Chen Yuan got up early and cooked noodles. After eating, he drove his fishing boat to a nearby gas station and filled up the tank with oil.
The fishing boat was far away from the coastline, Chen Yuan planned the route, and Zhou Sheng started the boat.
After leaving the continental shelf, Chen Yuan observed the sky and sea surface, but found nothing.
Today's sky is blue, like a huge curtain. Clouds like cotton candy are floating in the air.
The sea water is deep blue in color.
Along the route planned by Chen Yuan, the further we go, the darker the color of the sea water becomes.
The sea is not calm, and the fishing boat at cruising speed can sometimes be bumpy and uncomfortable.
The sky is like a dome, and the sea is also round, with some curvature visible.
Zhou Sheng yawned and shouted loudly: "Lao Yuan, have you found anything?"
"without."
Chen Yuan climbed out from the top of the boat. The sun was shining brightly today.
Chen Yuan went down to wash his face and brought out a few cans of energy drinks.
He Fei and the two of them were sitting in the cabin playing games.
He Fei took the drink, looked at it, and waved his hand: "We have a rest after lunch and will be on duty at night. I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep in the afternoon after drinking this."
"I don't want it either," Yang Xun said.
Chen Yuan handed the drink to Zhou Sheng.
Zhou Sheng took it and took a sip: "We shouldn't have built that pontoon yesterday and went straight to chase seabirds. We haven't seen a single bird feather this morning."
"It rained heavily yesterday...why are you panicking?" Chen Yuan said: "It is normal to not be able to find fish schools at sea for several days or even ten days. Please be patient."
Fishing boats go out to sea hoping to return home with a full load, but chasing fish in the sea is no simple matter.
We set off at 8:30 in the morning and it is now 11:30, 63 nautical miles away from Hainan Island.
Now I just want to find the fish school, but I am thinking too much.
After lunch, He Fei and the others went back to the cabin to sleep and were on duty at night.
Chen Yuan and the others continued to set off, and the fishing boat kept going at cruising speed.
I didn’t forget about it in the morning, and I traveled more than a hundred nautical miles in the afternoon. The sun was about to set, and I didn’t see any floating fish or flying birds.
Entering the deep sea area, you can see endless blue water except for the white clouds in the sky.
When he was in the ocean-going fleet, Zhou Sheng rarely followed Chen Yuan and others out to find fish. He couldn't stand the loneliness.
"Stop the boat and take a rest."
One afternoon, still no results.
Zhou Sheng pulled down the throttle lever, shut down the engine, and turned on the stabilizer.
Chen Yuan took out the drone and flew it around.
"No fish?"
Chen Yuan shook his head: "It's time to cook."
Zhou Sheng cooked the rice, and Chen Yuan took out the bacon, washed it, and threw it into the rice cooker to cook together.
Lin Xinhai's voice came from the radio: "Chen Yuan, Chen Yuan..."
"receive."
"Did you find the fish?"
"No."
"We won't set off until after one o'clock tomorrow afternoon." Lin Xinhai said: "Are you sure you will find fish tomorrow?"
"Not sure. It's been a whole day and I haven't found anything."
"Then let's not hurry and go slowly." Lin Xinhai said.
"I'll let you know if I find anything." Chen Yuan said.
"good."
Chen Yuan moved the deck chair out, lay down with his legs crossed, and watched the sunset.
"Stop watching the sunset and come over to help cook." Zhou Sheng shouted.
"It's so troublesome...eat chili sauce at night."
"You're not afraid of a sore butt."
"It's your butt that hurts."
"If you eat too much spicy food, be careful of hemorrhoids."
Chen Yuan rolled his eyes, glanced at Zhou Sheng, lit a cigarette, and continued watching the sunset.
The sea surface surged and the fishing boat swayed slightly. Chen Yuan yawned when he heard the sound of the stabilizer working.
Zhou Sheng prepared dinner and the sun set, dyeing the sky red.
At night, He Fei and Yang Xun were on duty.
Chen Yuan and the others slept at night and continued looking for fish the next day.
…
September 10th.
Open the sea...
After several months of recuperation, not only the fishing port of Zhapo is once again bustling with activity.
Throughout Guangdong, nearly 10,000 fishing boats are ready to go.
Zhapo held a sea ceremony yesterday to pray for a safe trip to the sea and a warehouse full of fish and shrimp.
At about 12 noon, with the sound of whistles and gongs and drums, fishing boats of all sizes moored at the fishing port competed to go out to sea. Fishing boats lined up one after another. It was already past one o'clock in the afternoon when Lin Xinhai and the others went out to the fishing port.
Chen Yuan's father and Zhou Sheng's father stayed on the Xinhai, which was the 'tuna seine boat'.
The sea has opened, and all the fishing boats out to sea are running wildly.
Lin Xinhai's two fishing boats took their time along the way.
Xinhai's cruising speed is only thirteen knots.
The cruising speed of the other fishing boat was a little over fourteen knots.
The speeds were not much different, but as time passed, the distance between the two fishing boats widened.
It was the first time for Chen Feng and Zhou He to go out to sea with a fishing boat, and they were the fathers of Chen Yuan and Zhou Sheng. Lin Xinhai took special care of them and arranged a small single room for them.
After the fishing boat went to sea, Chen Feng and the others stayed in the cockpit for a while, then came to the cabin to play cards with the boatmen.
"First time going to sea?"
Chen Feng said: "This is the first time."
"Are you seasick?" the boatman asked with a smile.
"No. I've been used to it on a fishing boat for a while..."
"It's good if you don't get seasick. You have to stay on the boat for a long time when you go out. If you get seasick, it will be uncomfortable."
There is nothing to do at sea, brag, chat, play cards...
Time passed and it was evening. Lin Xinhai contacted Chen Yuan again: "Have you found anything?"
"No, it's very calm."
"Where have you been?"
Chen Yuan said: "We are still ten nautical miles away from China and Saudi Arabia. We will go there early tomorrow morning to refuel, and then go to the Constitution Shoal."
There is a refueling ship here in China and Saudi Arabia.
"After that, are you going to go east or west?" Lin Xinhai said, "I can plan the route."
To the west, the Nansha Islands.
Go east, toward the Bashi Channel.
"What do you think?" Chen Yuan said.
"You make up your mind." Lin Xinhai said.
"I think Nansha." Chen Yuandao said: "It's too much luck to go to the Bashi Channel now. Nansha needs a lot of insurance."
"Okay, let's go to Nansha." Lin Xinhai said.
Lin Xinhai didn't ask Chen Yuan why he chose Nansha.
Head to the Bashi Strait, which is located in the south of Dongsha. If you are very lucky, you may encounter a large group of yellowfin tuna or even bluefin tuna...
But the probability is extremely low.
Going towards Nansha, the probability of finding large groups of tuna is even lower. There are still small groups of tuna.
Lin Xinhai knows more about the South China Sea than Chen Yuan.
On the fishing boat.
He Fei and the others finally woke up and came out to see Chen Yuan flying a drone.
"It's getting dark," Yang Xun said with a smile.
"Dinner will be served soon." Zhou Sheng said.
"Are there any fish?"
"Yes." Chen Yuan was not too excited.
"Is it worth getting off the Internet?" He Fei asked.
"It's okay." Chen Yuandao: "It's just average."
One of Lin Xinhai's fishing boats is called Xinhai and the other is called Lixia. The Lixia is now an auxiliary boat with fish luring lights installed on it.
It's worth going online, but it's far different from Chen Yuan's expectations.