a tale

# Of Salty dog and me

# This is the place to go and these are the people we know

# The village is busy with things to see

# And there's the Rainbow down by the quay

# There's stories to tell Join us as well

# Just Salty dog and me. #

-Good morning, Shelly!

-Oh! Morning!

Are you ready for the Tea Festival?

Everything is shipshape and Bristol fashion.

You're going to need a lot of tea to fill this lot.

Indeed we will. And we will be serving teas from around the world.

-Oh, did you hear that, Salty? That's India, China, Sri Lanka...

-Whitby.

Whitby? They don't grow tea in Whitby.

No, that's where Miss Bowline-Hitch goes to get it. She'll be back soon.

-We'll look out for her, then.

-Come and visit us when we're done.

Yeah, we will. Won't we, Salty? Morning, Sam.

Hello, Jack! Hello, Salty!

You putting the final touches to the...

Tea Festival signs? Yes. They're a beauty.

Morning, everyone.

All right, Ernie? What you got there, then?

Oh! For the Tea Festival. I give you...

-teacakes! Ta-da!

-Oh!

Oops. No harm done, eh?

I wouldn't exactly say that Ernie, look at it!

Ooh, er, sorry. Here. Let me get that.

Don't worry, Ernie. I'm wearing painters' overalls.

As you said - no harm done.

BICYCLE BELL RINGS Busy, busy!

Hear that, Salty? That'll be Miss Bowline-Hitch with the tea.

-Morning, Miss Bowline-Hitch!

-Box!

-What?

-Box!

-She's heading for the box!

-Ooh! I'll get it!

-That was almost a disaster!

-No harm done though.

Oh! My tea!

Oh, dear! Ernie.

There we go. No harm done, hey?

I wouldn't say that.

Ernie, perhaps you should get going.

Er, perhaps I should.

Yes. Mind the post!

-What? Eyes like a hawk, me!

-Oh, Ernie!

CRASH

CRASH

-CLATTERING

-Oh!

No harm done?

Come on, sir. Let's get you out of here. Come on!

Come on! Come on! Come on!

Everything is ruined.

Well, not quite what we planned, is it, Ernie?

-I feel terrible, Jack. All I do is cause chaos.

-No, nonsense.

Listen, Ernie, just let them catch their breath

and then you can go back and help them clear up.

Right? Come on.

I don't think they want my help. They looked really cross to me.

No, give it a minute. Things will turn out all right.

-Hello, Jack.

-Listen, why don't you help Emily?

Oh - yes, please, Ernie. I've got so much to do.

There you are, then. I'll see you later.

-Bye, Jack!

-Bye, Emily!

Now, teapot lollies. Juice. What else?

-Oh - yes of course, Ernie. The teacakes!

-Oh!

We need a bit of butter.

-Keep an eye on my stall for me.

-No problem.

There she is - the Rainbow!

But what have you got for us today, my dear?

HORN BLARES

Come on, Salty.

Here we are.

HE CHUCKLES

Ohh!

Oh-hoo-hoo!

Oh!

Come back!

Oh-hoo-hoo!

Come back with my cart!

Oh, my word! What's happened to the Tea Festival?

-ALL:

-Ernie!

Oh! Have you seen my stall?

-ALL:

-Ernie!

EMILY GASPS

I'm sorry about that.

Don't upset yourself, it was just a few old teacakes.

Not them. That!

Ernie! Oh, my lovely stall!

And it were all decked out for the Tea Festival too!

There's not going to be a tea festival now.

No teacakes.

And no tea!

I know! And it's all my fault. All of it.

I would help clear things up, but I'd only make it worse.

I always do.

You'd be better off without me.

I'm leaving!

And nothing's going to get in my way.

I wonder how Ernie's getting on.

Oh! He doesn't look too happy. I wonder why?

Eh?

Oh.

Salty, oh.

Goodbye, rope.

Goodbye, workshop.

Goodbye, Staithes.

HE CHUCKLES

Oh, I haven't said goodbye to Jack.

JACK LAUGHS

You know what, Salty?

I think we've got enough tea in there for three tea festivals.

-Jack, Jack?

-Oh, Ernie, let yourself in.

Yeah, and don't slam the...

-HATCH SLAMS

-..the hatch.

-Jack.

-All right, Ernie? Do you want a cup of tea?

-No thanks, I won't be stopping.

-Oh?

In fact, I'm leaving Staithes for good.

-You can't mean that, surely.

-I mean every word of it.

Goodbye.

-And thanks for everything.

-Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, Ernie.

Come on, this is your home.

