Amaltal Enterprise

[Colin Southern]

First commercial job for 2010 - the FV Amaltal Enterprise. This is one of the fishing vessels that I look after when wearing my IT hat. I think that when a lot of people think of a fishing boat they think of cold and wet "rust buckets" - but the reality of vessels like this is air-conditioned cabins - satellite TV - eMail - superb food ... but hard work (6 hours on, 6 hours off for 6 weeks, 2 trips on, 1 trip off for crew, 1 trip on, 1 trip off for officers).

All fish caught is processed onboard and frozen at sea a few hours after being caught.

I shot this at the request of one of the crew on 2nd January with Canon 1Ds3 & EF 70-200 F2.8L IS USM, in the rain (very reassuring to have weatherproof gear at times like that). Wee bit of work to clean up a few rust stains and evaporated salt (quite tricky actually - there's a very fine fine between making it look "too perfect" and "not perfect enough").

[Yan Zhang]

Colin,

Glad to see your work in the new year. Looks like this is your assignment on the request - I only read such things from magazines

For this shot, the vessel looked very clean and sharp indeed. Do you need a tripod or just hand held because the lens has IS feature and the light seemed quite sufficient? Also, would it be possible to get the sky darker as it looks a bit over exposed?

[Colin Southern]

Colin,

Glad to see your work in the new year. Looks like this is your assignment on the request - I only read such things from magazines

For this shot, the vessel looked very clean and sharp indeed. Do you need a tripod or just hand held because the lens has IS feature and the light seemed quite sufficient? Also, would it be possible to get the sky darker as it looks a bit over exposed?

Hi Yan,

I was there for about an hour, so I just left the camera on the tripod with a towel over it until ready for shooting. I could have hand-held it, but it's easier on a tripod (either that or I'm getting lazier in my old age )

The sky is showing a little lighter than it printed - I could have toned it down a bit, but you also have to be careful with large prints as large toned-down areas can drag down the whole print. At the end of the day, that's pretty much the day we had - overcast - raining. Frankly I don't like the sky or the water particularly, but those were the cards we were dealt on the day (Believe me, fishing boats don't wait for ANYBODY!).

[arith]

.. but hard work (6 hours on, 6 hours off for 6 weeks, 2 trips on, 1 trip off for crew, 1 trip on, 1 trip off for officers).

That's not fair; the officers have it cushy. I don't like boats after I went on one in Penzance; it went up and down twelve feet and I had to hang on, the coastguard warned the captain to keep away from rocks and all the other tourists thought it was great fun.

[Colin Southern]

That's not fair; the officers have it cushy. I don't like boats after I went on one in Penzance; it went up and down twelve feet and I had to hang on, the coastguard warned the captain to keep away from rocks and all the other tourists thought it was great fun.

Hmmm ... I have a feeling that "cushy" probably wouldn't be the word they would use I was talking to one of the skippers about how much sleep they get ... he said usually works in 3 day cycles; about 3 hours on day one - 3 hours on day two - and then about 6 hours from sheer exhaustion on day three! (repeat for 6 weeks). I also asked then if they've watched "Deadliest Catch" on TV (where they fish for crab) - most said that they had ... I was curious as to the kind of conditions that they faced in the Southern Ocean compared to the Baring Sea ... they said that they get about about the same amount of water on the deck as the crab fishermen, but the decks on these boats are higher above the waterline ... so safe to assume that they're dealing with rougher conditions. I've known several who have been out for trips with them, and they all seem to spend the first 3 days with their head hanging over a basin

[arith]

Yes well lack of sleep would increase the danger. I don't get sick just frightened.

[Colin Southern]

Yes well lack of sleep would increase the danger. I don't get sick just frightened.

If it were the captain of an aeroplane I'd be worried about the lack of sleep - but with boats it's not as bad (everyone knows that the captain doesn't actually do anything important! ). As a rule I don't get sick either - but I do find it quite fatiguing after a while

[Donald]

Colin

Do you know where she was built? Similar in appearance (though I'm not a boat person) to some of the bigger boats going out of Shetland and the North East of Scotland ports such as Peterhead.

But a terrifying occupation as the litany of deaths and tragedies over the years, confirms. Never criticise fishermen and farmers with your mouth full!!

[Colin Southern]

Colin

Do you know where she was built? Similar in appearance (though I'm not a boat person) to some of the bigger boats going out of Shetland and the North East of Scotland ports such as Peterhead.

But a terrifying occupation as the litany of deaths and tragedies over the years, confirms. Never criticise fishermen and farmers with your mouth full!!

Hi Donald,

Not sure where she was built - I can pop them an eMail to ask though if you'd like?

To be honest, I think they do a pretty good job on safety in these parts - they seem to have a freak accident every few years, but I guess that the same can probably be said for most industries. Personally I think that most people just don't take safety seriously enough in many situations in life these days ... saw a good example of this about a year ago - I was just coming back in my boat to the launch ramp and a saw EIGHT people (including a baby in arms) in a boat designed for about 4 or 5 - had about 12 inches of freeboard (distance from top of the side of the boat to the waterline) ... and NOT ONE was wearing a lifejacket. All it would have taken was one "hotdog" to come flying around the corner leaving a big wake and they'd have been swimming. I was so concerned I even shadowed them in my boat until I could see that they were safe. Why do people do things like that?

[Donald]

Not sure where she was built - I can pop them an eMail to ask though if you'd like?

No, it's okay. Just curious. Don't know anything about them, but fascinated by them all the same. As you said, amazingly complex electronic systems.

[Colin Southern]

No, it's okay. Just curious. Don't know anything about them, but fascinated by them all the same. As you said, amazingly complex electronic systems.

Some of the things they do is tie in a gps with a depth sounder and make their own 3D underwater maps ... I'm sure glad that they know how to use all the gear.