Rough Seas

The weather was relentless. We were rolling and tumbling about. I was bruised and aching all over from being knocked about and trying not to fall out of my bunk . . . There was a loud crash as a huge sea hit us. The ship rolled violently over to starboard, it seemed she was going to roll right over. I was thrown against the side of the bunk . . . On the bridge I could hear shouting, the crashing of breaking glass, the splintering of wood as the wheelhouse windows caved in. The sea rushed into the bridge - it was full of water . . . I really thought she was about to sink. A trawlerman's life was hard, often up against bad weather, rough seas and black frosts, although on calm days it was a pleasure to be at sea. In this eventful memoir, deep-sea trawlerman James Greene relates his life at sea, from his childhood when his father would take him out in some of the worst gales and hurricanes imaginable to his early career as a deckhand learner, obtaining his skipper's ticket, and the many experiences - both disastrous and otherwise - to occur throughout his time at sea. During his career he was involved in ship collisions and fires, arrested for poaching, fired upon by Icelandic gunboats, in countless storms and even swept overboard in icy conditions off the Russian coast. The British trawling industry is largely a bygone age and people are beginning to forget the adventures, hardships and joys that characterised this most dangerous of professions. This book seeks to keep the memories of a once great industry alive.