I know you mean well, Jack, but nothing is going to get in my way.

CLUNK! Oh!

HE GRUNTS

Any idea how to get that hatch open?

-You see, when you slammed it, you jammed it.

-Oh, no.

I've broken the hatch as well. I can't seem to do anything right.

We could be stuck here for quite a while.

That's got to be opened from the outside and we are on the inside.

-What?

-Yeah.

-Well, we need to get some help.

I'll get someone on the speaking tube.

-Hello? Hello?

-Hello.

-Great.

-That's just great(!)

-Come on, Ernie, calm down.

-Get yourself a cup of tea, go on.

-A cup of tea?

-Yes.

-A cup of tea?!

-At a time like this?

-Yes, keep your spirits up.

-Go on, then.

JACK LAUGHS

He's just like his grandad, Ernie.

We were the best of friends, you know.

Let me tell you about what we used to get up to.

I'll just get comfortable. There we are.

Once upon a twinkly time many, many years ago, I wasn't called

Old Jack, I wasn't called Young Jack,

everyone called me Little Jack.

Do you know, when I was a lad, Staithes was a very different place.

There were no televisions, no computers, no mobile phones.

Every day I would go out and play with Sailor Sue...

-Where's Ernie?

-..and Ernie's grandad, Little Ernie.

-Ay-up.

-Hello, Ernie.

-Let's go to the beach.

-JACK CHUCKLES

It was me and Sue and Little Ernie.

You couldn't keep us apart, we were the best of friends.

Sailor Sue always had lots of ideas for games

and Little Ernie was always in trouble for getting wet

in the rock pools.

He always was a bit clumsy, was Little Ernie.

You know, Little Ernie, he loved going fishing

and then telling us what he'd caught but on this particular day

he was more excited than ever.

Sailor Sue said, "Look, a twinkle!"

Ernie was holding a twinkling silvery chain.

We took a closer look, it was a beautiful locket.

"It must've been washed up on the beach", I said.

"Have you found my locket?"

We all looked at the distant, silvery water and we saw a mermaid.

Yes, Pearl the mermaid.

And she looked exactly the same then as she does now

because mermaids never get any older.

"That locket is a magic locket, it will grant you one wish",

said Pearl.

"Choose wisely and then we can play together for ever."

And, with that, she disappeared under the waves.

Oh, well, we'd never been given a wish before

and Little Ernie's eyes were like saucers as he stared at the locket.

"Oh, I'd like to be a pirate", he announced,

"with a golden castle on my boat and a year's supply of cream buns

"in the hold."

Well, I'd always dreamt of having a boat of my own, so I knew

that that would be my wish and then we both looked at Sailor Sue.

"What would you wish for?" I asked.

Sailor Sue thought for a moment and then she said, "I'd like to be happy

"for ever and ever."

"What sort of a wish is that?" laughed Little Ernie.

"I think my wish is the best.

"See if you can catch the baddest pirate on the seven seas."

And, with that, he dashed off across the beach, up the steps,

-down the street, well...

-Catch me if you can!

..we chased after him and eventually we found him down by the harbour,

high up on a wall, right where the fishermen keep their lobster pots.

"I'm the captain of the Jolly Lobster," he shouted.

Well, you know how I told you how clumsy he was?

Well, he was so busy playing pirates and... Crash!

He made all the lobster pots tumble to the ground. Oh, what a mess.

There were lobster pots everywhere.

It was going to take hours to set them all back up again

and to make matters worse, we could see the fisherman coming towards us.

Little Ernie's face went as white as a sail.

"Oh, what are we going to do?" he said.

"I wish these lobster pots would tidy themselves up."

Well, at that, the locket in his hand twinkled a magical twinkle

and Little Ernie's wish came true.

Suddenly all the lobster pots jumped up in the air and piled themselves

up neatly on the harbour-side, just as the fisherman walked by.

He waved to us but we were too shocked to wave back.

"Oh, no, what have I done?" said Little Ernie.

"I always mess things up.

"That was our only wish and now it's gone for ever."

Little Ernie was ever so cross with himself.

He said to us, "You'd be better off without me."

And, with that, he trudged off to the beach

to sit down all by himself.

Well, we were a bit annoyed with Ernie at the time but...

when we'd had a think about it we knew that Ernie hadn't meant

to mess things up, so Sailor Sue and I went over to join him.

"Cheer up", I said and Little Ernie looked at me.

"But now you'll never have a boat", he said sadly.

