Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1547 The First Network

The workers on the ship are all veterans, especially those on this ship, who were all specially selected by him, so he is quite relieved.

He could relax by lying down in the rest chamber, but the noise of the machines was inevitably a bit louder, but there was nothing he could do about it, as he had long been accustomed to it.

The work of driving the boat was given to others, and it was easy for him as he only had to manage it. Now the fishing boat was still sailing, and he could go to bed early and get up early to see when and where to set the nets tomorrow.

When I woke up in the morning, the color of the sea water turned into a deep indigo blue.

Occasionally, a few seabirds would circle over the fleet, waiting for an opportunity to prey on small fish stirred up by the propellers.

Ye Yaodong stood on the deck, stretching lazily. The eastern sky was just beginning to turn pale, and the edges of the gray-blue clouds had been stained with a faint orange-red, like a burning line, slowly cutting the inky sea and the lead-gray sky apart.

There were already some boatmen downstairs, busy at work, so he went down to help direct and guide.

After all, except for a few veterans, other boatmen were visiting the deep sea for the first time and lacked experience, so he had to follow up on things that needed to be checked.

Some veterans do not have that much experience, after all, the focus of learning on a ship is different.

He had to teach and give instructions throughout the voyage, with the assistance of some experienced veterans who were familiar with the ship's machinery.

Before arriving at the destination, the boatmen also have a lot of work to prepare in advance, such as debugging auxiliary equipment.

The net lifting machine needs to run at no load for 30 minutes and check the hydraulic system pressure.

The net sorting machine should adjust the roller spacing to 15cm to ensure smooth separation of the nets.

The lubrication of the cable guide pulley on the deck should also be checked and grease should be added every 4 hours.

A sextant is used to measure celestial positions every 2 hours, and a drifting buoy is dropped at the key turning point (123°45' east longitude) to mark the ocean current.

As soon as Ye Yaodong got up, he was busy checking everywhere, leading the workers who had just changed shifts and teaching them these things.

After finishing the teaching, he went to the cockpit to contact several other fishing boats and asked them whether they had checked these things properly.

He also arranged corresponding personnel on several other fishing boats. Since the second half of the previous year, he has been sending people to special seafarer training institutions for study.

We had already conducted a drill before setting off and explained the corresponding matters. It was not a big problem. Some of them are also necessary when fishing near the coast.

But now that they were in the deep sea, he felt a little worried and wanted to give a few more instructions.

His biggest regret was that he didn't have a walkie-talkie, which was very inconvenient, but one costing two or three thousand was not a problem for him.

The main reason is that these days, there are fewer marine relay stations, such as ship base stations or coastal stations.

Shortwave radio (HF) is still the main communication method for ocean-going ships. Because it can travel thousands of kilometers, it is an important way to contact rescuers, but the equipment is bulky and the operation is complicated.

Satellite communications are still in their early stages and are used for military or high-end commercial purposes only, and are almost invisible in the general market.

He is too advanced, so we can only make do with it for now, using whatever we have, as long as we can communicate and receive the broadcast.

After Ye Yaodong and others finished their work and received reports from several ships, they went downstairs to have breakfast with peace of mind.

"Boss, you know so much..."

"Where did you learn this, boss?"

A veteran asked curiously.

Ye Yaodong said nonsense, "I attended a training course and learned a little bit. I also spent some time at the shipyard and learned the principles of these machines and the precautions during operation. When the shipyard delivers the machines, they will also teach you how to use them and the precautions. You have to learn and judge them simply. Otherwise, who will repair them at sea?"

"I thought... You're amazing. I really admire you. I've heard a lot of your legendary stories in the past few months..."

"Haha, our brother Dong has a lot of stories. He is so awesome. He is the best in our village and has led our whole village to become rich."

"He is more than the best in the village. No one is as famous as Brother Dong. His reputation has spread everywhere."

"Our whole village is living such a good life now, all thanks to Adong."

Everyone was talking lively, and the poor Mandarin did not affect their communication at all.

