A couple of paragraphs from my mate Brendon Doyles chapter in Salt of the Sea - Brendon is a big man, about six feet tall but built like a brick outhouse. He reckons he never goes out looking for trouble but thinks that because of his size, trouble has a way of finding him. One time when he was unloading big eye tuna in Coffs Harbour on the northern coast of New South Wales. There were about a dozen other boats in port sheltering from the weather. The fishermen were drinking in a bar, having a great time catching up with each other. Two blokes Brendon was talking to suddenly shouted a warning. Spinning around, Brendon saw a bloke with his arm raised high about to smash a full bottle of beer over his head. He planted him one right in the jaw and knocked him out stone cold, then turned backed to the guys he was talking to and casually enquired “Sorry where were we?” Brendon prefers to live and work in Australia but reckons fishery restrictions and regulations have made it nearly impossible to operate efficiently. He’s recently had a spell on shore in Suva managing a fleet of 16 boats, organising all the maintenance, crew placements, unloads and turn around trips. He became, essentially, a ship’s husband! “After a couple of months of this I got a bit restless staying ashore and went back to sea. You know, sometimes, especially in bad weather, I wonder what the hell I am doing way out in the middle of the Pacific. But when the trip is over, I usually forget all the negatives and look forward to throwing the ropes and heading back out. I love the lifestyle and the challenge of hunting fish.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:41:48 +0000
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