# Trawlermen



## rickles23

Here in Australia on the East Coast there is a new program on the television called Trawlermen.

The first episode featured:
Amity
Fruitful Bounty
Ocean Venture

Has anyone seen it and any comments about the program?
Regards


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## Chief Engineer's Daughter

The infamous Trawlermen! Enjoy the programme, it's very interesting if slightly over dramatised.


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## duquesa

Been running here for a couple of years. Good prog.(Thumb)


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## trotterdotpom

I saw it too and enjoyed it, despite a couple of obvious set-ups like the blokes sorting prawns on the unmoving inside deck while outside the ship was rolling illegitimately.

I was interested to see the radar screen on which the Skipper could enter the name of the ship target and the 3D picture on the echosounder (or whatever it was) was really amazing. Things have changed a lot.

John T.


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## rickles23

Hi all,

I shall program it into the new meta-brain, you beaut, does everything tv.

The 3D sonar is similar to the sonar I used but it was virtual reality and showed anything that moved.

Regards


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## Nick Balls

Chief Engineer's Daughter said:


> The infamous Trawlermen! Enjoy the programme, it's very interesting if slightly over dramatised.


I would NOT call this program over dramatized ! The good folk of the Bluetoon
know just how bad sea conditions can be in the Northern North sea. Nothing that is said about the weather here could ever be over stated. Its as bad as I have ever seen anywhere in the world. In the last few years wave heights have been increasing with accurately recorded heights topping 21 Meters . That is a wave to be extremely scared of ! even on a large vessel, let alone a very small trawler
Also the Trawlers name is Fruitful Bough not Bounty.
Great that you are watching in Australia . Peterhead (The Bluetoon) has not really been to well known up and till they made this program. Its a really great little town and the folk there are the salt of the earth with some VERY proud traditions in seafaring.


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## miniman

Ahem, CED is fae Shetland!! Nuff said! Moray weather aint nothin compared to them! LOL

Great series though. Im still watching the repeats of the first series. A hard life right enough!


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## Chief Engineer's Daughter

Nick Balls said:


> I would NOT call this program over dramatized ! The good folk of the Bluetoon
> know just how bad sea conditions can be in the Northern North sea. ....


My dear Mr Balls I ken fine the conditions that these guys work in and the dangers they face, I deal with them often enough. What I meant was how the commentry and music was used.


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## Nicc40

Seemed real enough to me from what my dad said..I t brought it all back to me. x


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## rickles23

"Also the Trawlers name is Fruitful Bough not Bounty"

My apologies for the misnaming

Regards


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## tsell

Hi Rickles23,
I also watched the same episode and can't wait to see the rest!
Having done time in trawlers, I say that nothing was over dramatised, in that showing at least, apart from a little bit of acting which I am sure that most of us would have done in front of the camera!
So far they were stern trawlers shown so the crew don't have to drag the net aboard with freezing cold hands while the ship is rolling heavily and the sea 20 feet above your head every second roll!
I still remember the split webbing between my fingers on my first few trips out and the patching up we did trying to get them to heal in time for the next sailing. They sure took a long time to harden up.
My thoughts were with the camera crew. How the Hell did they keep their feet down let alone their meals? Were they seasoned, hand picked sailors? Because as all seamen will agree filming under some of the conditions we experienced at sea on all types of shipping must have been horrendous for shore lubbers. Bless them for their efforts!!! I hope they were well paid 'cause we weren't!

I'm hoping we will see some real trawlers in action in forthcoming episodes! OOPS!....sorry stern trawlermen-only joking!!!

Tell us about your trawler experiences, fishermen!

Taffy R556959


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## mike-sustain

GREAT to see the trawlermen being shown on the other side of the world.
good program but the only thing dramatized about it would be some of the acting,well i suppose if the cameras were'nt there i'm sure there would be a few choice words used.being a fellow skipper i've fished from peterhead for the last 33 years and i can honestly say that the camera's dont do poor weather any justice.it never looks as poor on camera compared to being there phyisically.most of the boats fishing from peterhead average from 22m to 27 m in length and it's not fine working in anything more than 45 knots of wind when the swells are ranging anything from 15 to 22 metres. but thats what we do to get an excellent product onto your plates.see and enjoy the program and think about the guys when your tucking into a fish supper


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## Highlander

well said Mike, can yi email a fry o' Haddies tae Fremantle, Western Australia, aye we are getting Trawlermen on SBS as well. SBS, intials mean, Special Broadcasting Service's 

Jim (Thumb)


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## rickles23

I have just watched another episode and a couple of questions crossed my mind.

Apparently one of the trawler crew finds a 'Torpedo" which he carries across the deck muttering that if it blows up etc.

