Sailboat gillnetter

This was waiting to go into the Seaview North yard this weekend. From all appearances it's a sailboat that has been tuned into a gillnet boat. I suppose one could do the same thing if one wanted an open ocean diesel cruiser. Sorry for the hideous image quality-- I grabbed the shots on my iPad as we left to drive home this evening.

Very interesting, that's got to be a lot of strain on a small sailboat engine?

Dougcole said:

Ok, rant over.

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Now that it's over Doug, you should be aware that there is a huge difference between the PNW and Alaska fishery and those in the Pacific.

These are not miles long drift nets let to float untended for days and they are not miles long strings of baited hooks left to drift for days either. We are talking about very targeted sets that last only a few hours in very specific locations.

Aside from a handful of diving birds, the bycatch is virtually non existent.

This isn't the Asian tuna fleet ...

OMG Marin,
THAT's what I've been talking about. Making a very fuel efficient powerboat out of a sailboat. Looks like he (or she) has kept the sailboat hull close to or actually intact. I always envisioned cutting at least half the keel off. If the boat became too tender or rolly one could always employ bilge keels. Thank you very much for the post!

Knotheadcharters,
That hull requires a LOT less power to drive than a typical trawler at about one knot under hull speed and anybody but a fool would drive her faster. And the small sailboat engine (diesel) should be very happy at 75 to 85% load just like most trawler engines.

Looks like it well executed.

knotheadcharters said:

Very interesting, that's got to be a lot of strain on a small sailboat engine?

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The quality of the photos and lighting suck, so it's almost impossible to tell this, but the typical small sailboat shaft and prop have been replaced by a much more substantial shaft and a fairly large prop. The size of prop one would expect to find on a single-engine powerboat of this same size. So that plus the need for hydraulics to power the net drum plus the dry stack suggests that the boat is equipped with an engine suitable for commercial fishing job.

RickB said:

Now that it's over Doug, you should be aware that there is a huge difference between the PNW and Alaska fishery and those in the Pacific.

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Doug's original post is gone but based on Rick's response, Rick's comparison of a gillnet and drift net is correct. Gillnets are short, only a few hundred yards long, and they are attended the whole time they're deployed. The net is paid out from the drum in the hoped-for path of migrating salmon. After a fairly short time--- couple of hours maybe--- the boat under-runs the net. In other words, the net is pulled slowly in over the rollers, the fish are removed, and the net goes back in the water for another period of time. If the position proves to be unproductive the net is hauled back onto the drum, the boat moves to a more likely spot, and the net is deployed again.

While not foolproof--- the nets are occasionally lost and get snagged on rocks underwater and can cause problems--- it is a far cry from the miles-long drift nets used in the open ocean. There is an ongoing program in Puget Sound (and I think BC) to find lost gillnets and retrieve them off the bottom.

The sailboat conversion is an uncommon configuration for inshore water gillnet boats these days. Most of them are bow-pickers. The photo shows a typical one and also shows how the net is under-run to get the fish out. Unlike the sailboat conversion, the bow-pickers are quite fast with planing hulls.