- 6 weeks ago
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00:00Watch out, boys. Get out of the way.
00:04Oh, . She's cocked. She's cocked.
00:06She's cocked.
00:07Just don't take her back a little bit yet, Paul.
00:09Only a few feet from the wharf.
00:10He's gonna tow her in, and we'll just keep straining
00:12and stirring up here so he doesn't go ahead too fast.
00:15I want 20s up top, but 20s around the bottom in the back.
00:18Does it play, boys? Sometimes she up.
00:20I can't believe I took the wrong plane.
00:23It's the top of the morning in Newfoundland,
00:31an island famous for majestic coastlines,
00:34fierce winds, and a network of bustling harbours.
00:38But on this morning, there's action inland.
00:43We good? Good?
00:45Well, like I said, chain file don't matter.
00:47About a kilometre from St. John's Harbour,
00:50DF Barnes contractors are getting ready for a big operation,
00:54and they've called in some extra help.
00:56Don't be on the head or on the head with these blocks on the right.
00:59Yeah.
01:00They're here with the crew from Holden's Transport,
01:02local experts in lifting and hauling,
01:04with a massive challenge at hand.
01:07So this is a boom belong to one of the Coast Guard boats,
01:11and we're just loading it on a trailer.
01:13Then we've got to go over across the road
01:15and lift it aboard the boat.
01:16Crane operator Blaine Carew is responsible
01:18for moving the 70-foot-long boom.
01:21This boom here is about 26,000 pounds.
01:24It's not your everyday pick.
01:26But moving the boom is only the first part of the job.
01:29After that, DF Barnes foreman Matthew Fardy
01:32is in charge of reinstalling it
01:34on the Coast Guard search-and-rescue vessel,
01:36the Ann Harvey.
01:38I've got that 10-ton chain file there, too.
01:40Yeah, so we're going to put that on.
01:41We're going to put it on here and try it,
01:43make sure it comes up straight, get it straight here.
01:46Yeah.
01:47Then so when he picks it down there,
01:48there's no shagging around just straight up, straight down.
01:50For this job, the two teams need to choose the right pick points
01:54so that Blaine can maintain balance on the massive arm as he lifts.
01:59So I wonder if we should run that sling ahead five or six feet.
02:03Know what I'm saying?
02:04And they need to make sure the slings don't move during the lift.
02:07If we choke it, if we attach something near a ratchet strap
02:10and you know just to hold it back, it won't slide then, right?
02:13If they slide during a lift this heavy, even a little bit,
02:17Blaine will lose the ability to balance it,
02:19and the boom could come crashing down.
02:22Yeah, as long as it's not going to slide ahead.
02:24And yeah, we jump back from here too, right?
02:27To back here.
02:28You think that'll be better?
02:30Time will tell.
02:32We'll know that in a minute.
02:34While Blaine and company get ready for the lift,
02:39in St. John's Harbour, skipper Paul Dalton is on duty,
02:43also in service of Canada's Atlantic Patrol.
02:47Today we're going over now to assist the Coast Guard ship Cygnus.
02:50The turbo just came off a dry dock.
02:52I guess she's been off the last couple of months.
02:55Paul's been called in by the Coast Guard
02:57to help move one of its fisheries patrol vessels,
03:00the CCGS Cygnus.
03:02She's a dead ship right now, and they still have more work to do,
03:05some engine work and some other repairs.
03:07So they just got to get her out of here.
03:09A dead ship is a vessel unable to proceed under its own power.
03:16The Cygnus is in the midst of an engine overhaul
03:19after more than 40 years in service,
03:21monitoring the fisheries along the Atlantic coast.
03:26So we're going to hook onto Stern, tow him out,
03:28move over a little bit and bring him in here.
03:30Paul is at the wheel of the Dalton Defender,
03:32a 13-meter, 720-horsepower tugboat.
03:36Assisting him on this mission is one of Paul's other vessels,
03:40the Pioneer, and just arriving, the Taskel,
03:45an independent tugboat that operates out of St. John's Harbour.
03:49He's going to tow her in, and we'll just keep straining
03:51the sternum here so he doesn't go ahead too fast.
03:54And as you can see, the Pioneer's there now just pinning her in.
03:58The three boats have their work cut out for them,
04:00safely moving this 62-meter, 1,200-plus-ton patrol ship.
04:05You've got a big coast guard ship there, she's heavy,
04:07so she have her mind in the room.
04:09When she starts to move or go, you've got to try to keep her tight
04:12and, you know, not let her go too fast.
04:15The Cygnus needs to move from its current position in Pier 35,
04:19about 100 meters over, to Pier 34.
04:24To do that, the Defender and Taskel apply tension
04:27to both ends of the ship.
04:30Start bringing us back.
04:34Foreigner, you want to ease off a little bit more here?
04:36They might not be taking her far,
04:38but it's a tricky manoeuvre to pull off.
04:40Defender, Taskel.
04:42Go ahead, Fred.
