Andrea Gail History

unknown fish trips TOPIC  the Unknown trip only the crew knows about.

short trip ,excuse to turn the ship around ,sneak in and out for a day trip. shack the trip, also known as ghost trip,crew splits the catch dollars  without the boat owner knowing common in the industry. pull in to a different port unload go right back out fish a few days  go  back to home port .tell the owner  fishing was poor,broken down .any story handy. just no fish. all fishermen are liars ,Shame on us . well it wasn’t what my topic of thought when setting down behind the mighty key pad,from the mighty pencil to the internet, a collection of words to ponder. original y meant to write the thoughts of yesterday still in todays grasp of publish. for the few of you who compute.

beware the ide of march. imprinted on my memory thanks to the mighty pencil or pen i carried on the The Andrea Gail March of 1991 this is the Unknown trip  Andrea Gail  Journal list March 18th 1991 . went to a funeral for a close fishing mate John Joy 6 pm in South Portland, lots of fishermen there, Tony Deltorto was there with his son Joey Deltorto.John worked for Tony on his small boats.Called him at his Place on Cape Cod. told him John Died could he come to Maine,John Joy was my first fishing mate,gill net fishing around 1979. right after the funeral that night left for Gloucester to go fishing on the Andrea Gail  remember the last time I saw Tony Deltorto and John Joy,  should have been an ominus sign, remember the Pamela D ,42 foot bruno gill net boat , Tony let John and Baker take the boat,she stalled when you pulled in to nuetral,john was turning in to union wharf ,Pamela stalled .smashed in to Union wharf. did some bad damage forward bow

we bounced off, John saying hold on  hold on , Laughing as he let go of the wheel, ( Bob you better take over now)  first time at the wheel for me unofficially,  Back to the topic, left the funeral home in South Portland, got to Gloucester around 9 pm march 18th 1991, olsen studer maxwell baker and captain ski gimp. steam till daylight up off the gulf of Maine,daylight set the cable drum out 18 miles,2500 hooks give or take a few hundred,hooks are baited and stowed in fish baskets,250 hooks average,300 a full heavy basket.we set the gear out and start to haul back.weather is  bad at  best.          10 foot  sea  force 7  35  to 40 knot gusts of wind. we have around 1500 pounds of ground fish mostly small cusk ,few cod fish ,lots of hake. out of the BLUE ,Captain says we are going in, March 19th 1991 about 50 miles from Portland Maine, Andrea Gail is going to Portland Maine,boat owner has no idea what is going on. the cell phone, woman on the other end of a phone.Strategically  fishing where cell phone signals can be picked up.around 30 miles offshore  average cell phone distance, she loves the Captain, they warned her. she loves me ,he loves me too, all that love make a boat go any where, went to pull a few codfish out of the hole to bring home to eat, captain went nuts  threw the fish back in the hole from the hatch i was fileting. hollaring screaming no fish for me ,half way to Portland, not supposed to be there, owner has no clue. captain started pushing me belly style in my face. (do not push me again Captain) ! the rest of the crew are looking on in Awe.

Olsen reminded me about the scene 16 years later . from the back seat of a Taxi i was driving. he tells the story better than i . funny how he got in the taxi i was driving 16 years later, told me he was on the Andrea Gail with me,.i told he was high on drugs, quote ( screw you Bobby Baker  i was there you and that Captain were pushing each other back and forth on the Andrea Gail, olsen i was there when he smashed the Andrea Gail into Union Wharf in front of all Those People, broke that big brand new pilon off like a tooth pick, knocked me on my ass when we hit the wharf, put that 12 foot long dent in the starboard bow .bent the steel right over on the bow, Major BOW  DAMAGE  ON  THE ANDREA GAIL STARBOARD BOW Bent in from the bow eye back 10 to 12 feet

THE FINAL STABILITY STRAW ,dent is severe in the top bow,affecting the way water is displaced, major factor ,unknown to every one except us,Bill Studer he went flying across the deck when we hit, they just moved  a 90 foot boat as we were approaching Union Wharf Portland Maine, tom the fish broker and some lumper and unloading crews are waiting for Andrea To land.they are not expecting a crash landing,maxwell is thrown across the deck on impact also. skipper is holding the wheel eyes wide open .he knows first Andrea Gail is going to Be part of the end of Union wharf , every one on the wharf starts back stepping its almost high tide, crash bang ,out riggers are waving around up chains rattling hair raing experience, i was sitting at the galley table still mad and refusing to man the lines for the earlier fish incident.

immediately,Captain runs up in my face after we stopped .he went to the engine room returned to deck screams at me  (WHAT DID YOU DO) blank blank edit remark (TAKE A HAMMER TO THE REVERSE GEAR ! ),my immediate response ( THATS FIGHTING WORDS AROUND HERE CAPTAIN)

we are in a heated exchange of words, one more remark like that Captain you can meet me at the top of the ladder.we are taking it to the wharf ,most all Captains around here check reverse at the state pier ,before they attempt to land the ship. that was the last time i was ever aboard the Andrea Gail. one memory of lasting impression. Alfred was not there to see my last trip. up the wharf i went that march 19th 1991, had my gear and head to the nor west, old saying in Maine on the boats.went to the nearest fish bar .Captain Cooks BAR

Wharfs End back then , one extremely pissed off fisherman, walked in the bar place was empty, Captain Cook was at the bar ,started to tell cook the story about the hammer and the reverse gear,and in walks the skipper of the Andrea Gail with his girlfriend in tow, looked at Captain Cook and told him if he says one word about SABOTAGE were going to have a brawl instantly. Cook says  non  no  no ,dont do it let me handle it. sat back at the other end of the bar snearing at the love struck Andrea Gail Captain at wharfs end.while the rest of the crew were still on the boat, not many people saw it happen .but the few that did will never forget the ANDREA GAIL in Portland Maine that March afternoon around 5 pm 19th March 1991

Andrea is at the wharf East Gloucester Rocky neck ,art colony with GLOUCESTER Massachusetts Billy Studer and Mark Olsen on this trip.Alfred Pierre is not going because he went last trip with a different skipper .the crew split at the wharf in Gloucester last trip.Roger Captained the Andrea Gail trip #5/91 also known as  AKA trip #5 in 1991 Alfred Pierre  was the only original crewman for the past year,Roger got some Gloucester friends to go trip 5 / 91, Captain is  Back from his Ski injury .  so many guys coming and going on the deck and wheelhouse. lots of new guys. AKA fresh meat to settle. turning wheel on the unseaworthy ANDREA, BLACK BALLED by Gloucester men.Alfred is in new york with his pregnant girlfriend. this unknown trip is short  less than 48 hours of chaos. Bill Studer, Mark Olsen,Frank Maxwell ,Baker ,and a love struck  Captain ,with a girl in Maine.A boat in Gloucester,boat owner who does not want his boat in Portland,Maine. what do you think the outcome is. set out from gloucester

memory of Captain  Christopher Tobey

maine lobster we lost three men in the lobster season 2008

one on october 28th 2008 date the Andrea gail sank 1991

another ominus sign.. captain Chris Tobey died on the ISLE of shoals few hundred feet off duck island. mothers day 2008

one huge wave the boat went over.

his son and anther young man swam ashore , they were rescued the next day

he built us a new gulf fleet 24 foot boat for fishing last year

fisherman in new england have had another losing battle year

hard to look at our new boat , and not see chris , his work

most beautiful boat we have had . his style unique , the water on the rails . just enough to wash your hands .

you would have to fish on one of his boats to know excactly

he has boats fishing in new england today ,novi style.

our deepest sorrow losing another one of our own .

we pray for his family ,.

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