Port of Hamburg, Heinz Oestmann, fisherman.

Joerg Otto Meier

Portaits
of people
and
big ships

Main menu

Port menu

German

Previous image

Next image

Heinz Oestmann
Elbe- and North Sea Fisherman,
38 years
August 1988

»I know the Basic Law is just a joke book.
But personally, I somehow feel I can rely on it.«

Excerpt: You’re really at the mercy of the weather out there on such a small ship. If your ship is only 15 m long and bad weather suddenly comes up, you have to get out of there fast and you can forget working for the rest of the week. We had gigantic seas again this week. But that’s normal and you can still go out fishing in this weather. But if it gets too wild, you can’t catch anything. First the trawler stops in the waves, then it lurches forward. When that happens, the net gets jerked across the bottom of the sea and nothing goes into it. You’re constantly risking your life on such a small ship. Especially now that the autumn storms are starting. They’re no piece of cake.

Just the same, nothing’s happened in the last few years, thank God. But 15, 20 years ago, every year one of the big trawlers from Finkenwerder went down. They stayed out in bad weather and that’s when they bought it. The waves bring down the whole wheel house with you in it. Then you can kiss the world good-bye. Or you capsize. Then you’re never heard from again, either. But if you want to go on fishing, you have to be prepared to take the risk. All you can do is try to be careful and watch the weather a bit.

Anyway, you’re forced to go on for financial reasons. If there’s a bit of a blow for two weeks, then you can pack it in for two weeks as well and you don’t earn a penny. Then you have to go out in wind force 6, don’t you? Most people haven’t a clue what that’s like. To hear them talk, you’d think they’d all sailed to Heligoland in a Force 8 gale. These people have experienced more Force 8 gales than you can poke a stick at. At the top of the wind mast on the Wappen von Hamburg you can measure the speed of the ship and add that on, then what they really experienced was wind force 4. Most people haven’t got a clue what Force 8 means. That really shakes things up. ...