04:44Still take her back a little bit yet, Paul.
04:46I'm only a few feet from the wharf.
04:48Probably take her back another 20 feet as you can.
04:51We've got a match.
04:53Like, Fred don't want to be pulling too much,
04:55and I don't want to be pulling too much.
04:56Him nice and slow.
04:58I mean, you're trying to do everything 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 of a nut.
05:02Takes time.
05:03While Paul's in the harbour taking his time.
05:10Back inland, it's go time for Blaine Carew and the lift crews.
05:17It's a tight fit, but Blaine gets the crane where he needs it.
05:22We good?
05:23Good?
05:25All right, Blaine.
05:26Blaine slowly lifts the 26,000-pound boom off the block.
05:30All right, you got it now, Woody.
05:32That's good.
05:34Then swings it onto a trailer in the adjacent driveway.
05:39Pass that tagline to me.
05:41Got to come back this way, Blaine.
05:43Three feet.
05:44As the crane boom hovers over the trailer,
05:46six-by-six wooden blocks are set for it to sit level.
05:50We're just cribbing the crane.
05:53So while she's at the trailer, she doesn't shift or anything like that.
05:57That's good, dear.
05:59We're just doing some final adjustments here now,
06:02and then we should be able to lay down.
06:04We're close.
06:05We're nearly there.
06:06With the blocks stabilizing the ends,
06:09Blaine jumps down to help the team strap it to the trailer.
06:15Final step before she rolls out.
06:19We're hoping, anyhow.
06:20Pretty well good to go there now, yeah.
06:22Got everything strapped down.
06:23Just gonna lick the rest of the weight off the crane and let her go.
06:27Blaine's part of the job is now complete.
06:30So I let's just go here now.
06:32I got to head off to another job,
06:34and there's another guy taking over,
06:36but he should have no problem putting this aboard the boat.
06:38With Blaine on his way out,
06:40it'll be up to Matthew and Holden supervisor Daryl Stanley
06:44to finish this job successfully.
06:52As the Coast Guard's crane arm makes its way to the harbour,
06:57skipper Paul Dalton is very carefully helping to move the Coast Guard vessel Cygnus
07:10into Pier 34.
07:12OK, I'll take some power out.
07:14The ship needs urgent work done on its engine.
07:17OK, she's almost in line now, the opening.
07:21And Paul has to keep the right amount of tension on the line
07:24to tow it into place.
07:26That's a roger, Captain.
07:27As soon as her bow starts swinging there,
07:29now I'm gonna start hitting her in.
07:32Paul's tug pulls on the stern.
07:34Another tugboat, the Taskel, works the bow.
07:38I'll haul over on a 45 too, Fred.
07:40Try to keep her in the new dock
07:41and a little bit of strain on the back.
07:43A third boat, the Dalton Pioneer,
07:45is treading midship in case the Cygnus needs to move laterally.
07:49With a ship this big, 62 meters long and weighing in at over 1,200 tons,
08:00every move must be calculated.
08:02The Cygnus is in place.
08:18Her lines are tied.
08:20Paul's free to move on to his next job.
08:22We'll just come back to dock now to secure.
08:25All done.
08:32Meanwhile, on the dock at the Coast Guard's south side base,
08:36the Ann Harvey's crane boom has just arrived.
08:39Break, I'd say we're gonna do carry on now.
08:42There won't be no break till it's on.
08:44Yeah.
08:45D.F. Barnes' mission is to get it installed by end of day.
08:48And the sun sets pretty quickly this time of year.
08:51And you want to adjust this now?
08:53I got to, yeah.
08:54The CCGS Ann Harvey is a high-endurance, multi-tasked vessel
09:01that conducts search and rescue and ice-breaking missions
09:04in the Atlantic region and lower Arctic.
09:08Without its crane, which can be used to support vessels in distress,
09:11the Ann Harvey's rescue capabilities are greatly reduced.
09:17Are they falling off?
09:18Not falling off, but we better ask for the line up there.
09:21Okay, yeah.
09:22The second phase of this job,
09:24getting the boom secured on the ship's deck,
09:26will be headed up by D.F. Barnes Foreman Matthew Fardy
09:30and Holden Supervisor Daryl Stanley.
09:33We'll lift her up.
09:34We'll get them to just bring it down a little level.
09:36Yeah.
09:37Bring it over towards the ship,
09:38and then she'll be on that angle that it needs to be.
09:41The crane sits on the deck of the ship at a three-degree angle.
09:44The plan is to rig it at that position,
09:47then lift it 150 feet in the air before setting it in place.
09:52We're going to need a few guys down here to hold tagline.
09:56What the two teams need to avoid
09:58is a change in the angle of the boom
10:00as they lift and lower it.
10:02If it shifts while they move it,
10:04it will prevent them from sliding it into position.
10:07All right, buddy.
10:08All right, Jimmy.
10:10Coming down, Luke.
10:12The boom is lowered into a hovering position,
10:14so the team can rig support chains and taglines.