There are actually not that many veterans on the boat. They are evenly distributed among 6 boats, including the seafood collecting boat. There are only 5 people on each boat, and the remaining dozen or so people are fishermen from their village.

Everyone has seen the veterans in the factory who are physically disabled or not so healthy, and they all admire them very much. They get along well with them and can also exchange ideas about customs from different places.

In fact, it was Ye Yaodong who made a good start. He got along well with everyone and everyone got along harmoniously. After all, they were all from the same village and shared the same honor and disgrace.

He also reminded in advance that these veterans were related to the development of his factory, and everyone must live in peace and communicate in a friendly manner.

Naturally, when you communicate with these people, you will become more tolerant towards them.

Someone asked: "Where are we now? When can we reach the location? Can't we fish here?"

Ye Yaodong replied: "We are about to enter the second turning point, the Kuroshio tributary. Let's measure the water temperature."

As soon as he said that, someone started moving.

After a while, a worker came out with a thermometer and said, "The water temperature is two degrees higher than yesterday."

"That means we have arrived."

The Kuroshio tributary is a warm current from the equator. It is an important migratory fish channel in East Asia and the "golden waterway" of the East China Sea fishing grounds. Fish often follow the warm current northward, forming intensive fishing seasons.

Zhou City is one of the four major fishing grounds, and this is partly the reason.

He planned to try casting a net at the intersection of ocean currents, as other places would not be suitable for casting a net.

Because the Kuroshio tributary passes through the edge of the continental shelf, the seabed in some areas is steep and covered with reefs, making it easy for trawl nets to get damaged.

This is also the information I got in my previous life.

Someone asked, "Last night we said we'd see if we should set the net today. So should we set the net? Is this a good place to set the net?"

Ye Yaodong was about to speak when he noticed a few silver-gray shadows flashing in the waves at the stern.

Others saw it too.

"what?"

"what is that?"

"Big fish, what kind of big fish is that?"

"Triggerfish." Several people said in unison.

"so much……"

Several bonito were chasing the whirlpools stirred up by the fishing boat, jumping out of the water from time to time, revealing their streamlined bodies.

Suddenly, one of the bonito twisted violently, as if it was grabbed by something. Then, a wave exploded on the water surface, and a swordfish nearly two meters long broke out of the water.

Its sharp upper jaw is like a sword, shining with a cold metallic luster in the sun. It shakes its head and bites its prey, and the splashing water reflects a rainbow-like light in the sun.

Ye Yaodong whistled, "The guys in the deep sea are really fierce!"

"swordfish!"

"Oh my god, I ran into it just after I went out to sea. That pointy snout is so cool!"

"Should we drive faster to avoid it? We must not let this fish puncture our boat."

"You're thinking too much. We won't attack a fishing boat without a reason," said the retired soldier who served as chief engineer.

No one had time to eat at the moment. They all held their bowls and stared ahead, or pointed at the stern with their chopsticks, talking and making comments.

The swordfish tore at its prey, dyeing the surrounding sea water scarlet, but soon the sea washed away all traces.

The other bonito had already sunk into the water without a trace.

After the swordfish swallowed its prey, its body suddenly stretched out like a spring, its sword-like upper jaw split the waves, and its silver-blue back appeared and disappeared from time to time.

The nearly two-meter-long upper jaw drew a fleeting white line on the sea surface and disappeared into the deep sea in the blink of an eye.

But just as it sped away, the sea water at the stern suddenly surged violently.

Several blue-gray dorsal fins cut through the water, moving across the surface like sharp blades.

"Tiger shark!" Lao Xiao took a breath and shouted, pointing at the stern.

Others also exclaimed, "Fuck, big shark!"

"Tiger shark!"

"I'll be a good boy..."

"As one big group leaves, another even bigger group comes..."

Three huge tiger sharks were circling the stern of the boat, each more than four meters long.

Their rough skin is covered with unique black stripes, which makes them look particularly ferocious in the sun.

