North Sea: pics of huge seas this week

[Nick_H]

There's no ledge in the foreground IMO, just a thin line of foam that, with copious amounts of imagination, looks a bit like a submerged ledge. If it was a ledge, water would be pouring off the sides, not sitting on top defying gravity.

 

[blueglass]

There's no ledge in the foreground IMO, just a thin line of foam that, with copious amounts of imagination, looks a bit like a submerged ledge. If it was a ledge, water would be pouring off the sides, not sitting on top defying gravity.

but it IS pouring off the sdes isn't it. anyway, whatever.

 

[3571]

So jfm was told they were taken from the Beryl Alpha stand-by vessel this week and you were told they were taken from harvester's paired trawler in October. So yes that does cast doubt in my mind. These are, if genuine, world class professional images, so where is the photographer and his copyright?

I wasn't actually told who it was that took the pictures, but it would be a fair assumption to make, you don't tend to get all that many photostalkers up close and personal in the middle of a storm in that huge expanse of water which is the North Sea.

The images may well be photoshopped, I do not know enough about it to say for sure. One thing that I do know, is that the reasons and examples that you have given for them being so do not even nearly make any sense to me, imho your "training wall" looks no more a submerged training wall than it looks like the Great Wall of China.

The photographer - he is probably aboard the Ocean Harvest as we speak, pair trawling away, maybe the guy is in the wrong job and his talents are wasted

 

[adey]

Some were taken on different days. In these two the deck cargo is different - like the crane for instance.

 

[scubaman]

A quick googling found this http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?116989-Small-trawler-big-waves

Doesn't really prove anything other than that these Pics have circulated for a while. These were posted in july.

I'm starting to lean towards these being real.

 

[blueglass]

A quick googling found this http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?116989-Small-trawler-big-waves

Doesn't really prove anything other than that these Pics have circulated for a while. These were posted in july.

I'm starting to lean towards these being real.

just checking your link - interesting how many times these images have been posted on the net and always by some one who had a friend who emailed them.
I still maintain they are doctored. just spotted the unlikely looking bow wave in that last one above
anyway enough of this its saturday night and the pub's open!

 

[3571]

Some were taken on different days. In these two the deck cargo is different - like the crane for instance.

I am sure that when the boat rolled back up in the second image the crane would be back, the crane is a permanent fixture which they need for landing their catch.

 

[Capt Cautious]

For what its worth....

http://www.worldfishingtoday.com/newbuildings/110708_harvester_ocean_harvest.asp

CC

 

[Harry25]

Mystery photographer

Is the identity of the photographer David Linke as in Capt Cautious post? Was he onboard as he is obviously a professional photographer.

 

[Capt Cautious]

Should be easy enough to find out now. MMSI is 235064434, someone could hop on the DSC or Sat C and simply ask them. It'll save all this ill informed speculation about the provenance of what appear to be genuine photos taken from her sister vessel during pair trawling ops in fairly (ok...very) heavy weather.
CC

 

[AndyS]

I definately can't see any photoshopping in the photos.

 

[blueglass]

I definately can't see any photoshopping in the photos.

nice one!

 

[jfm]

I definately can't see any photoshopping in the photos.

Tee hee! Thanks Andy! I've kept out of the p'shop-or-not debate because i don't know p'shop well, but your pic shows that quite convincing (to untrained eye, like mine) fakes can be made. My thoughts earlier about such seas were that on a boat like Sq78 the swim platform would get ripped off, and your photo "proves" that.

I'll put that pic in my forthcoming charter brochure. Should attract a few white-knuckle punters

 

[Madhatter]

Sweet fecking jaysus.

I know fisherman are renowned for having their dayshapes welded to the mast but you'd think they would take the trouble not to indicate that they are trawling when there's no sign of any trawling going on.

Who the fek is going to take them down in that ?

 

[benjenbav]

Who the fek is going to take them down in that ?

I was thinking more of the lights. Maybe a switch inside the wheelhouse?

 

[Chrissie]

Some of the pictures seem genuine, they lost a stern light at some point. The seas look like the seas on my first Biscay crossing, couldnt photograph the waves as I needed both hands to hold on with, we needed a man on each wheel to control the boat, and it was almost impossible to see as the salt spray stung the eyes constantly. We lost the end fitting of the boom, ripped the storm sail and tri-sail to pieces, the spare diesel tanks under the floor boards bashed about so much one or more cracked open. At one point I was thrown from the nav table across the boat, over the back of the saloon seats and rolled under the table where I was wedged for an hour.
Other incidents were being thrown against a door frame so hard it broke the door frame, and almost my shoulder.
Couldnt cook or make drinks for 24 hours at the worst of it, grabbing sausage rolls and dry bread rolls to eat, and bottled water to drink, could only sleep by wedging self into narrow passageways.
Jeneau 46

 

[blueglass]

again, the seas are not in question,
the boats capabilty to handle the seas is not in question
IMHO however, the photos are in question.

 

[Csail]

Why would they be out in those conditions?

 

[3571]

Why would they be out in those conditions?

It is a long story but pretty much because EU "days at sea" legislation leaves them little choice but to stick it out. Sometimes rules and regs which sound good on paper while in a nice centrally heated office in Brussels, do not translate quite so well into the real world.

Briefly - All fish boats like this one are allocated X amount of days at sea per year, these days are counted from the minute that you leave harbour until you come back to harbour, and are not just counted when you are actually fishing (all watched by the authorities on real time satellite monitoring).

They are normally working hundreds of miles from port, and in those conditions it would obviously take a long time to get home to port and a while to get back out to the fishing grounds again when the weather imoroves a bit (all eating up your limited days at sea), so staying out dodging until the weather improves is usually the sensible, more comfortable and much safer option.

 

[oceanfroggie]

The conditions depicted are not at all unreal or extraordinary and don't look edited, but I accept they could have been but why bother when there are thousands of real photos of vessels in heavy weather knocking about on the Internet and YouTube. They are nice pics to look at one way or another.