This isn't really a paddling question, but is a boating question that some of you paddlers may have the answer to. Skip now if you're not interested in general boating. Apologies in advance for this off-topic question, and please reply to me privately if you have the answers to my questions. In the movie "Perfect Storm," I was surprised to see the Andrea Gail rigged with apparent trawler booms when it was fishing as a longliner. Yes, you can attach a longline reel/drum to any boat, but why carry the useless (and dangerous, in this movie) trawler booms? The trawler booms with anchors attached played a key part in the movie when the captain crawled out on one to cut the line to release one of the anchors. Is it common in New England to have boats rigged as trawlers when they're longliners? I would think most Glouchester boats would be rigged for hauling lobster pots with swivel booms or for longlining. What do they trawl for in New England? I would guess that the Grand Banks cod fishery was a longline fishery, and not a trawl fishery. True or not? Anchors on trawl booms? Wouldn't they carry otter doors instead of anchors? Curious to know... Darrell Lee Alameda, CA snorkler_at_juno.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I haven't seen the movie yet, but there is a quitea bit about trawling in a great book called "Cod:A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World" by Mark Kurlansky. From what I can recall from the book, trawling with gill-nets was developed with steam powered engines. Due to over-fishing I don't believe (I may be way off here) that it is allowed any more and most fishing is done on the Banks is with longlines. I also believe that swordfish (isn't that what they were fishing for?) are caught solely on longlines (which you don't want to meet with a kayak). I read the Perfect Storm and seem to recall that the Andrea Gail was an older boat and was probably rigged for cod and other bottom fish as well as longlines. -Patrick At 8:53 PM -0700 7/5/00, D Lee wrote: >This isn't really a paddling question, but is a boating question that >some of you paddlers may have the answer to. Skip now if you're not >interested in general boating. Apologies in advance for this off-topic >question, and please reply to me privately if you have the answers to my >questions. > >In the movie "Perfect Storm," I was surprised to see the Andrea Gail >rigged with apparent trawler booms when it was fishing as a longliner. >Yes, you can attach a longline reel/drum to any boat, but why carry the >useless (and dangerous, in this movie) trawler booms? The trawler booms >with anchors attached played a key part in the movie when the captain >crawled out on one to cut the line to release one of the anchors. > >Is it common in New England to have boats rigged as trawlers when they're >longliners? I would think most Glouchester boats would be rigged for >hauling lobster pots with swivel booms or for longlining. > >What do they trawl for in New England? I would guess that the Grand >Banks cod fishery was a longline fishery, and not a trawl fishery. True >or not? > >Anchors on trawl booms? Wouldn't they carry otter doors instead of >anchors? > >Curious to know... > >Darrell Lee >Alameda, CA >snorkler_at_juno.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> > What do they trawl for in New England? I would guess that the Grand > Banks cod fishery was a longline fishery, and not a trawl fishery. True > or not? > In this case it was for swordfish, by the book account anyway. And yes, longline not trawl, though I couldn't describe the difference. Wouldn't mind you illuminating me as to the differences Darrell- off list so as not to bore the others perhaps? -- Gabriel L Romeu http://studiofurniture.com ------------------> furniture http://users.aol.com/romeugp ------------------> paintings, prints, photos and stuff http://members.xoom.com/gabrielR -----------> A Daily Journal of Observations *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Wed, 5 Jul 2000, D Lee wrote: > In the movie "Perfect Storm," I was surprised to see the Andrea Gail > rigged with apparent trawler booms when it was fishing as a longliner. I haven't seen the perfect storm. I think one of the crew members was from the town I was raised in. I live 20 or so miles from Gloucester, worked one summer as a fish cutter on cape cod. I also had high school friends who worked fishing boats, as did my cousin (on a processing ship after college). My high school classmates used to fish for tuna on weekends. It's caught with long lines. We never got local swordfish, when I was cutting, the stuff we got was illegally caught (harpooned) and trucked down from Canada (the owner eventually did time for swordfish smuggling). My job entailed supplying ice, then unloading fishing boats in the morning, cutting/sorting during the day, and delivering in the afternoon. We usually got flounder, cod, haddock, pollack, with an assortment of other stuff (smaller numbers). The flounder/gray sole/lemon sole, came in from draggers. The cod, haddock and pollack came in