The hard standing at the busy harbour in Ametlla de Mar was full of large wooden fishing boats, all receiving serious titivation. Most of these vessels were built locally in the seventies and eighties though the yards that built them are now mostly closed. There are various designs, the older boats having the plumb bows of the llaut and rounded, tubby sterns while later models have raked stems and more flare to keep out those steep Mediterranean waves, as well as squared transoms.
According to Senyor Grau a local retired fisherman the smaller boats have their days numbered. He puts that number at around 1,460, or four years. ‘Go ahead take photos while you can.’ He urges, ‘Soon there’ll only be plastic motor boats here.’
The boats belong to elderly fishermen who keep them moored for a nominal annual fee of 200 euros. Senyor Grau’s boat, called Grau, still makes enough money to pay for itself and he’ll continue to fish as long as he can. However, the danger isn’t the sparsity of fish but the local council who would like to oust the scruffy noisy fishing boats and charge 200 euros a week to the sleek owners of zippy motor craft.
2 comments:
200 euros a week? Fuck - you could get a really nice apartment for that.
How´s things with you all? We're about to head up to France in the van for a few weeks and we're thinking of calling in on the way home, sometime around the 27/8th of august. Will you be around then?
Yes, that would be great. better the 28th than the 27th. have a good time.
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