I said to him,

"Ernie, thanks to you fishing out that locket,

"we have met a mermaid." And Little Ernie looked at us and said,

"So, do you forgive me?" "Of course we do", I laughed, "that's what

"friends do and we're the best of friends, aren't we?"

Of course we were.

So then Little Ernie jumped up and said,

"In that case, I'm still the baddest pirate on the seven seas

"and you still have to catch me." And, with that, we dashed off

across the beach laughing and tumbling the way we always did.

Then, do you know what?

When I was old enough, I did have a boat of my own, my lovely Rainbow.

And every day Sailor Sue and I would set out to sea to have fun

and adventures with our beautiful new mermaid friend, Pearl.

-Oh, got yourself some tea, then?

-Yeah. Can I get you a fresh cup?

Oh, I thought you'd never ask.

-What's that, Jack?

-What? You've seen that before, haven't you?

Well, when Sailor Sue and I got married,

your grandad put a picture of my Sue inside it. He was very kind.

A bit like you, actually, Ernie.

You know, I'm sure you didn't mean to spoil that tea festival

and I'm quite sure your friends will forgive you.

I don't think so. They probably don't even realise I've gone.

Well, I've been busy-busy but no-one in the village has any more tea.

-It's a disaster.

-I've made some more teacakes.

But we're still out of tea.

We can't have a tea festival without any tea.

There must be something we can do.

I need someone with a van to go back to Whitby and stock up on supplies.

-The only one with a van is Ernie.

-And where is he?

That's what I'd like to know.

-Oh, to get this onto the harbour front we need...

-A miracle?

-No, we need...

-A large crane with a motorised-pulley system?

-Ernie. We need Ernie.

-He's usually the first to lend a hand.

-I know.

-Where is he?

-How's that tea coming along, Ernie?

-CLANK!

Almost there, Jack. Hey, you've got a right pile of the stuff back here.

Well, you seem to have cheered up a bit.

Well, I like to keep myself busy. I've always got a job on the go, me.

I'm sure your friends have got plenty of jobs for you right now.

Oh, they don't need someone like me around. No, I've made up my mind.

As soon as I've figured out how to open that hatch, I'm off.

-Aren't you forgetting something?

-What?

-My cup of tea.

-I'm on it.

-Yes, and I'll have a bit of toast, as well, yeah?

-Right.

-Thank you, and a biscuit for Salty.

-OK.

-Yes, and get one for yourself.

She won't mind.

Oh, poor Ernie.

He thinks he's stuck in here for good, doesn't he, Salty?

Just like Bluey did when we went to Coconut Island.

Once upon a twinkly time, the Rainbow set sail from Staithes,

waved goodbye to Whitby and disappeared over the horizon.

Salty and I were off on a day trip to Coconut Island

and we were feeling very happy about it, so we sang a little song.

# Just Salty Dog and me

# Upon the briny sea

# We want to eat coconuts in the sun

# So, Coconut Island, here we come

# It's rainy in Staithes so we're off on the waves

# Just Salty Dog and me. #

JACK LAUGHS

Well, the sun came out to meet us as we set our course.

Oh, it was wonderful to feel the cool sea spray in our whiskers

and to watch the flying fish make their rainbow arcs off the bow.

Salty, my girl, there is nothing quite like the smell of the sea.

HE SNIFFS

It smells...of adventure.

We sailed along happily for a while, bobbity-bobbity.

And after some time, our good friend Brenda the stork passed by.

"Urgent delivery," she called from high up in the sky,

"I'm afraid I can't stop but it looks to me

"like you may be sinking."

"Sinking?" I said, peering overboard.

And, oh, deary-dear, it was true.

The waves were far too close to the deck of the boat.

Well, Salty scampered off at top speed to check

the Rainbow for holes.

She scooted around, she was sniffling and snuffling

but there were no holes to be found. "Well, Salty," I said,

"we'd better return to the harbour a bit sharpish. We'll have to visit

"Coconut Island another day."

Well, poor Salty, she was ever so disappointed.

"Prepare to bring her about," I called.

And we were just going to turn the Rainbow around when

Mr and Mrs Cod appeared with the little Cod twins just behind.

"Er, Salty, er, Jack, you seem to be sinking," Mrs Cod called out,

"and we know why, don't we, Harold?" "Yes, dear," said Mr Cod.

But before Mr Cod could explain, one of the Cod twins interrupted.

"There's something wrong with the Rainbow's bottom,"

she said and she burst into fits of giggles.

"It's true," said Mrs Cod seriously,

"you've got stowaways, Jack and Salty, lots of them."

Now, in case you don't know what a stowaway is, I'll tell you.

