I had my first trip out last week to resume my project to document the Isle of Man fishing fleet; the king scallop season started on the first day of November. Unfortunately, the weather in the Irish Sea has been less than favourable, and most of the trawlers have been tied-up in harbours for the majority of the month.
Last week I did manage to get out on the Sarah Lena for a five-hour trip from Ramsey, in the north of the Island, down to its home berth of Port St Mary in the south. The scallop dredger had been in Ramsey having its winch repaired, so there was no actual fishing, but I did manage to make a few photos in the first couple of hours before being overwhelmed by the inevitable seasickness.
I’ve become quite the expert on seasickness, of late, both in theory and practice – there isn’t a cure or remedy that I haven’t heard. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be experimenting with a few possibilities. I’ll try anything if it works. It does irritate me a bit when people say “Oh, it’s all in the mind!”, because yes, it is all in the mind!
All images were made using a Nikon F100, 28mm 1.8G lens and Kodak Ultramax 400 print film. Despite my brain telling me this project is a bad idea, fate tells me other because I found a very nice Canon waterproof 35mm film camera in my local charity shop, over the weekend, for £5 – perfect for the job in hand. Waterproof also means ‘Vomit Proof’.
Phil Kneen 
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