60 CHANGES IN TRAWLING VESSELS SINCE 1884. 



winches, one being behind the foremast, the other (smaller) 

 behind the mainmast. The latter is very useful in discharging 

 fishes, and in worldng the dandy. In general, the Granton 

 ships have the steam-winch in front, with the capstan behind, 

 iust before the engine-room, a different arrangement from that 

 at Aberdeen. Moreover, a decided improvement is introduced 

 by the presence of a ' brake ' in connection with this apparatus. 

 In. 1884 reliauce was placed on the old hawser fixed to the 

 trawl- warp in the case of the net being held by a sunken wreck 

 or a rock. Now, the moment the net is fixed, the 'brake' 

 (which is secured to a moderate degree) permits the trawl-warp 

 to run out, and thus save the net from serious rupture or total 

 destruction while the ship is being stopped. In the Granton 

 ships an iron-wire rope is used instead of a hawser from a hook 

 on the mainmast, to save rubbing on the rail. This is fixed to 

 the trawl-warp by spun-yarn. The length of the trawl-warp, 

 which is of steel-wire rope, ranges from 200 to 240 fathoms. 

 The w^arp has six outer and a central strand. The older warps 

 had a Manilla centre, but the newer have wire. A change has 

 also been made in the teeth of the wheels of the winch, for, 

 instead of being transverse, they are now helical or oblique, in 

 such ships as the ' Belcher.' The warp is run round a capstan 

 in rear, and out b}^ a slit with rollers in the bulwarks of the 

 ship. The large ends of the winch are used, as formerly, for 

 winding the bridles and all ropes and tackle, the latter being 

 still the method of hoisting on board the bag of the trawl. 

 Instead, however, of the snatch-blocks being fixed to the deck, 

 they now are attached to the top of the engine-room. A 

 considerable number of the paddle-ships still use a 9-inch 

 Manilla hawser as trawl-warp, and it is wound round a capstan 

 from wheels beneath the deck. These also have the piece of 

 old hawser (at Montrose of about 13 fathoms) as a guard 

 during trawling, but, as indicated, the best screw-trawlers have 

 the ' brake ' on the winch. In one or two of the older trawlers 

 at Granton, the narrowness of the ship has caused the winch to 

 be placed on the fore-part longitudinally, not transversely. 



In the trawling ships of to-day the front wing of the otter- 

 trawl is set free and the sole-rope and net follow it. The mate 



