What is it # 2

[J. Dillon]

Spotted these fishermen repairing their nets in Amalfi Italy.

Any body know what the floor fan like device is on the port quarter ? Some kind of reel for the nets or what ?

JD

[Donn]

Doesn't look like it would have enough capacity for a net. Possibly a small longline spool? They go out and set the net, and then run a longline for a while, before pulling the net?

[paladin]

My question izzz. what is the propulsion used...it appears to be an air boat with a hydraulic motot on the fan....

[J. Dillon]

Any time I saw these boats in use the fishermen were standing pushing on the oars. Notice the thole pins and balanced oars. How they got to the grounds I don't know. The drive for the device appears to have some kind of hydraulics running a drive. I don't know what powered the drive. Maybe some kind of engine under the mid ship hatch. Never saw it in use. My Italian language skills was not sufficient to ask a understandable question. The device shown also were common and this was not just the odd boat with it.

JD

[Donn]

I'd say the midship hatch covers a fish hold, and a little engine sits under the aft deck. The thole pins double as control rods for deploying and pulling the net.

[mmd]

Yes, boys and girls, that is a hydraulic net hauler. It consists of two "dishes" that are convex and when put together form a vee-groove, sort of looks like two frizbees held together. The smaller footrope of the net goes on the inside, and the headrope and floats ride up on the outer, wider part of the hauler, with the net bunching up in between. The hydraulic motor turns the hauler, the net sort of jams a little in the groove, pulling the net aboard. When a fish comes aboard, the fisherman stops the hauler, takes the fish out of the net, then resumes hauling. The open mesh of the outer portion of the hauler discs allows the net to de-water and has a more pliable grip on the floats, reducing wear. Similar haulers are used for lobster pot warps and farmed mussel "socks".

P.S. - the motor would be under the little decked area and would most likely only be used for propulsion to and from the fishing grounds, and to provide hydraulic power to the hauler while on the nets. Oars would be used around the nets so to not foul the nets in the prop. The nets would be stored right where they are - in the after hold or "pen". If the nets are fixed (i.e., anchored) when deployed - and they probably are - and the fisherman is hauling the nets, he would swivel the hauler to be parallel with the centreline of the boat. This pulls the boat along the length of the net, lifting the net clear of the water at about 'midships. The second guy in the boat would be standing just forward of 'midships and he would be picking the catch out of the net and depositing the fish in the pen just forward of the engine box. This distributes the load in the boat so she stays on an even keel, and as the mass of the catch is located at the centre of buoyancy the boat stays in trim as it gets loaded deeper in the water. In this arrangement, the aft fisherman, usually the owner, can watch the incoming net for problems, controls the rate of the hauler, and inspects the net as it is being redeployed off the stern quarter. If the net needs to be brought to shore for mending, as these guys are doing, he simply turns the orientation of the hauler and it feeds the net into the boat at his feet.

Poetry in motion, and not one ounce of wasted effort.

P.P.S. - Upon closer inspection of the photo, I notice some pretty substatial sheerguards on both sides of the after pens. He may well haul his nets across the breadth of the boat, and these sheerguards are to prevent wear on the sheer wales. This would only be "do-able" in very calm water, though, as the hauler would be pulling the boat sideways through the water, making it both hard to move and restricting its ability to react to wave forces.

[ 11-30-2002, 12:49 PM: Message edited by: mmd ]

[Mrleft8]

Some people know way too much stuff for their own good.... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

What a solid looking little boat

[J. Dillon]

Thanks MMD for the thoughtfull and educational response. Now we all know a little bit more about fishing as pictured.

JD

[mmd]

I just can't help myself - little fishing boats are fascinating. It's a sickness.