L.A. Dunton

The captain and crew of the L.A. Dunton worked in extreme conditions on North Atlantic fishing voyages that lasted between one and six weeks, often in the coldest months, where the labor was physically exhausting, carried out in tight quarters and rough seas, and a single misstep or large wave could sweep a man overboard or overturn a dory. One storm on August 24, 1873 claimed the lives of 128 men and sank nine Gloucester ships. When they were not fishing from open dories, the crew spent hours cleaning and packing fish, baiting hooks, and maintaining hooks, line, and other tools. A doryman's day began at 4:00 with coffee, then baiting 750 to 1,100 hooks, rowing out to set more than a mile of trawl line, returning for breakfast in shifts while continuing to bait hooks, rowing out again to haul the trawl, cleaning and packing the morning's catch, taking dinner in shifts while baiting hooks when not eating, setting more trawl line in the afternoon, returning for a snack and gear work, hauling the trawl again, cleaning and packing the afternoon's catch, eating supper in shifts while baiting hooks or cleaning gear when not eating, sometimes continuing with another round of fishing, hauling, cleaning, and packing fish until 11:00, then sleeping about five hours, with dorymates every few evenings also taking a two-hour watch on deck.

Mystic, Connecticut · United States