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Old 11-22-2017, 04:45 AM   #20
MurderWriter
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City: Hope Valley
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by McGillicuddy View Post
Maybe something I can comment on with authority since I was born and grew up in a small fishing village in Scotland eh?

Trawlers varied in size and style greatly due to intended purpose. Boats that work in enclosed freshwater lochs (Loch Lomond, Loch Leven and similar) will generally be open day boats(very little deck and no overnight accommodations). They will not be trawlers because they are not allowed to trawl in these waters. The open boats working these waters will fish by line (rod and reel) and have outboard motors.

Boats that work in Sea Lochs, essentially types of fjords, will start at 30' and go up from there, average 50' to 70'. Some larger. A 30' working wooden boat would be a dayboat, no overnight accommodations just a little aft pilot house to steer from with a rudimentary galley to make a pot of tea and perhaps a frying pan. Crew of one or two, draft of 3' to 5'
A 50' boat might make two or three day trips. Basically of the same basic design but with a sleeping cabin below between the fish hold and the engine room or sometimes up forward in the forecastle space. Draft from 4' to 7' depending on design. In the middle is the fish hold. Trawl nets are set over the side. These boats are becoming quite rare are the EU rules allowed foreign fishermen to come in and share quotas and resulted in overfishing by unscrupulous fishermen depleting stocks almost to extinction. In some cases these boats have been converted to hauling pots and now fish for lobster or crab.

Larger boats are called pelagic trawlers and work the open sea and will travel long distances in search of large schools of fish. They are usually constructed of steel and have sophisticated fishing gear and larger crews. They used to fish for cod and whiting in the Icelandic seas but that has played out and now travel as far as Namibia (near South Africa) in search of fish.

For the purpose of your novel I suggest you consider a boat up to the size of about 45'. Also, if you don't know it, typical tidal ranges in Scotland may be up to 15' making for interesting sea conditions including the worlds second largest sea whirlpool.

For more info google Miller of Pittenweem boats. In my eye, they built the quintessential Scottish wood fishing vessel. I would expect your wooden boat is quite old as modern boats are fiberglass and have a different style.

Pittenweem still has a fishing festival where older wooden boats show up. There are plenty pictures on the website. Oban also is home to quite a few boats.

Also of note the wooden boats had slower speed Diesel engines that made a very distinctive 'chuff chuff chuff' noise, not the roar of the modern bus or truck engines.. and you are correct, the older boats have a distinctive peculiar mildly offensive odor that takes a little getting used to.

Good luck with your writing.
This is outstanding, thank you so much. I am going to Oban in March, so will try and take the opportunity to have a look.

While the book is set in 2017, you're absolutely right this boat is generations old and has very much seen better days - so looks like I need to make a few changes. Love the information on noises etc - I can definitely include that. Hugely appreciated.
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