Cape Breton's Magazine

the kibbutz. I found that quite interest? ing. Carp farming--freshwater pond farming. You know, gefilte fish is what they were producing--that's what carp is, gefilte fish. At that time--was that '72?--it was the main farm fish in Israel. Now trout has really taken off there. That was my first exposure to fin fish cul? ture. I had worked with oysters with the Department of Fisheries for one summer o- ver on P. E. I. But this was the first time I spent any time with fin fish. I worked there for 6 months, and enjoyed that--travelled all over Israel. Then I guess the time had come. I had saved a little money--you earn a little bit on the kibbutz--decided to carry on, try and make it to Australia. I took off across the Mediterranean to Turkey. I went to Istanbul, and there I had all my money stolen. So I ended up having next to noth? ing. I figured I'd better make my way back to Britain and see if I could get enough money together to live. I went back to Britain and I worked in a Rally bicycle place in Nottingham for a little while, and made enough money to come back here. I went to Lunenburg, down outside of Hali? fax. A friend of mine was working on one of the draggers down there. He said, "This is a great spot for you to make some money. You should come down, hang around the wharves and get to know the captains. Be there at 5 o'clock in the morning when the boat's ready to go, because a lot of the times all the crew don't make it." I spent Dooley's Pharmacy '7 Box 323 ARICHAT 226-3133 'A A. B. p. CUSTOM REPLACEMENT WINDOWS 2 or 3 weeks hanging around, 5 o'clock in the morning, to pester the captains until I finally got a chance on one of the drag? gers . I worked on them for the better part of the summer, out for 10 days and in for 2. Probably the hardest work I ever had. It's really grueling work, hands are just torn. Oh, this aching--first couple pf weeks were terrible, you know. In salt wa? ter all the time. Just gutting and ripping fish. Sometimes you'd work 12 hours straight. When the fish were there, you'd have to. Now there's a minimum wage that the fishermen make on the draggers. But at that time, if your catch was good, you did well. But there's times you would actually owe the company, if their running expenses were greater than what your catch was. I got in three different boats--two stern draggers and one side dragger. The last boat I was on, the Cape Royal, is a side dragger. You work it out m the open. With the stem draggers you're underneath the stern. But in the side draggers you're out in the open, there's no cover over the top of you, whether it's pouring with rain or whatever, you're still out there in the elements. But that particular boat was the one that was lost off Newfoundland after I came to Cape Breton--it disappeared. But I can un? derstand. I was on that boat once in a heavy wind, off Browns Bank, just off the Bay of Fundy. I was frightened. The boat just went over like that, almost on its side. And it stayed there for, it must have been 30 seconds, 45 seconds, just staying there. And I said, "Oh God, is this thing going to go over?" Then it popped back. I talked to a couple of the old fishermen, and.they said, "Oh no, that's happened a few times on this boat. They just didn't put the ice in the right No alterations to your home are necessary with our energy efficient, maintenance free, A.B.P. customized replacement wi ndows. INTERNAV A Complete Line of LoranCReceivers for All Boatsmen Sydport Industrial Park, Point Edward 564-2043 NOW AVAILABLE: "The Reel of Tulloch" Doug MacPhee Cape Breton Pianist Ace. by Blaine Aitkens "...Otie of the most beautiful treasures of Cape Breton piano music ever produced." • Joey Beaton A good variety of Scot? tish fiddle tunes played on piano • an extra long album with great sound! LP Record or Cassette Tape Send $10.95 to Doug MacPhee 681 Sharpes' Lane, New Waterford, N. S. BIH 4H1