Tag Archives: his crew

A skipper named ‘Crazy Horse’, a ‘dicky’ autopilot and a sailing trip that foundered on a beach

After hours of sailing a 14m fishing vessel on “an extremely erratic” course up the coast towards Christchurch, doubling back and then turning around again to head in the same direction closer to the shore, skipper David “Crazy Horse” Atkinson was lost. It was 9pm, he was not sure where he was, and he only had rudimentary knowledge of how to use the boat’s navigational equipment. His crew aboard the trawler, the F/V Debbie Jane, consisted of a 41-year-old woman and a 73-year-old retired school teacher who was living with him – neither of whom had any commercial fishing experience. >click to read< 08:03

A day in the life of a Georgia shrimper

Capt. Eddie Poppell, 61, arrives with his crew, sons Bubba, 40, and Jake, 24, to start outfitting the F/V Sea Fox for a day of shrimping in the shallow coastal waters of Georgia. Ice is shoveled into bins that are dragged from the fish house to the Sea Fox in anticipation of the boat’s refrigerator-sized coolers being filled with shrimp by day’s end. They throw some provisions for the day onto the boat — snacks, water, sodas and cigarettes — and do a routine systems check. The three men go about their tasks quietly, but with the sureness only countless trips can hone. photos, >click to read< 08:03 Additional COVID financial relief is available to members of Georgia’s marine fishing-industry>click to read<

The F/V Martha Rose: her catch, crew, and mission – As Fresh as it Gets

Three times a week, the Martha Rose sets out of Menemsha’s cozy harbor and, engine roaring, begins the 14-hour journey to the local scalloping beds. In weather fair or foul, the 77-foot fishing vessel chugs out of Menemsha Bight, rounds the nose of Aquinnah, and then charts a steady course to the southeast. The sea scallop beds currently designated as fishable lie one hundred miles out, and some thirty or forty fathoms down. Once the Martha Rose arrives, her crew of three waste no time putting out the ship’s dredge and preparing the deck to bring in the first haul. photos, >click to read< 09:26