10:18Finally, Matthew checks its position.
10:20I think there's a good angle there now.
10:22Yeah.
10:23Let's go up and give it a try.
10:24It may seem straightforward,
10:26but a lot can go wrong when you're lifting 26,000 pounds of steel.
10:30All right, boys.
10:31We're going to bring her up there.
10:32Just tagline this up.
10:33There's a very small margin for error.
10:36Jay, you got it?
10:37The wind can shift the load.
10:39The slings could slip.
10:41So for the operator, it really has to be steady as she goes.
10:55At the Coast Guard facility in St. John's Harbor...
10:58We're going to need a few guys down here to hold tagline.
11:01Crews from DF Barnes and Holden's Transport
11:04are trying to reinstall a boom arm on a search and rescue vessel.
11:08All right, Luke.
11:09Come on up, buddy.
11:10You pull yours a bit now.
11:12Keep yours coming right around.
11:14The team on the ground has to work closely
11:16with the crane operator to ensure that the angle on the arm
11:19doesn't change while it's in the air.
11:23Tell them to go up a little bit.
11:24Come down a little touch.
11:27Matthew's directing the crane arm
11:30so they can lay the heel of it down
11:32and get the trunnion pin in.
11:35The trunnion pin keeps the boom in place
11:38and allows it to pivot up and down.
11:41Boom another little touch.
11:42Boom another little touch, Luke.
11:44Little touch.
11:46Just watch out, boys.
11:47Get out of the way.
11:48To get the pin in,
11:49they need to line up the ears on the boom
11:51with the bushing on the crane's base.
11:55Okay, mine is starting there now.
11:57Yours is too, all right?
11:58If it's off by even a few millimeters,
12:00they won't be able to place it back into position.
12:04Oh, .
12:05She's cocked.
12:06She's cocked.
12:07She's cocked.
12:08Despite their efforts,
12:09the 26,000-pound boom is at the wrong angle,
12:12so it won't line up with the base.
12:14Like that now.
12:15To prevent damage to the bushing,
12:17Matthew needs his guys to twist the boom ever so slightly
12:21and line this beast back up.
12:23Got something on this end that just cranked her down
12:26so you can get the cock out of her.
12:27I just saw it.
12:28Yeah.
12:29Yeah.
12:30It's the only way.
12:31While Matthew and Daryl try to solve their problem,
12:36on the other side of the peninsula...
12:38We'll get them all out,
12:39and then we'll take them one by one and put them up.
12:41...just off the water at Harbor Grace Ocean Enterprises.
12:44Well, we're going to pick up this frame.
12:46We have to lay it down.
12:47It has to be bolted to the keel.
12:49The shipyard's boatbuilding team is hard at work.
12:52Move over a bit, Dale.
12:54Assembling a hull for an offshore fishing vessel.
12:57My name is Sean Puig.
12:58I'm a boatbuilder here at Harbor Grace Ocean Enterprises.
13:01I've been here almost 29 years.
13:03And then we have to level it up with a laser level
13:06to keep it the same shape and form as the rest of the vessel.
13:10Everything is within 32nd of a millimetre.
13:14I was always good working with my hands and stuff.
13:16I enjoyed it all my life.
13:18Just a blue collar worker.
13:21Ooh!
13:22Your luster, Sean.
13:25Harbor Grace is a one-stop shop for shipbuilding,
13:29boat upgrades, repairs, storage, and maintenance.
13:33Whether your fishing vessel needs to be built from scratch,
13:36have the latest equipment installed,
13:39a seasonal retrofit,
13:41or simply moved in and out of dry dock,
13:43this company and its legion of experienced,
13:46skillful craftsmen like Sean have you covered.
13:54Most of the stuff here in Dufland right now,
13:56we're still doing it old school.
13:57Everything is hand pulled, hand laid out of the holder,
14:00hand drilled, everything has to be done manually.
14:02It is a lot of work, a lot of time,
14:03and a lot of effort goes into finished product.
14:06That precision and time results in some of the finest fishing vessels in the world.
14:11At any given moment, Sean and his team work on multiple boats
14:15at different points in the building process.
14:17This one is for a client in Grand Bank, Newfoundland.
14:21One-twenty-seven and three-quarters.
14:24We have to get the exact measurements off our laser level from top to top.
14:28What do you got, Greg?
14:30One-twenty-five and seven-eighths.
14:32Going to go that way a half-inch.
14:34If your measurements are off, then your boat is going to be twisted or at alignment.
14:38Twenty-five and a half.
14:39One-twenty-five and a half.
14:41We'll do it.
14:42Sure run.
14:43A game of millimeters.
14:48Back in St. John's, on the deck of the Ann Harvey.
14:51She looks like she's at an angle up there, right?
14:55DF Barnes foreman Matthew Fardy is also playing a game of millimeters.
15:00Stay there.
15:01Coming down, boys.
15:02Hold it!
15:03The boom alignment is off by just a few hairs, so it won't fit back into place.