The most eye-catching thing is their open bloody mouths, with upper and lower jaws covered with serrated triangular teeth, each of which flashes coldly like a sharp dagger.

The largest one suddenly accelerated and rushed towards the stern. When it was about to hit the propeller, it turned around sharply, revealing its snow-white belly.

The other two dived underwater, their gray figures looming in the deep blue water, occasionally revealing their tail fins to slap the water surface, splashing large waves.

Ye Yaodong also stared at the stern, "They should have been attracted by the smell of blood just now."

Or maybe they were originally moving around with this group of sharks.

They like to follow the tails of whales and sharks, forming a collective swimming style that can be considered a symbiotic relationship.

Because bonito eats the larger food in the sea first, the rest is swallowed by whales and sharks.

Lao Xiao also said: "Those shells just now were attracted by the small fish stirred up by the propeller."

"That's right, eat quickly, and then find a place to cast your net. The Kuroshio tributary here is at the intersection of ocean currents, so there are a lot of fish."

"okay."

Everyone responded, but their eyes were fixed on the stern, and they swallowed the rice in their bowls dry without even having to eat any more.

"Wow..."

At this moment, a tiger shark suddenly jumped out of the water and drew a perfect arc in the air.

Its striped body was completely exposed to the sun, and when its half-ton weight slammed back into the sea, the splashes even reached the deck.

This powerful leap seemed to be showing them its dominance in this sea.

"Fuck..."

Everyone held their bowls and hurried over, their backs getting wet from the splashes of water.

There was still some foam from the waves on the deck.

"Oh my god, I'm all wet..."

Those who were close were soaked from head to toe, and those who were farther away were almost the same, with their entire backs wet.

Fortunately, everyone was wearing one-piece raincoats and rain boots, and they were smart enough to put their hats on their heads the moment their backs were turned.

"Damn it, one after another..."

"There must be a lot of fish here. So many big fish gather here to eat."

"Look, there's a big whirlpool over there. It must be the shark eating..."

Ye Yaodong took off his hat and saw the whirlpool on the sea not far away.

They encountered so many big fish just after they came out. In the past, they might not be able to encounter one even after ten days or half a month near the coast. It all depended on luck and the season.

"Eat quickly. I'll go notify other fishing boats to find a spot to spread out and cast a net to see."

While urging everyone, he also cleaned up the remaining rice in his bowl, put the bowl aside, and hurried up to the wheelhouse.

Chen Shi was very excited. "Brother Dong, did you see that? Just now, a shark that big jumped up and hit the water. If the swordfish had run a step later, it would have had a fierce fight."

"Everyone is watching. We are eating right now, so we can see everything clearly. You go eat, I'll take care of this. After you finish eating, go to sleep. Lao Xiao will come over when it's time to take over."

"Okay, I'll leave this to you."

It just so happened that he also wanted to go down and communicate with others, as he had just encountered those schools of fish one after another.

Ye Yaodong stood in the cockpit of "Ocean One" and moved his fingers slowly on the radar screen.

The temperature front formed at the confluence of the Kuroshio tributary and the coastal cold current appears as a clear blue-green dividing line on the screen.

He walked out of the cabin with a loudspeaker, "Old Xiao, put out the CTD detector."

This is a water quality detector.

"Roger that!"

Lao Xiao immediately ordered the crew to throw the cylindrical hydrographic detector into the sea. A few minutes later, a set of numbers popped up on the data display.

After seeing this, Ye Yaodong called up the scanning image of the fish finder.

On the screen, the dense red dots in the middle waters show that there are a large number of fish gathered here, so densely packed that they are countless and fill the entire screen.

He was also somewhat excited after seeing it. Resources were indeed abundant these days.

If it were in the previous life, if you wanted to find a school of fish, you would have to search and explore while sailing. Perhaps this is the place where ocean currents converge.

But you can't keep fishing at this intersection. The risk is too great and you may encounter a sudden change in ocean currents.

