Fourth of July on a Boat Out at Sea

July 4th

It has been hard for me to find what to write about aboard this boat. There is so much going on, I have a lot of stories, and the crew has been a joy (well lets call it interesting) to get to know. Due to the confidentiality agreement we sign with our contracts, there is little that I can write about that revolves around the fishing practices of the boat. Because of this, most things I want to write about or has happened that has dictated my mood, time in town, time not fishing at sea, and time spent fishing, is all related to the fishing practices. I am a lucky biologist. I got aboard a boat and fishery that is really relaxed yet unpredictable. Every day is different, but fishing has been rather casual. There is a lot of time spent reading books, listening and sharing music, and watching movies. We've had barbecues, some great Vietnamese fish soup, plenty of time in town, and done are fare share of fishing. This looks to be my last trip aboard this vessel. Weather is going to be the determining factor on what kind of time table I get put on, not fishing. The fish are there, we just have to be able to turn our gear and get to them. But the weather has to be on our side for this small crab boat to be able to do that.

The difference between longlineing pot gear and the crab pot gear you see on the Deadliest Catch is in the way the pots are strung together in one long string. If you've ever seen the Deadliest Catch then you see the hand on the rail throwing the hook at the bags for every pot. With longline gear, the hook is only thrown one time. Then the line on the bags is placed in the block and the line is rolled up onto the boat. Each pot is hooked onto the line about 20 fathoms (120 feet) apart from one another. The line is the key to bringing up the gear, if that line breaks, then there is only one more chance to pull up the rest of the gear by going to the opposite end, and start over. If the line breaks again from that side, the gear is lost. With large swells, a rolling boat, and a stiff wind, the task of keeping the line in one piece is much more difficult. With traditional crab pot gear, you don't have this problem because each piece of gear is separate from one another. If that buoy line breaks, then one pot is lost, not 20-40. Weather than acts as a much larger restriction within the longline pot fishery then traditional pot fishing. The advantages to the longline gear is in the rate in which a boat can turn the gear, and the elimination of time wasted looking for buoys and throwing the hook. So with the prediction of winds blowing 35-50 knots over the next week, changing directions from one day to the next, and the unpredictability of what we're going to be able to do, I'm not sure what the fishing is going to be like for the immediate future of this cruise.

It is July 4th though today and don't dare to think that being out to sea is going to stop a boat full of men from finding some way to celebrate the great American summer holiday. There may be no fireworks, its rainy, foggy, cold, and the boat's a rocking too much to have any sort of BBQ, but we've got some ribs for dinner that come out just nice in the oven. A couple of Seal Bombs (not designed to blowup seals, but only to scare them off the gear) take the place of snakes and sparklers as the "good stuff". In all honesty, everyone is just happy to be fishing and making money right now to care too much about the holiday. Of course my mind wonders back down south here and there, thinking of friends and family and the fact I could be celebrating with them, but I'll be home soon enough. Missing the 4th of July becomes less of a deal.

I know last year while I was out to sea for 45 days, a boat in the Bering Sea had to abandon ship, some of the crew was lost and most of you who heard the news were scared that the boat might have been mine. When things like that happen, everyone on a boat becomes somber and silently begin to cogitate. The radio woke everyone up again this morning about 1300 today. A crew member (I'm going to leave out all specifics) aboard a longline boat this morning fell of the side or back of the boat in their pajamas. There is nothing specific that I can say about this except that everyone aboard this boat has seen more than their fare share of this before. With a crew this veteran, there is no shortage of stories of lost friends, either witnessed or toasted in the name of later in town, who have fallen over the rail, or been killed while fishing. It's become a somber 4th of July as its very evident that the crews minds have shifted quickly to the past. Each possessing a mournful glaze on their eyes, and the mood is very unpredictable. But almost as quickly as it came upon them, its gone. Less than 30 minutes later, there seems to be no effects of the news on anyone. We're fishing, I guess it's expected. It happens. I guess it's something these men have had to come to grips with many times over many years.

Happy 4th of July everyone, I'll be back soon. Trust in that.

Casey