Red Sea
New Bedford fisherman James Peterson always dreamed of Africa.
Now he is exploring the continent’s northern ports as he shepherds a Stonington, Conn., scalloper to its new home in Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa that shares borders with Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and the Gulf of Aden.
When New Bedford’s groundfishing industry took a scheduled break in May, Peterson headed to Stonington in search of work on a scalloper. Instead, he was invited to be part of a four-man crew who would travel 7,000 miles across one ocean and two seas to deliver the 59-foot Rainmaker to Djibouti.
To claim his spot on the team, the 36-year-old New Bedford native quickly secured a passport, got vaccinated for yellow fever and helped prepare the steel-hulled vessel for the long voyage.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Africa,” he said. “I think it is a beautiful country.”
Muse Said, a Somali native who most recently lived in Seattle, purchased the Rainmaker so he could join fishermen who dredge for sea cucumbers off the coast of Somalia, Peterson said during an interview last week with The Standard-Times.
Peterson, who spoke on a cell phone from a wharf in Port Said, Egypt, said the crew was preparing for what was expected to be a seven-day trip down the Suez Canal.
He anticipated they would arrive in Djibouti within two weeks, given safe passage down the Red Sea.
When the Rainmaker steamed out of Stonington Harbor on June 29, Frank Serrano of Pawcatuck, Conn., was at the helm. Peterson was the first mate.
When engine problems led to a prolonged layover in Egypt, Serrano abandoned the team, Peterson said. He flew back to the United States to fulfill a prior work commitment.
Peterson quickly adapted to his new role and its increased responsibilities. He made Said, a novice fisherman, his first mate.
The Rainmaker’s trans-Atlantic voyage was blessed with good weather and relatively calm seas.
“It got a little rough,” Peterson said. “We would take on waves. But overall it was nothing like Georges Bank. It was very smooth.”
When the vessel’s water pump blew out, the crew radioed a nearby freighter to request repair parts from its machine shop. To retrieve the parts from the freighter, Peterson said he crawled out on the Rainmaker’s 50-foot outrigger wearing a lifejacket and a safety line.
“I grabbed the monkey’s fist (a knot tied at the end of a heaving line) and pulled in the pieces we needed,” he said. “Within a half hour we had what we needed to fix the water pump. It was awesome. It was a rush.”
Nevertheless, Peterson said his best moments of the trip have been on land. “The landings have been my favorite part,” he said. “We have been fortunate enough to get around and see some sites.” The Rainmaker’s first stop was Flores island in the Azores, where a couple watched from shore as the vessel steamed into port with its outriggers deployed.
“The lady said that when she saw the outriggers she thought it was a scallop boat from New Bedford,” Peterson said. “I told her that it was a Connecticut scalloper, but that I was from New Bedford.”
The couple, also from New Bedford, explained that the woman’s husband once worked on the New Bedford fishing vessel Fisherman. Peterson told them he had recently seen the same vessel tied up at the New Bedford docks. Later on the island of Faial, Peterson went into a pizza shop and ran into a couple who used to live in Taunton. “Is that a small world or what?” he remarked.
When the Rainmaker docked in Ceuta, Spain — on the North African side of the Strait of Gibraltar — Peterson crossed the border into Morocco, which he described as “just like the movies.”
The vessel’s next stop was Tripoli, Libya. According to Peterson, the Rainmaker was the first American-flagged vessel to land there in 40 years. “We made history on that,” he said. Without a visa or shore leave pass, the crew was restricted to the wharf during their 10-day visit, Peterson said.
Still, the crew enjoyed wandering the docks and observing the many freighters. “Everyone was so welcoming,” Peterson said. A highlight was watching the Libyan Navy ships practice for a Sept. 1 celebration of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s 40 years in power.
When the Rainmaker finally arrives in Djibouti, Peterson will be tasked with teaching Said how to dredge for sea cucumbers, spiny-skinned animals that live on the ocean floor and are a food staple in many Asian countries.
Peterson plans to stay in Djibouti until his six-month visa expires. Since he did not accept any money for delivering the vessel to Djibouti, he is eager to make some income while fishing for sea cucumbers.
“Hopefully, when I get down there it will be lucrative.” Source: (SouthCoastToday)
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