Surely Torpedos were a bit bigger, like 21 inches in diameter. he would not be carrying that around.

My second question is any thoughts on turning one of the "X-Bows" into a fishing trawler?

Regards


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## Nick Balls

You probably need an expert to tell you about that rick! However there is an awful lot of old ordnance on the bottom of the North sea and many are the stories like this........some including ones where the bomb did blow up!!!!!

As to X Bow I would suspect that the whole of the north sea is waiting to find out if this (Supply vessel) design really matches up to the claims . Only time will tell


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## Mimcoman

Nick Balls said:


> You probably need an expert to tell you about that rick! However there is an awful lot of old ordnance on the bottom of the North sea and many are the stories like this........some including ones where the bomb did blow up!!!!!


You're right about the ordnance. Some time ago, a North Sea supply boat came across a floating cylinder and recovered it onboard. It wasn't possible to identify what it was initially, so the crew started hitting it with a hammer, I presume to clear off the barnacles, corrosion etc, but stopped when they found a label saying "High Explosive". It turned out to be a WWII torpedo. Luckily (!) it was minus its warhead and propellors (which is why it wasn't recognised for what it was straight away) but still contained fuel of some kind.


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## rickles23

*Torpedo*

Hi,

The smallest torpedo I can remember was 12.75 inch (approximately 324mm)

and the largest was a Russian 25.6 inches (approximately 650mm)

I cannot remember the actual weights.

Regards


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## MikeK

rickles23 said:


> I have just watched another episode and a couple of questions crossed my mind.
> 
> Apparently one of the trawler crew finds a 'Torpedo" which he carries across the deck muttering that if it blows up etc.
> 
> Surely Torpedos were a bit bigger, like 21 inches in diameter. he would not be carrying that around.
> 
> My second question is any thoughts on turning one of the "X-Bows" into a fishing trawler?
> 
> Regards


 Did a bit of time on survey boats in the North Sea and some of the gear they used were torpedo shaped but a lot smaller and did get lost occasionaly eg Side Scan 'fish' about the right size for a fisherman's armfull

Mike


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## billyboy

Be glad if that program ever gets to the Philippines. sounds very interesting


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## Nick Balls

I remember a few years ago an aggregate dredger off the Cross sands sucked up some kind of wartime bomb , which then exploded causing massive damage to the nearly brand new vessel , luckily not killing anybody!!
The Kids on Trimmingham beach(Norfolk 1960's ) used to go looking for the smaller stuff to chuck about!!!


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## aavh

Look here to see what happens when an old torpedo explodes on deck
http://www.grantontrawlers.com/photo_gallery/Thumbnail Photos 3.htm


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## billyboy

Sucked up plenty of 4.7 shells off the needles in the 60's heard one of them exploded at one time causing much damage.

Nick Balls, were you ever on the "sand boats" I worked on the Martin and the star in the early 60's


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## rickles23

*Torpedo*

In its infinite wisdom the tv channel has missed a few episodes of Trawlermen One and gone on to Trawlermen Two.

So I still don't know what it was that looked like a mini torpedo. I replayed the episode and noticed that it had what looked like a prop on the stern.

Regards


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## Anthony Mumford

Here in Australia on the East Coast there is a new program on the television called Trawlermen.

The first episode featured:
Amity
Fruitful Bough
Ocean Venture

Has anyone seen it and any comments about the program?
Regards Rickles 23

Indeed I have Rickles,
very interesting series, enjoyed it very much, I agree with Mike-Sustain, tsell, and Nickballs, on there comments alot different to the sidewinder days on the 30mtrs, 50 tonners out of LT. and the Nav gear they use today lookes like something out of Star Trek. a bit different to the old Decca Navigator and little echo sounder we once used. Interesting point's made were : 
Cost of Fuel, Cost of Tackle, prices per box at market Haddock and Red Fish.
Only allowed to fish so many day's. Cost of the Trawler. You wonder if it is all worth the effort to risk your lives in those tremendous sea's. I take my hat off to all those brave fisherman that brave the elements and risk there lives to bring back there catch to market.well done and a great series.

regards Anthony.


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## steamingbill

Hello,

I saw the Trawlermen series here in Australia and thought it was great.

When I was a kid we used to go to the harbour at Macduff and watch them auction the fish - one time sticks in my head as boxes being auctioned on the harbour wall straight off the boat. Would have been mid 1960's - I would have been less than 10 years old.

I really enjoyed the gobbledygook that the auctioneer came out with - my dad's uncle was an auctioneer - and although I understand the accent without any bother - I strongly remember it seemed like he was talking a different language when he was auctioning the boxes of fish.

Bill


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## coble

when will the new trawlermen be on tv send pm


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