15:08What if you throw a strap around the back there and just cover-lock it, see if she'll just twist?
15:13Matthew calmly twists the 26,000-pound arm ever so slightly using straps and a chain hoist.
15:20OK.
15:21All right.
15:22Tell them to come down.
15:23What's your whole length?
15:24Good?
15:25It's lined up, yeah.
15:27Tell them to keep coming down.
15:29OK.
15:30Hold her there.
15:31Jeez, no, that's perfect.
15:33Next up for the team is to lock everything into place with a 400-pound trunnion pin.
15:42OK.
15:43Come on up.
15:44OK.
15:45Clear now.
15:46Try it again.
15:47All right, come on.
15:48Medium.
15:49One, two, three.
15:53She's in.
15:54That's good.
15:55Leave her there.
15:56Now for the final step, Matthew turns to a 10-ton jack.
16:00You've got a threaded hole on the end of the pin.
16:02We get a piece of threaded rod.
16:04We screw it in.
16:05We put our jack and our nut.
16:08We just pull it through the ice.
16:10It's going through pretty good there.
16:12There's no pressure.
16:13Just pulling it through.
16:17The pin is in, and the boom is secured.
16:20This was the big one today.
16:21There was a few battles along the way, but we got through it.
16:25It took some experience, some planning, and a little surgery.
16:29But it's another successful job for the teams from Holden's and D.F. Barnes.
16:33Long day.
16:34Different jobs.
16:35Some jobs take longer than the others, but every day is something different for us.
16:40I've got to say, it was nice to see it put back together, back on the boat.
16:45Another mission accomplished.
16:47The Ann Harvey can go back to breaking ice and saving lives.
16:51It's a new day out on the Narrows.
17:04Yeah, but I got to swing that way to grab that boat too, right?
17:08So am I clear here now all the way to go around?
17:10And Holden's crane operator, Blaine Carew, is getting set for his next big job.
17:17I know, but I'm good out of the way.
17:21I told you, you had six inches, bud.
17:24Where am I going for that back, Sammy?
17:26Hey, hey, cable down.
17:28Blaine's here at St. John's Harbour's small boat basin for a right of spring.
17:33So we're here today just lifting fishing boats in the water, the same boats that we took out to fall,
17:38and just getting ready for another fishing season.
17:40I need the 20s first.
17:4220s are the yellows, right?
17:44Well, I'd say we're going to be here for most of the day.
17:46I'd say we're looking at a 12-hour day.
17:49Blaine was back here in the fall to lift these same boats out of the water for winter.
17:54I'll come back on an angle here now and try to get straight with the wharf.
17:58But keeping his mind on the job was a challenge.
18:01This day is probably the worst day of my life.
18:04The woman is home.
18:05She's pregnant.
18:06She's nine months ready to bust.
18:07Get a call, I gotta go.
18:08Just keep an eye there for me now.
18:10There was no call that day.
18:11Just a wild day of lifting boats out of the water.
18:14Won't be much longer here now.
18:18Today, he's a proud father.
18:21So yeah, I got a little girl now.
18:22She's five and a half months old.
18:24It's the best thing I've ever felt.
18:26Like, yeah, there's no words to explain it.
18:28Fatherhood is like his second job, man, when he goes home in the evening.
18:32I mean, you're trying to keep a little soul alive.
18:34For now, his first job beckons.
18:36He has 17 boats to get back in the water.
18:39I want 20s up top, but 20s around the bottom in the box.
18:43Blaine needs to get all these boats in today.
18:46No simple task with them crammed tightly together on the wharf.
18:50But to have any chance of succeeding...
18:52Well, they are gonna come out anyway.
18:54...he needs the right slings for his crane.
18:56They're not 20s either, are they?
18:58No.
18:59They're 10s.
19:00Without the right equipment, Blaine can't get his lifting rig ready.
19:04I got the wrong slings down here.
19:07Yes, I got 20s, but I got no 30s.
19:09And until that rig is ready, he can't lift any boats.
19:13And I got no 30s.
19:14I got 20s and 16s or something.
19:24At the Small Boat Basin in St. John's Harbor...
19:28Well, I need some 20s.
19:30Are the 20s there?
19:31Crane operator Blaine Carew brought the wrong gear
19:34to lift 17 fishing boats back into water for the spring season.
19:39I can't believe I took the wrong slings the other day.
19:42Blaine, boy, sometimes you up.
19:45Blaine doesn't have time to dwell on his mistake.
19:48He ordered a rush delivery of the right parts.
19:51Yeah, we got the right slings here now.
19:53We'll get started there now.
19:55Needs an operator now, let's out.
19:57Needs an operator now, and away we goes.
20:02The missing cables were 20s, or 20-foot-long wire rope slings.
20:07The rig Blaine will use for these boat lifts includes 20s and 30s,
20:12two 40-foot canvas straps, plus a set of spreaders.
20:18The spreader bars are 18 feet wide.
