On top of it all

By Carla Allen

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

One of the most challenging problems faced by the owner of a ‘double-decker’ lobster fishing boat built by D’Eon Boatbuilding in Middle West Pubnico, Yarmouth County, N.S. was the size of the vessel.

“You just couldn’t get far enough away from the boat in the shop to see what it was really like,” says Curtis Rodgerson, the boat’s owner, who communicated what he wanted through rough drawings he’d sketched over eight years.

The wheelhouse was built on the shop floor and attached to the vessel outside later.

Rodgerson designed Papa Russ specifically for safety and comfort and his goal of getting “up and over” the crew as they worked.

It bothered him to be in front of the men as they worked, having to continually turn around or step aft to monitor them.

Two identical helms in the high wheelhouse solved his problem. The starboard helm is used while setting and hauling pots; the port/forward system is for steaming and docking.

The starboard helm features large angled windows at the skipper’s feet directly over the hauler, which he controls, in addition to the height of the boom and hydraulic pistons mounted on the rail. All the crew has to do is gaff the buoy and put the rope in the hauler.

The captain has an unobstructed view of the most dangerous equipment onboard and easy access to the hydraulic kill switch an arm’s length from his seat. From this high vantage point, he can easily sight other vessels, the gear, and monitor the crew as they work on deck below.

“I’ve always been a stickler for safety,” says Rodgerson, who’s been fishing for 25 years in a 30-mile radius from his homeport of Sandford, N.S.

Other safety features on the Papa Russ include security cameras, an intercom system and an improved 40” deep x 8 1/2’ rope locker that allows rope to slide out sideways so none is kept on deck. Rodgerson even devised a setup whereby five large fans circulate room temperature air against the 29 Marinelite windows through a track running the perimeter of the wheelhouse.

“I never have a problem with the windows being steamed up,” he says.

As traps are hauled at sea the lobsters are placed in two chutes and slide into a 10-degree Celsius working room. The chutes provide a quick escape from cold wind and the crew appreciates the warmth of the room while banding and refilling bait bags.

The vessel took approximately eight months to construct and costs three times more than a conventional 45-footer. Rodgerson sailed her home three days before the lobster fishing season began last November to join his fleet of three other boats (one 45-footer and two 40-footers).

The completed project isn’t without its drawbacks. The trip home through the Sandford breakwater is tricky at best because of the boat’s size. Even in the protected waters of the inner harbour there are difficulties.

“The boat is hard to hold because she’s so big and heavy and hard to pull back in if someone has to untie from inside of it,” says Rodgerson. “And.... when the boat rolls at sea 10 degrees, I travel a long way up there.”

To counteract the height, 35,000 pounds of concrete ballast were added under the fish hole floor and ballast tanks but Rodgerson says the boat doesn’t use any more fuel than his other 45-footer.

“She’s larger and heavier but somehow she does her nine knots using probably 400 hp,” he says.

There was a lot of concern about the vessel’s stability but during sea trials, her worthiness proved to be far better than expected. The center of gravity was discovered a meter below deck level.

Although Papa Russ – named after Rodgerson’s father – is being used for lobster at present, it wouldn’t take much to ready her for other fisheries. Bolts are in place for two scallop winches. She may also be leased out for crab fishing.

Papa Russ was a welcome project at D’Eon Boatbuilding. The boat yard, which was founded in 1944, is down roughly 30 per cent in bookings. Spokesperson Michel Surette acknowledges that Papa Russ was a challenge given the unusual ‘blueprints’ provided by the owner.

“It was sketchy,” he says. “We had to build some stuff, tear it apart and do it again many times.”

He says he has never run into a man with as many ideas as Rodgerson and that although they have built boats of Papa Russ’s size in the past, his design was truly unique.



(Carla Allen is a journalist with Transcontinental Media’s Yarmouth Vanguard and Shelburne Coast Guard newspapers, and also writes freelance stories. She is a regular contributor to the Sou’Wester.)