I have just returned from my first trip with Itaipava fleet in Brazil. It was in at the deep end. We got into a dangerous situation and had to rescued!
The fishing cruises in this region tend to be shorter (15-18 days), when compared to the fleet of Santos/São Paulo State and Itajaí/Santa Catarina State (25-30 days), this happens mainly on account of the size of the boats. Itaipava's fleet is composed of smaller vessels (10-15 metres)
But the voyage suffered a reduced duration due to larger forces than the dimensions of the boats...
We departed from the port of Itaipava on April 7, 2008, on the Veremos 'We'll see' fishing vessel, run by the skipper Marcelo (nickname: Gato 'Cat') and equipped with 'longlines', used primarily to capture swordfish and sharks. We sailed for three days in a very enjoyable sea conditions, to the Elevação do Rio de Janeiro 'Rio de Janeiro Rise', approximately 300 miles from Cabo Frio/Rio de Janeiro State (the nearest port).
At the end of the third day (10 April), in the afternoon, we conducted our first 'longline' release, composed of a spool with approximately 23 miles of main line and 630 hooks.
To target sharks, the buoys that are attached to the main line had the cables reduced, which therefore reduces the depth of the longline (leaving it close to the surface). This targeting really worked! The next day, during the collection of longline, which pass overnight in the water, they captured 19 blue sharks, plus two swordfishes and four ratfishes.
The second fishing session took place on the following day, using the same guidelines, but with a lower catch, blue shark = 9, swordfish = 2, ratfish = 2, and a black ray, handed back to the sea.
Initially, we didn't have any seabirds accompany us . Only, at the very end of the fishing session two Wilson's storm petrels and one great shearwater appeared.
And when we set the third line...
The crew caught sight of a buoy loose at sea, lost by some Japanese fishing vessel. They usually collect this kind of material, adding it to their equipment. Just as we slowed down, there was a strong noise from the engine. After this noise the vessel could not be put into the forward or reverse speed! The gearbox wasn't working.
We were more than 300 miles off the coast, and without any kind of propulsion, the boat was adrift...
We called on the radio, asking for support (someone who had a suitable spare part or could tow us). The closest boat was 80 miles away, another Itaipava fishing vessel, which left the port on the same day, with us... Thus... had few days fishing and if it was to tow us to port, their fishing would fail as well, and they wouldn't be able to pay the output costs, which are extremely high!
Yet this boat came up to us, to tow us to another boat that was returning to the port:
* We had to be very careful... removing the fishing lines and hook that had already been set before the incident! * It was more than two miles of long line and hundreds of hooks, without the winch, just by hand!
Everyone was relieved by the help that arrived at the end of the night.
We spent one day being towed to another vessel which was distant. We were 100 miles away from the coast. Coming up to them, we changed the chain cable to the other craft and started what would be a new struggle... This second one was even more difficult. The other vessel, also from Itaipava, was already heavily loaded, and then increasing wind and waves came...
We took more four days being towed to the Itaipava port, and on the second day, the chain cables broke several times, under the waves, which came high abruptly!
But in general, on the next days, it was really more calm, drawing the time, with good conversation, learning and exchanging information with the skipper and all the crew, thus bringing us closer. They were very receptive and willing to cooperate with future trips.
As they had a television and a DVD player on the boat, we showed them our publicity film about different ways to protect seabirds. Eventually we arrived back to port safe and well.