IT IS SAID the sea has no back door and no one knows this better than the men who earn their daily bread in the open ocean.
Fishing is a dangerous occupation and occasionally, the men who leave to seek a living on the waves are never heard of again. Street Beat spoke to a few fishermen to see what they use to try and ensure they don’t get lost.
“We got GPS, you type in Barbados and it points it out and if that breaks down, you got a compass. It is really important to learn them because if you don’t read it right, you will end up where the Coast Guard can’t find you,” said William “Cowboy” Farnum, a long line fisherman for the past seven years.
He cautioned, however, that even with the best equipment, there were no guarantees, as a fisherman could take sick while out at sea or the ocean itself may cause a disaster.
“The sea got a mind for itself, you can get waves taller than the boat and if you take in water and you can’t get the water out fast enough, you can sink and if you too far out, there ain’t nobody who can swim from there,” he said.
Another fisherman, Ryan Bourne, said there was an old trick a person could use to get back home should the electronics fail.
“You got a Ham radio and when you point it to land, the signal drops. That is the old-time method and we don’t forget the old ways,” he said.
Bourne said landmarks and stars could be unreliable so you needed to know how to use every technique possible. Still, he said caution was the best course.
“If you frighten or the sea too rough, don’t leave home. If I out and the sea too rough, I come back in and if you can’t get in, find the nearest safe point, even if it isn’t Barbados,” he said.
O. Bourne, as he wished to be identified, said a GPS and a VHS radio were vital but if the user did not know how to use the equipment properly, it would make no difference.
“You could still get problems ’cause if you don’t know how to give coordinates, you still can’t get find,” he said.
Bourne said there was also a special glass which reflected sunlight to let other ships find you; a fire extinguisher and life jackets for emergencies and flares for night-time for the Coast Guard to locate you but in the end, sometimes it was up to the individual to save themselves.
“If you use medication, take it with you; know how to swim – you have to try and help yourself but if the boat intact, stay in it,” he said.
Ashton Harris, who said he had logged around 70 years as a fisherman, said in the old days there was no fancy equipment and people still made it back more often using their own intelligence and landmarks. He said the industry was much larger now so the danger had also evolved as some people took to sea with inadequate knowledge of what they were doing.
Cassius Nicholls said that sometimes it was by the grace of God that seafarers came back home.
“The sea might get up and no matter how big your boat, it could sink,” he said. “If it is your day, it is your day and the only thing that can bring you back in is the Lord.”
Kevin McClean is the captain of a long liner with responsibility for a crew. As such, he said safety and security was paramount.
“We use GPS and we have VHS and SSB radio and I take all the safety precautions but some things you can’t prepare for,” he said.
McClean recalled being part of a team on a rescue mission which ended up needing rescuing themselves.
“In 2011 we went to rescue a boat that was stranded. We had the boat on tow around 90 miles west of St Vincent when an oil tanker rammed us. A guy jumped off when he saw the ship coming but I stayed because I was afraid I would get pull under by the draft,” he said.
McClean said his decision was the right one as his ship didn’t sink and the man who jumped had to be rescued from the water. He said that man never went fishing again.
