Mother-ship for halibut dories.
Halibut schooners from 1880 to 1940 carried several dories nested on deck. Every day on the halibut grounds, the dories were launched at half-kilometer intervals while the vessel ran at half-speed to maintain stability.
Two crewmen were left in each dory to fish with handlines. The mother-ship had to return and locate each dory before nightfall, or the fishermen would spend the night adrift on the ocean. Four photos, courtesy the Pacific Halibut Commission.
As the dory came alongside loaded with hundreds of pounds of halibut, getting the fish transferred to the mothership-- then hoisting boat, men and gear aboard could be fairly simple...
...or it could be difficult and dangerous:
See "Photos, Films, Video" in the menu-bar for two vivid films of halibut fishing. The first, from 1920, demonstrates how dories were launched and recovered. The second film is a home movie that shows Aleutian longlining in 1972.
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