20:20None of the bolts are around 18 feet,
20:22so it just keeps the slings off the sides of the boat
20:24so it don't squat together and squat them.
20:26Watch your fingers. That's all.
20:27Watch your fingers.
20:28The 20-foot slings connect the crane's main lifting cable
20:33to the spreader bars.
20:35The 30-foot slings link the spreaders to the canvas straps,
20:39which are positioned on the front and back of the boats
20:42they're lifting, to both balance and cradle the hulls.
20:47Which side's going where?
20:49That's actually going in the water like that, is it?
20:52Going in the water like that, right?
20:54First one down, pretty good, I must say.
20:57We've got 16 more to go.
20:59While Blaine gets in a groove, lifting small boats into water...
21:06Back in Harbour Grace...
21:09More blocks.
21:10The beat goes on for boatbuilder Sean Pike.
21:15When I started here, most of the fishing vessels
21:18were originally wooden vessels.
21:20The process we use now is the wooden frame structure
21:23and the boats are made from fiberglass panels.
21:26Fiberglass boats are lighter, more maneuverable,
21:29and require less maintenance over time.
21:32Below here now, I don't know if you can see,
21:34but there's two guys down here working away glass
21:36and down here now in the bottom.
21:37Everything has to be sealed completely water-sealed tight.
21:4024 layers of fiberglass are applied.
21:43It's a long and messy but necessary process.
21:46Basically, you just have a bucket of resin,
21:48you lay out your mat, then you wet it out,
21:50and it's a continual cycle from layer one to layer 24.
21:55Without all those layers, the boats couldn't withstand
21:58the brutal sea conditions fishermen face in the North Atlantic.
22:03Glass work is pretty dirty and got the smell and the dull spot.
22:08At the end of the day, whatever has to get done will be done.
22:11Whatever has to get done, gets done.
22:13That's the Harbour Grace way.
22:16Among their most important customers is Quinlan Brothers.
22:20So this is all done now, completed.
22:22Completed job. I'm pleased with it.
22:24Quinlan's regularly has several multi-million dollar boats
22:28docked at the shipyard.
22:29Their top skippers, Ron Curtis and Paul Duguay,
22:32rely on Harbour Grace's mechanics and welders
22:35to keep their vessels in running order.
22:37It's supposed to be a strat that you don't use
22:40because of the fins.
22:42Quinlan Fleet Manager Chris Blunden
22:44is also a fixture on the wharf.
22:46I'm going to move that one out of the way, yeah?
22:48Probing.
22:49Ten-ton or poly-ton?
22:50Planning.
22:51The worst-case scenario, everything goes to Monday.
22:54And pleading to get his boats pushed to the front of the line.
22:57Well, can we do it quicker?
23:00Because these boats take more than a year
23:02and millions of dollars to complete.
23:04After they hit the water,
23:09the pressure moves onto the fishermen who own them.
23:12Three, two, one.
23:13Oh!
23:17You got her.
23:18Perfect.
23:19Good job.
23:20We're just installing the crab hauler back on the boat.
23:22And that'll be another thing off the list then
23:24to get ready for next week, hopefully.
23:26Jason Power, his brother Justin,
23:28and their father Gerard
23:30are getting their brand new boat ready for crab season.
23:33Next week now, we're going to put all the packs on.
23:35A few other little minor things to be done
23:37and we should be ready to go.
23:39The powers poured everything they have into this boat.
23:42The name of the new vessel is The Powerful Sound.
23:45It took 18 months to build the vessel that we wanted.
23:48P is for power, obviously.
23:50Our last name was just something nice to add to the exhaust
23:54to clean it up a bit.
23:56The boat cost over $3 million.
23:58They launched it last year
24:01to great fanfare from friends and family.
24:04This is their first full season with it ready to fish.
24:08The stakes could not be higher.
24:10There's big bills to be paid now, right?
24:12The payment on the boat alone, the interest payments,
24:15everything adds up.
24:16The larger boat is a lot more expensive.
24:19But then she'll bring in more product at the same time.
24:21This season now, we put her to the test
24:24and hopefully everything will work out good.
24:28You ready to come aboard?
24:29All right, let's come aboard.
24:30Be careful coming up there.
24:31Boats like The Powerful Sound are designed
24:33to stay out fishing for days at a time.
24:36And they have to in order to hit their quotas.
24:39Everything is riding on a successful crab catch this season.
24:43All right, this is aboard The Powerful Sound here.
24:45A little washroom there and shower there for the guys.
24:48This is the bunkroom down here, down forward.
24:51But as cushy as these boats are in the living quarters...
24:54Come on back here, bring you to the back deck there.
24:57The Christmas lights are still on.
24:59It's in the fish hold where the real bells and whistles are.
25:03Yeah, so we're going to go down the fish holder now.
25:05I'll show you what it looks like down there.
25:07It's a bit tight.
25:11The Powerful Sound has four live well tanks hooked up
25:14to a refrigerated seawater or RSW system.