A stowaway is someone who is sneakedy-sneaking a cheeky

ride on board your ship without asking.

"Stowaways?" I said flabbergasted, "Where?"

"Come with us under the waves and we'll show you," said Mrs Cod.

"Right you are," I replied and before you could say

"slippery sand eels" we were all under the waves. Deep down we went.

Mr and Mrs Cod led the way and what a sight we saw, for there

on the bottom of our beloved boat, were billions of bumpy barnacles.

"Oh, no wonder the Rainbow's sinking,"

I groaned, "it's got a barnacley bottom."

"Hello," chimed the barnacles happily,

"we are going on an adventure to Coconut Island,

"it's br-br-brilliant," said one, "I'm so excited," said another.

"We never go anywhere." "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you,"

I said, "but you can't stay on the bottom of our boat.

"There are far too many of you and you're making it sink." You see,

one bumpy barnacle is light enough but billions of bumpy barnacles

together are really rather heavy.

I'm afraid you are going to have to get off. Right, Salty?

"We want to get off, we really do," chimed the others,

"but we need something really huge to stick to."

Well, just then a huge shadow came looming towards us.

It was Bluey the blue whale.

"Hello, everyone," he boomed, "what are you up to?"

"We are having a bit of bother, Bluey," I said.

"You see, we're on our way to Coconut Island but these barnacles

"are stuck to the bottom of the Rainbow

"and they're making us sink.

"They need something really huge to stick to."

"I'm huge," said Bluey,

"you can stick to me if you like," he told the barnacles kindly.

"And I will take you to see Coconut Island."

"Hurray," chimed the barnacles, "that sounds like fun.

"We don't want to stick to a sinking ship." So...

HE MAKES A POPPING SOUND

The barnacles magically unstuck themselves from the bottom

of the Rainbow and they stuck themselves

all around Bluey's big blue head.

He looked like he had a very bumpy hairdo.

And because Bluey is such an enormous creature

and so strong too, the billions of bumpy barnacles

didn't make him sink.

"Ha-ha!

"Coconut Island, here we come," I called, "Meet you at the cove.

"Good old Bluey."

-And we all set off.

-BOAT WHISTLE BLOWS

Now, the entrance to the cove on Coconut Island was rather

narrow and Bluey the whale was rather wide, especially with

all those barnacles on his head and, as he swam in, he got stuck.

"Uh-oh," he bellowed, trying to wriggle his way through,

"I'm stuck, I can't move."

Tell the barnacles to unstick themselves

and move to the rocks and then you'll fit through,"

I called to Bluey. But the barnacles, they wouldn't budge.

They were stuck too.

"We're in a sticky fix,"

they cried, "we can't unstick, we've tried and tried."

"Help!" cried Bluey, "I'm in trouble."

All Bluey's friends heard him calling and they appeared

from under the waves, across the land and over the rainbow.

George the sawfish got to Bluey first.

"I'll try to cut through the rocks," he said.

And, oh, dear, rocks are very hard and he blunted his saw.

"Ouch!" And then Charlie the squid wrapped his tentacles

around Bluey's head and tried his best to pull him out.

But Bluey, he wouldn't budge.

"Let me try," cried Fred, Charlie's brother,

wrapping his tentacles around Bluey's tail.

"Perhaps I could push him through." But Bluey still wouldn't budge.

You have never seen so much pulling and pushing

and sawing and flapping.

"Emergency, emergency!"

Called Thelma the dragon, urgently beating her leathery wings.

"Bluey's not moving, what are we going to do?"

No-one really knew how to help, it was chaos.

And then suddenly, Salty's whiskers whiffled.

She was having one of her bright ideas.

She scampered around the deck and fetched all the ropes.

"All right, everyone,"

I cried, "Salty wants us all to pull together. Let's see what we can do."

Urgently I started tying all the ropes together,

then Thelma the dragon picked up one end of the rope to pass it to

Donny the dolphin who dived under the sea

and hooked it onto Bluey's tail.

"Now, everybody grab on to the rope and we'll pull together," I called.

And before you knew it, everybody was pulling at the rope.

Heave-ho! And don't let go.

Heave! Heave!

And the rope made a sort of a creaking sound.

HE MAKES A CREAKING SOUND

And little beads of sweat trickled down our faces.

Heave! "I think I'm moving," cried Bluey.

It was true.

Slowly, slowly, Bluey was starting to move towards us.

We need one final heave. Ready? Heave!

And as we pulled him out, the barnacles,

they came unstuck from Bluey's head

and they somersaulted through the air and landed on the rocks.