Sometimes the Kuroshio current speed can reach 2-3 knots. Sudden acceleration may cause the net to deform, the net mouth to close, or the steel cable to break, which requires maintaining a tensile strength of 200 tons.

There is also the possibility of encountering submarine canyons and sudden changes in depth, which are great risks.

Just scoop up enough fish and leave. Don't be too greedy. There are still plenty of fish in other places these days.

Ye Yaodong contacted several other fishing boats and briefly explained that they were going to cast a net at the intersection of the ocean currents. He asked them to disperse and explore and cast their nets on their own.

The specifications of instruments on several fishing boats are similar, and most of them are imported. The first two may be a little worse, but the basic instruments are all there, and everyone has experience and knows what to do.

He just needs to notify everyone.

After receiving the information, several fishing boats immediately changed their formation, spread out and conducted their own detection.

Ye Yaodong stared at the scanning image of the fish finder and adjusted the gain knob. The image immediately became clear. The fish were distributed in the 50-80 meter water layer with a thickness of about 30 meters.

He pressed the alarm button on the bridge, and a short whistle sounded throughout the fleet.

"Get ready to cast the net."

The deck suddenly became busy, and the crew members took their positions like well-trained soldiers.

Some checked every knot of the trawl net, tested the pressure gauge of the hydraulic winch, and the chief engineer monitored the main engine speed.

Ye Yaodong waited until everything was ready, adjusted the speed of the fishing boat, and gave an order with the horn.

"Lay the net!"

The hydraulic boom at the stern slowly lowered the huge trawl net into the sea.

The steel sinkers on both sides of the net mouth are like a string of huge beads, making a dull "plop" sound when entering the water.

The orange float then entered the water, bobbing in the waves.

Ye Yaodong stared at the net position meter and watched the fishing net slowly sink to the predetermined depth.

The steel cable on the winch was continuously released, and the counter showed that 280 meters had been released.

"Net position is OK, start trawling!"

He moved forward slowly at a speed of 3 knots. The roar of the main engine was deep and powerful, and the wake stirred up by the propeller drew a white trail on the blue sea.

Fishing boats do not need to do anything during normal trawling. They just need to pay attention to the dashboard, monitor the net position meter data in real time, and maintain the net mouth height within ±5m of the target fish distribution layer.

Also pay attention to the tension sensor. If the force on the cable exceeds 80% of its breaking strength, adjust it immediately.

When encountering strong currents, it is necessary to increase the weight of the sinker, shorten the length of the tow cable, and keep the net close to the bottom.

When the fish school floats up, the angle of the net mouth must be changed by adjusting the float.

His cockpit is filled with a bunch of sophisticated instruments, a bunch of display screens and data that are constantly flashing. It is very complicated, and people who don't understand will just feel confused when they come in and look at it.

Not only do we have to keep an eye on the instruments, we also have to rely on experience to adjust the depth of the net according to the speed of the black current and ensure that the net mouth is fully open.

But the trawling period was relatively leisurely. Ye Yaodong checked the time in advance and it was only 6 o'clock in the morning. He planned to start the net again after 9 o'clock.

Three hours of homework is about right.

He goes to bed early and gets up early. He got up at around 4 o'clock this morning. Although the weather in May is warm, it is still cool in the morning and evening, especially at sea. He is still wearing a sweater and a thin jacket, and will not take them off until the sun is high in the sky.

Except for those workers who still have to keep watch at their posts, all the other workers have gone to rest first.

While waiting for the internet to come online, there are still some busy things to do.

We basically work 24 hours a day on the ship, and everyone takes a rest whenever they can. It's very tiring, but now that we've just got out, we're all in good spirits.

When Lao Xiao finished his work on the deck and came up, Ye Yaodong asked him to watch for a while, and he stood on the deck with a telescope and looked around.

Various large marine creatures appear on the sea from time to time. Some rush by in a flash; some sink and float, appearing and disappearing; more often, you can see seabirds swooping down as soon as the fish schools on the upper layer emerge.

