It was hard when my father first took me aboard to teach me oyster dredging and trawling. First I had to get my sea legs, and then get used to rowing a skiff in all weather out to a 40-foot sailing cutter.
Learning to handle the sails was another major task, delicate trimming being required in all weather.
I started dredging with one 24-pound iron dredge while the rest of the crew would be dredging with two. The dredges had to be cast into the sea with the tide or they could land upside down on the seabed. Another part of the skill was to ensure the right length of rope or warp was paid out.
The rope was made from coconut fibre and would not absorb moisture but it was rough on the hands. If too much was let out, the dredge would bite deep into the bed, and if it was too short it would trundle and pick up loose stones and shells.
By my seventeenth birthday I could dredge with two and on average catch as much as any man, but then I was a big strong youth, the son and grandson of fishermen.
I came across a wide variety of marine life apart from oysters and whelks. There were sea urchins with five teeth, eating the lime from the shells of dead and alive oysters. They resembled chestnuts with their prickly coats but one of those spines sticking into your finger, or even more painful, under your fingernail, could turn your finger septic.
The there were spider crabs that resembled spiders, and fly crabs which were nearly transparent but sharp enough to catch a shrimp with their claws. These were like needles and often drew blood if you were nipped.
Dog whelks could bore through any shellfish, and the five-fingered starfish could also deal with most, which they did by clasping their victims with their fingers until they opened.
R. D. Dale
80 Nelson Road
Whitstable