25:18Using state-of-the-art refrigeration, filtration,
25:21and water circulation,
25:23these tanks are like massive aquariums
25:26that keep crab alive while out fishing.
25:29They've become a requisite feature
25:31on any serious crab fishing boat in Newfoundland.
25:34We've got an RSW system on board,
25:36so we store crab live.
25:38It's in live tanks.
25:39We're good to be fishing probably 8, 10, 12 days fishing,
25:42and you've still got a live crab, a real fresh product,
25:45which is better for market.
25:47I mean, it's what buyers like to see.
25:49If you want to come down here,
25:50I can just show you a sneak peek at a tank.
25:53The tanks on the Powerful Sound
25:55can keep over 60,000 pounds of crab alive for days.
25:59At last year's prices,
26:01a single hull of that size would have fetched over $400,000.
26:05With these tanks, we can stay out longer,
26:08and we don't need to be, like, in a rush.
26:11We can, you know, hull as much as we can
26:13and then just keep fishing, right?
26:14And with everything they've put into it,
26:16the powers need to keep this boat ready to fish
26:18for the start of their next season.
26:20Oh, there's a lot of pressure.
26:21Pressure on us now, really,
26:22because we've got to succeed.
26:31Back in the small boat basin in St. John's...
26:34Got her, Al?
26:36That's it.
26:37You got her now, Blaine.
26:38Move up a bit.
26:39Crane operator Blaine Carew
26:41and his right-hand man, Steve Barrington...
26:43Ah, yeah, right in between them back two blocks.
26:46...are lifting boats into water ahead of crab season.
26:49What?
26:50Eton?
26:51You must have put a pile of hankering in her.
26:53Steve was here with Blaine
26:55when these boats came out for winter.
26:57The fall was my first time taking them out,
26:59but this is my first time putting them in.
27:00Straight now?
27:01Yeah, it looks straight now, yeah.
27:02Well, like, the hardest thing about it
27:04is the way how tight the boats are actually together.
27:06If your load shifts or anything like that,
27:07you're going to bag into another boat,
27:09and Lord knows you could have
27:11three or four boats go sideways.
27:12You want me to just take it on the boom?
27:14Oh, she's tight down here.
27:15By hook or by crook,
27:17Blaine and Steve are getting these boats back into water.
27:20Yeah, so everything is going good so far.
27:23We're going to set up one more time here now,
27:25and that should be it for today.
27:26And ever the generous friend and co-worker,
27:29Blaine offers Steve the opportunity to take the controls.
27:33Hey, you want to do them?
27:35They're only easy ones now.
27:37And lift the last boats up himself.
27:40Fine, get out.
27:42Get out, he said.
27:48Operator swap.
27:49These guys love to laugh,
27:52but it's all business when they're lifting the boats.
27:54Just cable.
28:05Last one going in, buddy, and then we're done.
28:12That's the head bird over now, yeah.
28:14The last boat is in the water.
28:16All that's left now is to pack in the slings and ride out.
28:20All right, cable down.
28:22I dreads two days every year.
28:23It's when the boats comes in at the water,
28:25when the boats goes in the water.
28:26I can't wait to get home now, like I said.
28:28Get home, see the little ones.
28:32Over in Harbour Grace, boat builder Sean Pike
28:35still has some work to do before he heads home.
28:38Right now, we're standing in the wheelhouse
28:40of one of the vessels that we started on last year.
28:43We had some electronics installed.
28:46There's more to be installed.
28:47As you can see, it's waiting to be cut out here.
28:50The wheelhouse is the nerve center of a fishing boat.
28:54Yes, sir, good morning.
28:55That's us here at the PR6,
28:57getting ready to depart to Harbour Grace.
29:00It houses the navigation systems,
29:02the radar, the sonar, radio and communications,
29:06weather forecasting, engine controls,
29:10and the steering console.
29:13Generator's up there, not good.
29:15It's where the best skippers do their best work.
29:19While the mates and hands grind below deck,
29:22captains hold court above it,
29:25guiding the boat toward the richest fishing grounds
29:28and away from the gnarliest storms.
29:31I knew it was going to freshen up toward the afternoon then.
29:36No surprise then that skippers get pretty choosy
29:39about the details on their boats.
29:41Every fisherman has their own quirks
29:44and every fisherman likes to build their boats,
29:46especially to outdo the last car.
29:48That's their plan.
29:49I like to have my boat better than his boat.
29:51That's what they do.
29:52And for a builder like Sean,
29:54that means every new project is unique and takes time.
29:58This boat, we're looking at,
30:01we're over a year punched on this one so far.
30:03We've got probably another month or so on this one to be finished.
30:06At this stage, like I say,
30:08you can feel the pride in all the work that's done here.
30:12Always good quality work down here.
30:21It's four in the morning,
30:23and we're back at the small boat basin in St. Johns Harbour.
30:27You've heard of banker's hours.
30:30Great and early.
