Keeping Up With the Jones?s

It?s not often these days that I have a jones but I was struck right between the eyes by one the other night. I was having one of my late night scribbling sessions, desperately trying to put a coherent thought or two on paper, when I suddenly became aware of the switched-on telly in the corner of the room. The word ?trawler? caught my attention and I was riveted as some fishermen shot their net away into the rolling white tipped waves? and my heart skipped a beat. I can feel that feeling now as I write about it? that pang, that drawing tightness, that jones? and I want to feel the salt wind on my face and hear the gulls scream and feel the boat pitch and roll beneath my feet. I want to feel the thrill of the sea and it?s a real physical need, an aching pain... I?m jonesin? man, I?m jonesin?.

I just had to dig out some old photos. All of these were taken in Stonehaven Harbour (Scotland) or not far off the coast of Stonehaven. A friend of mine went out with us one day and took some snaps. She also took the incriminating photo of the boat when the skipper left me in charge for a week while he went home for a visit. I had to put the boat into the inner harbour, which was no mean feat with all the little pleasure craft cluttering up the place. I bumped into one of them - no harm done - and after I retired to the pub for a well earned pint, the boys made some L-plates out of fishbags and put them in the rigging. (For the non-British among you, L-plates are what learner drivers have to display on their car before they get their license.)

If you haven’t already, you might like to read my blog about my days “at the fishin’”. Memories of a Summer Solstice at Sea

Sorry about the quality of the photos; I don’t have a scanner so I took photos of them with my digital camera.