picture of WORLD RECORD Mediterranean snapper

[ancient mariner]

Hi:
WOW. Keep the stories comming.
I'm going to email this to my buddy,,,,George the GREEK .

WACKM N STACKM
Joseph B...aka...Ancient Mariner

[Turkey Feeder]

Hey Seabiscuit....enjoyed the postnpics a lot

Jim

[JMS-ILM]

that picture needs to be framed and permanently mounted on your console beside the bottom machine. that, my friend, is a classic picture. if you looked up the definition of an "old salt" in the websters dictionary, that picture of Yannis would be right there.

[bigeasy]

Great story. This is what fishing is all about. Family, friends, memories of days spent on the water. Keep the Greek stories coming. I would like to hear about bluefin tuna in Greek waters.

[BTH284]

Appreciate you sharing your heritage and culture with us Nick. Please continue. We could all learn a few things here. No matter how old the tricks may be it is always new to someone.

[SeaBiscuit]

[QUOTE=SeaBiscuit]

That same summer, my brother Peter was working as a mate for captain Yannis' elder son Nick Galiatsos. Needless to say there was a bit of "good natured" fishing competition between the teams of the old man and the dufus (yours truly) and the studs, Nick Galiatsos and my brother Peter.

One must understand the differences, both economic and logistic, between Greek subsistance commercial fishing and the bounty of the oceans we are blessed with here. A "good" Greek commercial day trip catch would be 10 kilos (22 lbs) of marketable fishes. Fresh fish is extremely expensive in Greece (particularly in relation to per capita income). Grouper / snapper, for example would be along the lines of $10 US per pound, whole fish. $ 50 US a day is good money for a small time fisherman.
Equipment is likewise "downsized" and economical. Pictured below is captain Yannis with his boat, fishing vessel "Denis" named after his dead last born.

Notice the lines! The luxury! The speed!
Seriously now, a wooden 15 footer is standard. 7-10 HP inboard diesel is also standard. Range? As far as one would be willing to come back from using them oars, typically 5-10 miles. Technology? Stars, landmarks and possibly a flash light. Freedom & connection to one's physical world? Absolute! I remember many a night I stayed up looking at the stars while the old man was snoozing at the bow. I typically had an "important" job to do like making silverside chum with a pocket knife, or be on the lookout (with my ears) for jumping mullet. The old man would have me go get him from his house at midnight, we'd run off to one of the many little islands between Astakos and Ithaka, only to drop iron and wait for the morning. He mostly told me it was "too windy" to fish (it's never windy!) or that the "fish aren't right" (are they ever?). Questioning the captain's judgement was, of course, taboo, something I desperately and largely unsuccessfully try to convince my mates off to this date. I now think that his wife, my aunt Parthenia (means Virgin in Greek!) was no longer interested in hanky-panky, so the old man would rather be in his boat, than in his bed. Can anyone relate?
Back to fishing. We did very little, while the team of studs were busting their ass all day and night, all the time. They took the competition seriously! Early one morning they run by us while I was at the oars with engine trouble a few miles from the harbor. They made sure we had water to drink and cigs to smoke and went on fishing. There was never a discussion of a tow to the harbor. The following picture is of their catch that particular day being proudly displayed by my older, by one year, brother Peter.


They run 15 miles (the end of the world, it seemed!) that day and found some nice grouper. These fish were 13.2, 8.9 and 8.0 kilos respectively. A big day! They were smoking us! The old man did not seem to care much, especially when he had a cognac or beer in his hand, which was all the time when we were not fishing. The restaurant was paying the bills. Meanwhile, I was left to work at the restaurant and tolerate my brother's constant demonstrations of fishing superiority. Those were intended primarily for me, however they took a very elaborate form when a large audience was available! I was burning up. This is when I discovered that a few shots of ouzo in the morning with the various old men at the restaurant, followed by cold beer during the busy lunch hour worked wonders for my mental state. Those old men, who would enter the restaurant around 10 am asking for an "aspirin" (ouzo, double) seemed to understand a lot about the medicinal powers of alcohol.
Thank you for reading. Please let me know if you'd like me to continue.
Nick

[BTH284]

Come on this is great stuff here.

[Bite Me]

Absolutley priceless. If I get a vote, please continue.

[sea scape]

The landscape in the pictures is so pretty.

You are so blessed to have such a heritage to share with us.

Thanks for sharing part of your life with us

[djwhitman]

Continue on!!!!!