30:31Another great morning in Newfoundland.
30:36These are fisherman's hours.
30:38Oh, yeah, you got to have your coffee, man.
30:41Yeah, we're the first ones on the wharf this morning,
30:43and we're going to get out early now before everyone else gets out.
30:46Early bird gets the worm.
30:48While offshore skippers like Ron Curtis and Paul Duguay
30:51are focused on prepping for the upcoming crab season,
30:54some inshore fishers earn extra income before crab starts with lobster.
31:00Skipper Wade Bolt is here before dawn on the very first day of that season,
31:05looking to get warmed up before crab.
31:08Turning on my radars, my GPSs, my VHFs, my sideband.
31:15Wade and his family have been fishing these waters for generations.
31:19Oh, you're here.
31:21Joining him this morning is his son, Noah.
31:24Take care of that.
31:25Wade's dad, Jerome, is also along for the ride.
31:28Being able to be here with my son and my father fishing is an incredible feeling.
31:33You know what I mean?
31:34We only get together probably a couple times a year fishing
31:37because dad's retired and my son fishes on other boats and in Greenland.
31:42So having them here now means a lot to me.
31:47St. John's traffic, Cape Fisher, Fort Imherst, heading up in Freshwater Bay.
31:51I'll call again inbound, over.
31:53Roger, sir.
31:54I have a copy of Cape Fisher's.
31:55Please prepare and proceed.
31:56There's no reporter of observed traffic.
31:58Yes, sir.
31:59Always the first one on the water.
32:07Before dawn, on the water outside St. John's Harbor.
32:17St. John's traffic, Cape Fisher, Fort Imherst, heading up in Freshwater Bay.
32:22Fisherman Wade Bolt, his father Jerome, and son Noah are headed out for the first day of lobster season.
32:29They're going just south of the narrows to Freshwater Bay, where the bolts will drop their pots near the shoreline.
32:41Keep her going.
32:42As soon as the rope's out, throw another one just like that.
32:45They've had some good catch here in the past.
32:48One more after that one.
32:50All right.
32:52Let's go bite them here.
32:56All right, Noah.
32:58Let her go.
32:59Let her go.
33:00One of the tricks with lobster is throwing your pots in the right spots.
33:03A lot of big boulders.
33:05He wants the big boulders.
33:06That's where the lobsters are in under.
33:08We've been lobster fishing now for about 20 years, I guess.
33:10My dad used to do it first, but then I took over licenses.
33:13Since then, I've been at it every year.
33:15I say, one more here, Noah, and then we're going to dodge across the bay and do another loop.
33:19Yeah, well, prepping the pot, you've got to measure off your more than 20 fathom and put a float on it.
33:24A fathom is six feet, so each pot is moored by 120 feet and identified at the water surface by a buoy or float.
33:33Then you've got to bait the pot and throw them over.
33:36The bait they use is turbid, and their license allows them to set up to 100 pots at any point during the roughly two months of lobster season.
33:45This time of year, they're not very lively, so you've pretty much got to dump on top of them.
33:50Lobsters are solitary creatures, so catching them is trickier than species that swim in larger groups.
33:57The pots they're dropping have baits set next to a trapdoor, leading to a parlor that the lobster can't escape from.
34:04Nice one.
34:05How many is left?
34:06That's it.
34:07Oh, perfect.
34:08Wade returns to port.
34:09He'll be back in a couple of days to check his pots and hopefully find some catch.
34:23On the other side of the Avalon Peninsula, Harbour Grace's head boat builder, Sean Pike, is doing his daily rounds.
34:32Right now, we've got Steve, one of our painters here, is taping up the water line, which is, you know, the load line for the vessel when she hits the water.
34:39Hey Steve, how's she making out?
34:41Put a bit of grey on it.
34:42Yep.
34:43Way to go.
34:44It's going to be ready for the paint.
34:45This is pretty well getting to the very end of what has to be done with the outside of the vessel.
34:50Harbour Grace builds boats for fishermen all across the Atlantic coast, and every type of fishery.
34:57This boat is going to Nova Scotia.
34:59We do these boats here for codfish.
35:02We're doing another vessel over, which is codfish and scallops and sea cucumbers.
35:06We can take a tour inside if you like and have a look at the inside.
35:09It's a really nice job doing inside these boats.
35:13All our woodwork is done by our local carpenters here.
35:18Getting a vessel of this magnitude to completion is a monumental task.
35:23Especially for Sean, who has to juggle both the work and the client's expectations.
35:28There's always pressure.
35:29Time is always of the essence.
35:31Each boat gets a little bit bigger.
35:32There's more electronics, more technical, and more up-to-date equipment.
35:36You're hooking up your shore power switches, is that you're saying?
35:39Yep.
35:40Long before a boat like this gets to the finish line, Sean and his teams are already out of the blocks on the next one.
35:47Once this vessel is done, we've already started another project.
35:50We've got two more besides that on the go.
