It takes a while to get used to life on board a working trawler. There is the constant rolling motion, with a 2-3 metre swell most days, sometimes 4-5 metres. The constant thud of the engine is interspersed with the rhythmic clank and hum of the winches.
Each day is the same routine. Nets are hauled shortly after dawn, taking 20 minutes to winch in and a further 20 minutes to haul on board and deposit the catch into the hold for the waiting factory team to process.
The deck team then clean and prepare the net for shooting. The net is basically a huge bag, the size of a football pitch, yet only 2.5 metres high at its mouth. Massive metal leaf-shaped 'doors' weighing two tonnes each are attached, and both sink the net to the seafloor and spread its mouth wide.
Once the doors are attached, the winches let out around 700 feet of thick steel cable, the 'warps', until the net is pulling along the sea floor some 400 feet below and behind us. Each trawl takes 4-5 hours, and continues around the clock, so the whole cycle is repeated five times a day.
And it is hard, filthy and dangerous work. You soon become coated in grime, a combination of oil, grease, fish and salt (take it from me, showering aboard in a five-metre swell is an interesting experience!).
Facilities on board are basic but comfortable. I soon make friends with the chef, Emanuel, a happy and likeable young Port Elizabethan, who conjures up wonderful curries, soups and fried hake freshly caught each day.