Commercial Fishing Sailboat

Sterling Hayden served as mate and captain aboard a number of sailing ships, and was a Grand Banks fisherman when Hollywood offered him a screen test. His most famous role was that of Captain McCluskey in The Godfather. He died in 1986.

His story in the book "Wanderer" inspired me as well.
http://www.sheridanhouse.com/catalog/travel/wanderer.html
...and his other book "Voyage" really spoke to the hardships of the fishing trade.

It was 'Adventures in Paradise', Jacques Cousteau, and Sterling Hayden who had a big influence on me...and of course those famous designers of motorsailers
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/motor-sailers-philip-rhodes-john-alden-16721.html

 

That also.

I was just thinking about those huge catches of Cod that I saw photos of, and how that might effect the stability of a sailing/fishing vessel.

My sailing/fishing vessels have been of the sportsman type...not commerical type.

 

Don't forget DR. STRANGELOVE as General Jack D. Ripper and the "precious bodily fluids".
In the 70s he lived in an 1890s executive railcar in Sausalito and I spent a good deal of time with him while working on the restoration of WANDERBIRD. He absolutely hated the Hollywood system and insisted on being known as a Captain and author, not an actor. A fabulous man who was very intelligent and perceptive. Spent WW2 as a special OSS agent in Yugoslavia. I asked him what the Yugoslavian partisans were like and he said "toughest SOBs I ever met."

 

That is (IMO) one of the bigger issues involved....in the old days you left home loaded to the brim with ice, and as the trip progressed you replaced melting ice with the catch, thus stability and load remained fairly constant (on good trips). Trouble arose when you caught no fish. Now we have freezer holds which are empty at the start of a trip, usually this is dealt with using water ballast tanks. But part of the problem is that the ballast tanks are not where the fish hold is, thus as loading changes VCG moves up or down. As stability changes the rig loads change, and as loading changes sailing performance changes.....all an interesting puzzle.......

 

Hi,

I just came across this thread, and having tried commercial fishing with a sail-only boat, I must say Bataan's comments about the difficulties of running a sailing boat as well as running a fishing boat ring true.

I haven't quite given up on the project. I intend to experiment with trolling longlines a little more, aiming for bass during the summer months, but I don't ever expect to get much of an income out of it.

http://fishforthefuture.net/

 

Boating, Fishing, Siesta

Good luck with your "pod" there Pir8Ped

Just keep this guy in mind
Boating, Fishing, Siesta

 

Hi Brian,

I have that guy in mind a lot! I never thought I'd make a fortune from my fishing enterprise. I like sailing. I had nowhere I particularly wanted to sail to. I like fishing too. So.... I had a nice time trying.

Also, I had previously spent years on a project computer programming. It didn't pay out. Years in front of a monitor! I figured my next failure would be more successful. It was. Not many fish, lots of time at sea, quite a few crew who were good fun, and there was always the possibility. No regrets!

 

I just had to take a little time out to prop up a New Zealand mate now in Queensland, Australia and losing a wife to late stage cancer. Even brings a little wetness to my eye. This definately come into the (as before mentioned ) No 2 and may even lead into the number afore mentioned No 3 maritime rules.

This might have something to do with my answer here in maybe another cavalier style manner so aplogies to all that do not laugh and for those that get it enjoy!
Stability and sail carrying do not really have a sobering effect on me and the seriousness of such.
Stability and sail carrying had more to do with agility in racing 12' and 18' skiffs for many years. Hell even the first P class yacht I had would fall over if left alone afloat and the mainsheet got caught on something when a gust of wind came by.
All the 12 and 18' skiffs I sailed / raced for many years instantly fell over even if one hand was taken off them when getting ready to climb on board and away for the race. Speed kept these skittering beasts stable!
What say you to the new racing America,s Cup cats and their fantastic tumbles and spectator value of mayhem. Where are the safety inspectors and stability inspectors here?

So then, as to whether my K class tuna troller will carry sail and still be stable and within the ' rules ' of stability then hell yes I say.
Going to windward and heading home with a full freight of fish I will apply ' skiff technology ' and drop the windward tuna trolling pole locked in place and send the crew out on the pole to provide positive balance and righting moment. They can have a loaf of bread and a pound of butter amongst them every four hours and one can of beer each every eight hours.
At the end of the trip each crew member, ( still left out there, ) can have a tee shirt with ' I have been used for windward ballast on a K class troller '
Printed on it, these will be well sort after, crew may even be taken on due to body weight and agility factors assessed before the trip.

Please note too the fuel ballasted keel on this vessel underneath the fish room.

Cheers

Kanfish

That will get the safety inspectors tut tutting and mumbling, having conferences and International phone calls consulting etc. before proclaiming another ' rule' Thou shall not use live ballast ' or something like that.

 

If you try trolling longlines all that will happen is the snoods will wrap around the backbone, no fish and a pain to sort out later.
Try getting trolling lines deep on paravanes instead. Plenty of fluro lures avaliable now. I am running two at 20 m depth and these can go down to what ever depth you want. Rubber band the rod line to the back of the paravane however far back you want. Mine troll easily at five knots plus.

Kanfish

Kanfish

 

When I built 23 ton yawl BERTIE one idea was to use nesting plastic prawn traps for spot prawns in 100 fathoms, west of the Farallone Islands off of San Francisco. But there was no developed market at the time, the investment was large and gear loss high, and that good fishing area was where we thoughtfully dumped about 10,000 drums of radioactive waste during and after WW2 up till the 60s....
I gave up the idea of fishing under sail, but if conditions were to change radically with fuel availability, I am sure entrepreneurs would come up with something sail powered that would produce, just not the same fish in the same quantity.

 

This K class tuna troller will produce, gauranteed!

 

Do it!! We all encourage you and wish you success.

 

I have entered my ' K class ' specialized Tuna Troller design in the WWF INTERNATIONAL SMART GEAR COMPETITION 2011.

The sail assisted fishing vessel design fits all of the asked for competition criteria perfectly, and then some, making this a very strong entry I would think.
The line up of Judges look like then have the experience and fore sight to get it too so my expectations are high of a good reception and analysis of the potential within for the future with this design.

North Sails, Auckland ( to their credit ) have shown their appreciation and offered to back the project and be involved too when they first quoted on the sail plan so this is a vote of confidence for me to yet be explored.

 

Judging is under way now with the WWF International Smart Gear Competition 2011 with the results known mid November.
Some good contacts have already been made since I entered the design in the competition and a ' conversation ' is in progress from Los Angeles re a ten vessel fleet operation potential for new builds. ( maybe in New Zealand )
Just maybe they might yet get built in batches of five at a time after all as I first envisaged with the design!
I have just reworked a section of the web Home page to high light the designs strong catching points of sustainablity fishing and zero bait requirements and zero by-catch on the catching side for the judges attention.

 

This boat is actually being used for professional fishing. I am sure that the sailing performance is good. A bigger version might be something that would suit you. There are a few available second hand.
http://www.bruceroberts.com/public/HTML/descriptions/roberts532_description.htm

Or this one http://www.bruceroberts.com/public/HTML/descriptions/trader65_description.htm

I think this one will be able to carry the weight.