swimming with sharks pehaps

[John F Collier]

laying off port Said on ORARI the Bosun and Lamptrimmer rigged up a hook and used a derrick as a fishing rod to catch a
shark,it was amazing to watch, the shark didn't have a chance it came out of the water like a piece of cargo it was about
eight feet long and went mad when it landed on deck, it wasn't a good thing to see really, the biggest fish I ever caught was
a Barracuda, I was fishing over the side in Auckland and was reeling in a catch and when it came out of the water there was
only half of the fish left so I dropped it back in the water and pulled it up and down a bit when I got a huge tug on the line
to my surprise it was a barracuda about 3' long, it was an evil looking thing, the butcher knelt down in his shoes and held
the fish up and someone took a photo , I gave the barracuda and a couple of kahawai to a wharfie so maybe it's in a glass
case somewhere. cheers John F

[Colin Wood]

On the Fremantle to Christmas Island run we were coming into the drifting season when unable to berth. Crew bought there own foo and were advised to have a good stock. All very careful chinamen, would not pay any extra towards stores. after a few days drifting the crew were getting very hungry, only having their ration of rice every day when they caught a big shark. I don't know how no one was injured as it was hoisted aboard as there were knives flashing everywhere.

[Dennis McGuckin]

Had a similar experience on one ship.Broke down in the Indian Ocean.
Had a line over the side, big hook baited with a lump of some kind of meat.
Shark hit it. Winched aboard, It was thrashing about on deck. AB hit it with a stanchion.
It gave birth to several babies.
Took some killing. Then all the 'heros' appeared with knives.
Had one of its teeth for a long time.
Lost along the way, like so many other things.

[John F Collier]

#23, Hi Den hope you're keeping well, the lamptrimmer on ORARI was a bit of a taxidermist, he had a couple of flying fish
that he had stuffed with tobacco and then varnished, when they caught the shark #21, he cut off the dorsal fin to work his
magic , he put it in the rope locker and promptly forgot all about it, when the locker was opened some time later a cloud
of flies / bluebottles flew out and the stink was overwhelming, I've often wondered how long his flying fish lasted, and if he
gave them as presents to people at home . cheers John F

[cappy]

hi john it was common practice to stuff flying fish i was shown by anold sailor the method was after getting the fish of the deck plenty on tankers low in the water .....slit open the belly and scrape out all possible fleshand fill with soaked oakumsew up very gently ......varnish fish with a good coat and pin onto a board of wood with wings outstreched and pinned in flying position...wait till dry and then coat again when dry it is sealed now take off board and turn over giving belly and underneath a fine coat ...you will find the fish is solid no smell and looking the businness did one or to myself....but liked to eat them sweet fish ...regards cappy

[John F Collier]

Thanks for that cappy, always something to learn on site, that was the only time I saw that done so maybe got it wrong
about tobacco as I've always thought that's what he used, I wasn't on tankers only cargo ships but still would see flying fish on deck in the mornings, mainly in the Indian Ocean if I remember rightly, never thought about eating them though .
cheers John F

[Captain Kong]

I did that Cappy with this one, in the photo. just as you said, I bent a welding rod into a Z and inserted it along its belly and then sewed it up and the bottom of the Z was pinned to a piece of wood. so it was in a flying position..
Some one stole it when it was on deck drying in the sun, never found out who did it.

They do make Good eating , used to get a bucket on the 4 to 8 watch walk around the deck and collect them , give to the Cook and have nice fresh fish for breakfast.
Cheers
Brian

[John F Collier]

I did that Cappy with this one, in the photo. just as you said, I bent a welding rod into a Z and inserted it along its belly and then sewed it up and the bottom of the Z was pinned to a piece of wood. so it was in a flying position..
Some one stole it when it was on deck drying in the sun, never found out who did it.
Cheers
Brian

Hi Brian, seems I can't open your Thumbnails lately it's a shame cos there's some good pictures there. cheers John F

[Captain Kong]

Hi John f
I have the same problem, thumbnails remain as thumbnails , They used to open but not anymore, It must be the `Cuts`
Thumbnails take up less space than a normal size photo.
Mostly I click on a thumb nail and just get a Black screen and no photo, then have to go back to NEW POSTS and start again . No idea what is the cause.
Cheers
Brian.

[Keith Tindell]

i remember in the Pacific, lovely balmy weather, we used to hang a cluster light over the side to attract the flying fish, and in the morning picking them up and taking to the galley. Never ate one myself as i cannot stand fish in any form, kt