"Hurray," they cried, "we've come unstuck, now Bluey's free.

"Ha-ha!" Oh, it was true!

Bluey was swimming happily in the cove and it wasn't long

before he was spraying us with a huge fountain from his blowhole.

"Thank you, everybody," he boomed, "you were there when I needed you.

"Thank you for pulling together." "That's what friends do,"

I said with a smile that was almost as big as a blue whale.

What an adventure we had that day on Coconut Island.

And the barnacles liked it too. They found a perfect home on the rocks.

"We are happy here, it's lovely weather, we're not leaving,

"never ever," they chimed. And do you know what?

They are still there to this day.

-Ah! Ha-ha, here we go.

-Oh, thank you. Oh, yes, go on.

I'm going to miss your tea and toast when you're gone, Ernie.

Don't you go trying to change my mind, Jack.

And then there's all your friends,

they're going to miss the way that you get everybody to pull together.

Yeah. Who's going to get everybody together to pull Emily's stall

off the beach when I leave?

Hang about, who IS going to pull Emily's stall off the beach?

-And who's going to get the rope?

-What do you mean?

It's in your workshop.

-And I've got the key here.

-Yeah.

I might have messed up but it's up to me to sort everybody out.

-That's right.

-I'm going to go back there right now

and nothing's going to get in my way.

-Right, don't forget the hatch.

-Ah.

But I've got to get back to the beach.

In which case, there is another way to get out. Now...

HE WHISTLES

Have you seen the size of me? I'll never get through that.

No, no, you wouldn't, would you?

But we know somebody who would, don't we, hm?

Good girl.

Fly like the wind, Salty.

Hello, Salty. Hello, hello. Oh!

Oh!

SALTY BARKS

BICYCLE BELL RINGS

-Salty must've got lost.

-What are you talking about?

She's the best dog in the world.

SALTY BARKS

KNOCKING They're here!

-What did I tell you? Clever Salty.

-Jack?

-Ahoy there, Sam.

Can you get the hatch open? It's jammed.

It's a job for Ernie. But, Jack, Ernie's vanished.

No, I haven't, I'm here. ALL: Ernie!

So that's where he's been hiding.

Busy-busy, give it a push. Before the tide comes in - pull.

-What do we do, Ernie?

-Just give it a pull.

-Oh, and don't forget - pull together.

-That's the way, Ernie.

-On my count, one, two...

-Three.

-Three!

ALL: Three!

THEY LAUGH

-Hello, Ernie.

-Hello, everybody.

Ernie, I'd thought you'd left us.

Me? Leave Staithes? Never.

Thank goodness for that because we need you.

Ernie, love, before the tide comes in, can you help me

-get me stall off the beach?

-Then we can have our tea festival.

-But we still don't have any tea.

-Oh, hang on, Miss Bowline-Hitch.

-I've had an idea.

-Go on.

-We can sort this out. Well, YOU can.

-Me?

Yes. Back there, you've got loads of tea.

-Yes, I have, boxes of the stuff.

-Come on, Ernie.

All right then, listen. You sort out the stall and I'll get the tea.

Ernie!

That's a funny thing about Ernie,

whenever he's not around, you miss him.

Good girl, you stay there.

# Friends we are and friends we'll be

# Nevermore to roam so

# Sing out loud and sing out proud

# We love a happy home

# Bits and bobs of Emily's stall are lying in the sand

# We'll pick them up and start again

# So come on, lend a hand

# Oh, friends we are and friends we'll be

# Nevermore to roam so

# Sing out loud and sing out proud

# We love a happy home

# Busy-busy, if we work as busily as we can

# And then we'll have a cup of tea

# Now, that sounds like a plan

# Oh, friends we are and friends we'll be

# Nevermore to roam so

# Sing out loud and sing out proud

# We love a happy home

# The festival's a terrible mess

# There's so much here to do

# But clearing up is lots more fun

# With a magical twinkle or two

# Oh, friends we are and friends we'll be

# Nevermore to roam so

# Sing out loud and sing out proud

# We love a happy home. #

THEY LAUGH

Look, Ernie, it turned out all right in the end, didn't it?

I know, to think I could have left all of... Sorry!

Don't worry, you're among friends.

Now, then, ladies and gentlemen, yes...

Oh, and dogs, of course. Friends we are and friends we'll be.

Oh, and that means you too, so you come and see us again soon,

all right?

# Oh, friends we are and friends we'll be

# Nevermore to roam so

# Sing out loud and sing out proud

# We love a happy home. #