35:52Once this vessel is done, it's a little relief off the shoulders, but then you take off the rest of the stress when you jump to the next project.
35:59Just one boat from the next.
36:02On the other side of the shipyard, in dry dock, Quinlan Brothers fleet manager Chris Blunden is on the hustle, rushing to get his boats ready for crab season.
36:12We're getting ready to try to get some boats launched tomorrow, if the weather cooperates.
36:17So the boys are pushing real hard to get the bottoms done and anti-fowl and zincs on and stuff, ready for the water.
36:24We can strap it right around, but we can't go in tomorrow morning.
36:27Well, tomorrow morning is kind of what we want.
36:29Getting the boats out on time is critical for Quinlan skippers like Ron Curtis and Paul Duque.
36:35They're out of tune, aren't they?
36:37Man, out of tune, yes sir.
36:38They need to be on the water as soon as the season opens.
36:42Without crab, none of these larger fishing enterprises would exist.
36:46I was looking for my knife belt. I couldn't find it.
36:49Once these boats hit the water, you want at least from April till the end of the crab season, trouble-free, with absolutely no hang-ups.
36:57I'll have to get one of the boys to run over.
37:00Chris will be going full tilt till these vessels launch, and after.
37:05The skippers on all these boats, they're going to phone me.
37:08If they got trouble at sea, in the nighttime, bad weather, they call me.
37:13I want to take my cell phone, lay on the nightstand every night, and every time my cell phone rings after 11 o'clock,
37:18there's like a panicky moment there for a second to see, because like, oh no.
37:30The sun is shining over another pretty spring day on the Newfoundland coast.
37:35Ah, perfect morning, nice and flat.
37:37Fisherman Wade Bold, his son Noah, and Father Jerome are zipping out in a speedy skiff to Freshwater Bay
37:45to check the pots they put out on the first day of lobster season.
37:49That's our first one coming off out here, Noah.
37:52You get one lobster a pot, it's wonderful.
37:57But even getting one is hard.
37:59Grab.
38:00Figure it.
38:01That's what we're looking for.
38:04Before the empty pot is thrown back, it gets rebaited with turbin.
38:10Lobster!
38:11First one!
38:12Hey!
38:14Fishing's like a lot of things in life.
38:16A double hitter, no, a double hitter.
38:18Two pots coming off at one time.
38:20Once things start rolling, they really get rolling.
38:24Lobster!
38:25Two lobsters!
38:29Put bands under gloves so they can't use them.
38:35While Wade and Noah tend to the pots, Jerome measures the catch.
38:39Yep, it's in legal size.
38:41So this one here is undersized.
38:44Fishery regulations require that any lobster with a carapace or upper shell under 82.5 millimetres must be thrown back.
38:54There's undersized, see?
38:56Throw them back.
38:58With 100 pots to check, the bolts have a busy morning ahead.
39:02Meanwhile, at the harbour in Vermeuse, Newfoundland...
39:09Where are you going with this, though?
39:11Right out on the head?
39:12Straight out.
39:13Straight out?
39:14Gerard Power is loading gear onto his family's new boat for the crab season.
39:18Three feet, three feet, two feet, one foot, good.
39:21Oh, I'm very excited when it comes to now this time of the year.
39:26You're just sick of being home on the land.
39:29The season's getting close and you're mad to get going again like a lot of fishermen.
39:34Gerard isn't alone, itching to get out for crab.
39:37With the start of the season now, our main priority is our crab.
39:41That's our main breadwinner.
39:44That's our top priority now.
39:46That's where everybody makes their money.
39:48You're good.
39:49For Gerard and his sons Justin and Jason, this year is make or break.
39:54It's their first full season to start paying down this multi-million dollar boat.
39:58Our first area is around 30 miles from the land here.
40:02Most of our quota is there in that area, so we'll go and start at that.
40:07And once we finish that, then you have a good jump on it.
40:11All that's left now is to be ready.
40:13Get fishing and hope for the best.
40:17Back in Freshwater Bay, the bolts have gotten their rhythm going.
40:22In a good season, Wade will pull in about $30,000 in lobster.
40:27For the inshore fishers, every little bit helps.
40:31Lobster, nice one too.
40:33Catch, bait, throw back, rinse, repeat.
40:40And now we got a female.
40:42When female lobsters come up in the pots, the rules are slightly different.
40:46There's a female and she's V-notched.
40:49If they're seedy or carrying eggs, fishermen are required to V-notch them.
40:54She's seedy.
40:56This identifies the lobster as a breeding female.
41:00It then gets thrown back to ensure a healthy population moving forward.
41:05We're having a very successful day.
41:06Wade will keep his pots in the water for the next two months, checking them every few days along the way.
41:13Back home again.
41:15All in, they landed 50 pounds of lobster on their first run of the season.
41:19And like any proud fisherman, Wade takes a second to show off the best of the bunch.
41:25I'd say he's about four pounds.
41:28It's a great start to his lobster season.
41:31It's a great start to his lobster season.
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