from gill netters. The owners boat was sleazy. They ran 2 sets of nets. They would put out a set of nets, then go pull their second set of nets and take the catch back to the harbor. This was sleazy because fish could spend up to 2 days in the water before being iced down. So what we got off the owners boat wasn't always fresh. The gill netters would pull the boats in with booms and a central spool. > Is it common in New England to have boats rigged as trawlers when they're > longliners? I would expect the Andrea Gail to be a gill netter not a longliner. The longliners I knew had boats that didn't have the central spool(not sure of the correct terminology). Although if there was good money being paid for Sword or Tuna, and the fish were biting, I would not be at all surprised if a crew took a gill netter out long line fishing. > I would think most Glouchester boats would be rigged for > hauling lobster pots with swivel booms or for longlining. Gloucester has an assortment of boats, long liners, gill netters, draggers, and lobster boats. Each boat a little different and usually easily identified. > Curious to know... Does that cover it? kirk *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Wed, 5 Jul 2000 20:53:56 -0700, D Lee <snorkler_at_juno.com> wrote: >In the movie "Perfect Storm," I was surprised to see >the Andrea Gail rigged with apparent trawler booms >when it was fishing as a longliner. The booms were not for trawling. Linda Greenlaw (captain of the sister vessel to the Andrea Gail) explains in her book, "The Hungry Ocean," the swordboats deploy these booms to increase stability. Junger probably discusses this in his book, too, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. The scene involving these booms in the movie is pretty gripping! Craig Hicks Arlington, Virginia who does not plan to paddle in *any* storm *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Craig has it exactly right. I just spent a few days on a longliner/seiner fishing Chatham Strait. The booms can be deployed to a position slightly above horizontal. From the far end of the boom a length of chain is attached that has attached to its end a saucer/frisbee-like device (about 18-24" in diameter made of 3/4" marine plywood on the 47' boat I was working on) that is weighted and shaped in a somewhat hydro-dynamic form. These "saucers" "fly" along underwater (deep enough so they stay underwater even as the boat rolls) when the boat is underway and help stabilize the boat by greatly increasing its effective beam. You still rock and roll in heavy seas - they just help damp the motion. Dave Seng Juneau, Alaska > -----Original Message----- > From: CraigHicks_at_aol.com [mailto:CraigHicks_at_aol.com] > Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 9:15 AM > To: PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net > Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Rigging question - Perfect Storm > > > On Wed, 5 Jul 2000 20:53:56 -0700, D Lee <snorkler_at_juno.com> wrote: > >In the movie "Perfect Storm," I was surprised to see > >the Andrea Gail rigged with apparent trawler booms > >when it was fishing as a longliner. > > The booms were not for trawling. Linda Greenlaw (captain of > the sister vessel to the Andrea Gail) explains in her book, > "The Hungry Ocean," the swordboats deploy these booms to > increase stability. Junger probably discusses this in his > book, too, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. The > scene involving these booms in the movie is pretty gripping! > > Craig Hicks > Arlington, Virginia > who does not plan to paddle in *any* storm > > ************************************************************** > ************* > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the > author and not > to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission > Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net > Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net > Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ > ************************************************************** > ************* > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Well, I can't really comment on the rigging question, but I do know from my sailing groups that there was a tremendous amount of controversy about the book. There are quite a few people who think that the book went way beyond "poetic license" and rose to the level of pure bullshit. The family of the sailboat owner have gone to some lengths to dispute the truth of much of what the author says. For myself, as a mere reader, I thought the writing very amateurish and embarassingly "noble savage" in its approach -- romanticising things that don't belong to be romanticised (anyone been to Gloucester lately? I have. . .). But that's just a simple opinion. Others can -- and have -- comment on the specifics of the book, and movie, and the distance they have taken from any form of reality. I merely note that "controversy exists". Mark *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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