Probably I misunderstood what the captain was saying, as it was my first year in the US and my English was bad (still is
), I could comprehend about two thirds of what he was saying. But thats how I remember it: when he was younger (20-30 years prior, in the 80s) he was a crew member on a large fishing vessel when they got caught in a storm with winds upto 120 (knots i guess).If true it would give most quite a "leemer"
(I had to look this word up). Anyhow, its been a while, my memory could be failing me.Yeah, those big fish totes were never secured. Actually I never seen them sliding around the deck other than on that storm occasion. Thats probably was the thinking of the man I was working for, why bother
At least half of the guys I met at the dock back then would fit this description. Friend of mine who worked on another boat, told me, in the morning they would go like 50 miles into ocean, but then one of the guys would remember: "Hey Mike, we forgot weed!", then they would go all the way back just to pickup weed. And they were stoned every single day. What were the longest, or perhaps more memorable ones? If you dont mind of course.
Working vessels aren't exactly the most seaworthy things in the world - they can't be, since they're of necessity top-heavy with too much gear and stowage. The people who build them also can't make the design compromises that blue-water cruising boats do (comfort/open spaces/high-up stowage/relatively inexpensive construction for safety/stability/strength/seaworthiness) - and I'd be willing to bet that 99%+ of them would founder in an actual storm that powerful.