LIFE ON THE GRAND BANKS 



11 



skate of halibut gear" in contradistinc- 

 tion to "a tub of cod or haddock trawl." 



On every Bank fishing-schooner, ex- 

 cept hand-liners, on which the fishing is 

 done from the deck, a number of flat- 

 bottomed, high-sided boats, called "do- 

 ries," are carried. These dories are from 

 1 8 to 22 feet over all and their thwarts 

 are removable, so as to permit their being 

 "nested" one within the other upon the 

 schooner's decks when not in use. From 

 six to twelve of these dories are carried 

 by fishing schooners, and it is from the 

 dory that the actual fishing is done. 



The modern Bank fishing-schooners 

 are undoubtedly the handsomest com- 

 mercial sailing craft afloat. They are 

 built of wood and range from ioo to 150 

 feet in length, with a tonnage of from 

 80 to 175 tons. Their lines are fine and 

 designed for speed, but weatherliness has 

 been so well combined in the model that 

 neither quality has been sacrificed. True, 

 they are terrible craft for jumping about 

 in a breeze and sea, but they seldom ship 

 any heavy water on deck during a blow, 

 unless "knocked down" or "tripped up" 

 by squall or irregular wave. 



Well-ballasted and drawing a lot of 

 water aft, the Bank schooner stands up 

 to a great spread of sail, the main-boom 

 in some vessels being 75 feet long. The 

 big mainsail is the largest piece of canvas 

 on a fisherman and it is carried until the 

 whole strength and skill of twenty to 

 twenty-five men is required to make it 

 fast in a strong breeze. 



A CLOUD OF CANVAS IN SUMMER 



The orthodox Bank schooner is two- 

 masted — there have been three-masters — 

 and the sails carried are mainsail, fore- 

 sail, forestaysail, or "jumbo," and jib. 

 These are known as the four "lowers." 



In summer, when the topmasts are up, 

 light sails are set, consisting of fore- and 

 main gaff-topsails, a rectangular main- 

 topmast-staysail, and a balloon- jib or jib- 

 topsail. The two latter are often of great 

 size, and when a Banker has her light 

 sails set she is a veritable cloud of canvas. 



In winter fishing, the light sails are left 

 ashore and the topmasts are also dis- 

 carded. In heavy weather, which will 

 not permit a reefed mainsail to be set, 

 a small triangular piece of canvas, known 



as the "riding sail," or storm trysail, is 

 hoisted on the mainmast. This sail is 

 also set to steady the vessel while lying 

 to an anchor on the Banks or when mak- 

 ing short "shifts" from berth to berth on 

 the fishing grounds. When under riding- 

 sail, foresail, and jumbo, a schooner is 

 said to be "under Bank sail." 



EVERY BANK SCHOONER IS A SEAFARING 

 DEMOCRACY 



Every Bank fishing schooner is a sort 

 of seafaring democracy. The crew works 

 the ship on a cooperative basis, with the 

 skipper as sailing and fishing "boss." In 

 Canadian and American craft in which 

 the writer sailed, the gang were shipped 

 on the share system, their remuneration 

 consisting of an equal share of the pro- 

 ceeds of the catch after the bills for 

 victualing, ice, salt, bait, cook's wages, 

 and other incidentals had been paid. 



The schooner took a quarter or a fifth 

 of the gross stock, and this repaid her 

 owner for the hire of the vessel. Out of 

 this share came the cost of insurance and 

 upkeep, but in good seasons, prior to 

 1914, many schooners paid their cost of 

 construction within twelve months. In 

 those days, however, a Banker could be 

 built for $12,000; nowadays they cost 

 nearly $50,000. 



The share system has had many vari- 

 ants. Formerly, in some vessels, it was 

 "even shares," where all hands drew the 

 same amount. In other craft it was "by 

 the count," where each dory kept count 

 of the number of fish caught and the dory 

 catching the greatest number drew the 

 highest share. The lucky dory was 

 known as the "high line" or "high dory" ; 

 the lowest count was "low dory," and in 

 some ships if a pair of fishermen came 

 "low dory" too often they were "fired." 



Both of these systems had their draw- 

 backs, and of late years so many new 

 methods of dividing the proceeds of the 

 catch have been instituted in the different 

 vessel fisheries that it would be confus- 

 ing, and possibly erroneous, to quote 

 any one as being the standard. 



In some vessels a wage is now guaran- 

 teed and augmented by a share ; in others, 

 the owner provides food and gear and the 

 fisherman provides nothing. But the 

 share system, in some form or another. 



