204 FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 



"Setting TJnder Sail." 



BY DICK SKYLIGHT. 



The term, "set under sail," or " flying set," implies that the vessel, instead 

 of being anchored, as is the most common way on the Banks when trawls are 

 to be set, is kept under way, the performance taking place as follows : 



If a "set under sail" is decided upon, the depth of the water is first as- 

 certained by sounding where the skipper intends to set his apparatus and 

 begin his fishing. He then directs the dories to be made ready. This sets 

 all hands on the alert, especially the crews of the top dories, who quickly 

 arrange in them the buoys, buoy-lines, etc., that are required. Having 

 rigged their " black-balls " and prepared the lines for running, the dories 

 are hoisted over the rail, where they are left to hang until the next are ready, 

 when they are lowered into the water. Dropping aft on the quarter, they 

 are held there while one of the two men who form the crew leaps in and re- 

 ceives the complement of trawls — an operation requiring no little skill and 

 confidence in one's sea-legs when the water is at all rough. This done, his 

 mate also gets in, and the boat is paid astern, the painter being fastened to 

 the davit. Meanwhile, the two middle and the bottom dories are being pre- 

 pared and hoisted out in a similar way. 



When the six dories are ready, and the proper time has arrived, the skip- 

 per shouts to one of the men in the first boat, " Heave out your buoy ! " 

 This buoy, remember, marks the position of one end of the trawl, for to it 

 is attached the anchor which holds the ground line in its place. As the buoy- 

 line is running out and the boat is about to be cast off, the skipper instructs 

 the men in which direction to row while setting the trawl. This is gener- 

 ally to leeward and in a straight line at right angles to the course of the 

 vessel. A moment later the same orders are given to the next dory's crew 

 for setting the second trawl at a suitable distance from the first, and so on 

 until the whole six have been set out. Spread along in this way, a "gang'* 

 of trawls will generally cover two or three square miles. 



The act of setting the trawl is performed in the following manner : * Be- 

 fore the buoy line is all out, one of the men lifts a skate of trawl on to the 

 after thwart and attaches the end of the trawl to the anchor, which he 

 throws overboard. Then, while his mate rows away, he lets the trawls go 

 out, throwing hook after hook, so that they shall not become fouled. When 



♦This description of setting a halibut trawl will answer equally well for a cod or haddock 

 trawl, the only difference being that the latter are stowed in tubs instead of skates, and the 

 hooks are closer together. 