There were even more seabirds following the fishing boats at the stern, eating the small fish brought up by the propellers, enjoying the free buffet.

After eating and drinking, they will lie down on the deck or the side of the ship to rest, or take a free ride on the boat.

Even a few seabirds flew to his side and landed lightly on the teak railing next to him.

These seabirds were not afraid of people at all. They just stayed on top of him even without him waving his hands to chase them away.

At hand is the most conspicuous black-footed albatross, a giant seabird with a wingspan of nearly two meters. Its feathers are snow-white, with only the tips of its wings being pitch black.

It folded its wings and landed on the railing. It didn't look very big, but its wings were big.

It was using its orange-red webbed feet to preen its feathers. Salt frost was still hanging on the tips of the feathers. The ring-shaped scales on its ankles were clearly visible, and were stained with some fish mucus.

There were also a few pigeon-sized gray-brown seabirds that he didn't recognize, with white foreheads as if they were covered with lime.

After looking around curiously, Ye Yaodong continued to gaze at the sea in the distance.

But when he turned the telescope, the nearest albatross suddenly spread its huge wings and kicked the railing at the moment of takeoff, leaving three claw marks with a fishy smell and a large bubble of bird poop...

Some of them even landed on his arms...

"Fuck... Damn it..."

"Eat my food, and give it back to me..."

Ye Yaodong cursed. They had never interfered with each other before, but after leaving, he left a big mess for him.

He walked into the cabin and asked for a piece of newspaper, then wiped it roughly. It was wet from the initial pulling and easier to wipe.

"What happened?"

"An albatross pooped for me. Fortunately, it is a lucky bird."

"Ha ha……"

"Don't laugh, look at your monitor."

After Ye Yaodong wiped his body clean, he threw the newspaper into the sea.

After waiting for three hours, he looked at his watch and saw that it was almost time, so he used the loudspeaker to announce: "Get ready to set up the net!"

The boatmen started to move.

The winch began to rumble and the steel cable was retracted inch by inch.

As the trawl gradually approached the water surface, white waves began to roll up on the sea.

Suddenly, a large silver light emerged from the water. It was the fish in the net.

"The net broke!" Ye Yaodong looked at the underwater with joy.

Lao Xiao also said excitedly: "Yes, this net must have 50,000 to 60,000 kilograms."

"You said there were fewer comrades, there must be more!" Ye Yaodong happily watched the fishing net gradually float up.

When the trawl net was completely exposed to the water, the scene was spectacular. Thousands of blue-spotted mackerels jumped wildly in the net, their silver-blue backs shining in the sun.

The powerful tail fins of large numbers of trigger fish slapped the net, and at the bottom were schools of sea bream, their red scales as dazzling as gems.

"Damn, this net is amazing..."

"There must be more than a dozen bags in this net, right?"

"Awesome, the warehouse is really full of fish..."

The crane lifts the fish in the fishing net to the fish sorting operation area above the ship's deck, and then lowers the fish into the net one by one, with each package weighing about 5000 kilograms.

Ye Yaodong personally took command, "Quick! Sorting and loading!"

All the workers were standing in the fish sorting area, and large bags of fish were falling onto the sorting table, one bag after another.

"There are so many mackerels and shells in this net..."

"There are a lot of squids here, but they are smaller than these. This one is more valuable..."

"Mackerel is also valuable..."

"That sea bream is also valuable, and these shrimps are also good..."

After the first net was caught, everyone was in high spirits and eager to chat. They happily chatted while sorting, checking the freshness and quality of the fish and removing any unwanted debris or small fish.

Ye Yaodong thought that in less than a week, after two or three days, everyone would become numb and would have no desire to talk, and would just bury their heads in work.

While giving instructions, he counted the number of packages of goods that had fallen. This is how weight is generally estimated. You can tell how heavy a package is by looking at the number of packages.

Writing the ocean plot is really brain-burning. I have been looking up information and arranging the plot recently. I may have to update it in the early morning. Don't wait,