Snippets, from unknown news sources, provided by Les Howard

Fleetwood Trawler for Canada

Due to leave this week on a 2,500 mile trip across the North Atlantic to Nova Scotia is the 328 ton trawler Boston Neptune. She has been sold by the Boston Deep Sea Fisheries Ltd, to their subsidiary firm Arcadia Fisheries Ltd – the fourth Boston ship to sail to the Canadian port of Mulgrave in recent years. Previous departures were the Princess Royal, Boston Firefly and the Fleetwood Lady.

In command of the trawler will be Skipper Jim Port, aged 33 of Fleetwood who was in command of Fleetwood Lady when she made the trip a year ago. The mate will be Mr. Samuel Nolan and some of the crew will be Canadians who have flown over to join the vessel.

Homewater trip makes £7,545

Despite the bad weather – she had only five days fishing in a 17 day voyage – the 383 ton Fleetwood trawler, Wyre Conqueror, made £7,545, one of the best grossings for years for a homewater trip, when she landed at Fleetwood on Monday.

She had about 5000 stone of fish including 4750 stone of hake which fetched between £26.10.0 and £28.10.0 per 10 stone box.
When she found the hake after her bad weather hold up she averaged more than 54 boxes a day.

Commanded by Skipper Henry Reader, of Fleetwood, the ship is owned by Wyre Trawlers Ltd.

Trawler goes to the breakers

The trawler Wyre Gleaner left port last Wednesday for Troon, Scotland, where she will be broken up. She is the third of four trawlers owned by Wyre Trawlers Ltd, Fleetwood, to be scrapped in recent weeks. The fourth, Royal Marine, will leave for Troon in about a week.

The firm have announced that two replacement vessels from Hull will join their fleet. The first, Imperialist, left Hull on Thursday for the Icelandic fishing grounds and is expected to land her first catch in Fleetwood in about a fortnight.

Trawler hits ice floe

The damage to the 296 ton Fleetwood trawler Irvana, which hit an ice floe off Iceland last week and had to be towed to Hull, is more extensive than first thought and the ship is likely to be out of commission for about a month.

A member of the crew in Fleetwood on Thursday said that there was a blizzard raging when the collision occurred. At the time the rigging was thick with ice and the decks were frozen. The crash was severe but none of the crew was hurt.

The Hull trawler Thornella answered the Irvana’s distress call and made the five day, 1099 mile tow to get her safely to Hull. During the voyage the tow line parted twice.

600 men at sea this weekend

Between 30 and 35 Fleetwood trawlers with about 600 men aboard will be spending Christmas at sea, some as far away as Iceland and others at the various home water grounds.

Many trawler firms have had the usual seasonal difficulties in getting ships to sea during the last few days. One firm’s spokesman said that they had been unable to sail a ship since Friday. They had seven in port and it was hoped to get five of them to sea on Boxing Day.

He did not think that the crew position was any worse than previous Christmases although things might have been made a little more difficult by the fact that Christmas Day was on a Friday.

Icelandic court cancels fine on skipper

A fine of £1916 imposed in October 1962 by an Icelandic police court on Mr. Roy Belcher, Fleetwood skipper of the 522 to Fleetwood trawler Dragoon, has been overturned by the Icelandic Supreme Court.

The fine was imposed for alleged fishing inside the Icelandic coastal limits. A spokesman for the owners of the Dragoon, Wyre Trawlers Ltd on Saturday confirmed the news but declined to comment further. The Dragoon is at present undergoing overhaul and Skipper Belcher is still in charge of her.

Aground

Leaving Fleetwood on an Iceland voyage early Saturday, the 337 ton trawler Wyre Majestic ran aground on a sandbank on the Knott End side of the River Wyre. With a 17 man crew, the ship is owned by Wyre Trawlers Ltd. and commanded by Skipper M. Mecklenburgh of Fleetwood. The vessel refloated on Saturday evening’s tide.

Skipper died in cabin

The Coroner (Mr. W. Blackhurst) decided that Skipper Charles Thomas Robinson’s death in his cabin aboard the 310 ton Winmarleigh on Saturday night was the result of natural causes and that an inquest was unnecessary.

Mr. Robinson collapsed and died while the vessel was waiting for the tide in Morecambe Bay to come into Fleetwood with 330 boxes of fish after a 14 day homewater fishing trip. The mate, Mr Owen Lewis, brought the Winmarleigh (Boston Deep Sea Fisheries Ltd) into port.

Skipper Robinson had been born in Hull but lived most of his life in fleetwood. He had been ill for some time and it was his first trip in three months. The funeral is at Carleton Crematorium and will be conducted by Mr Duncan Brown, superintendent of the Fleetwood branch of the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.

Achroite is total loss

The 313 ton Fleetwood trawler Achroite, which broke free from her moorings in Rosslare Harbour, Southern Ireland, in a gale last Wednesday, has now been given up as a total loss.

The vessel, which had sailed from Fleetwood for 15 years, had left the port for the last time two days previously en route for Cork to be broken up for scrap. She had been sold by the Cevic Steam Fishing Co. to a firm of shipbreakers.

After breaking free from her moorings she was driven ashore and unsuccessful attempts have been made to refloat her with a tug.

Best catch of winter

The 576 ton Fleetwood trawler Robert Hewett landed one of the best Iceland catches of the winter at Fleetwood yesterday when her reward for 9,630 stone of fish was £8,103. The vessel, owned by the Hewett Fishing Co. is commanded by Skipper R. Hutcheon of Fleetwood and had been at sea about three weeks.

Other ships also did well on the after Christmas market and among them was the 60 ton Border Prince, managed by the Boris Net Co. Ltd. which set up two new records for herself.. Her catch of 2,800 stone of fish from a 17 day voyage, was the best she had had since she began sailing out of Fleetwood 18 months ago, and her £1,413 grossing was also her best ever.
The pocket trawler is commanded by Skipper E. Edwards of Fleetwood.