When the Boat Comes In...

This is an increasingly rare sight sadly, not the method of landing the boat, but the fact a boat was coming in when I was down there today.

Method: When the skipper (whilst still around 100m offshore) is made aware that the winch cable is ready by the guy on the foreshore, he goes full throttle for the beach. The crew member at the front of the boat, jumps down and connects a cable from the boat, to a hook on the winch cable. Then, slowly and surely it is winched in, with the crew moving wooden supports and placing them under the hull so that it doesn't sink into the stones. The beach has been notoriously difficult in recent months and a couple of the boats have moved to Rye where a more traditional dock side is available.

Rare: There are probably between 20 and 30 working boats. The skipper today told me that it was the third time he;d been out since 17 December 2012 as there is little in it for them. Their catches are strictly governed. they're not allowed to catch cod which he told me was plentiful, but are allowed to catch pollack, which they haven't seen for ages. A couple of years ago Hugh F-W filmed here regarding them having to discard fish if they go over quota (seemingly on the side of the fishermen... don't) mention Hugh to this skipper though unless you want to hear some choice language. If the rest of the boats are fishing the same amount as this one, it means there has probably only been a launch a da y on average for the last couple of months.

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