73
Hand-liners
The hand-liners in Kau Sai were few in number and uniformly poor. Their boats, which had all been acquired second- or third-hand (or even older) were of the same general type as the blunt-nosed long-liners, and had a similar layout of holds and deck space. Three of them had no sails, their crews relying solely upon the 'yuloh' for propulsion. Hand-lining was often practised by purse-seiners and long-liners too, sometimes seriously for business, sometimes simply for the sport. Two fishermen in Kau Sai specialised in trapping fish, but not exclusively. One was also a specialist long-liner with a sharp-nosed boat, the other a hand-liner. Apart from the fact that from time to time their decks were piled high with home-made rattan traps they did not differ from those already described.
"House boats"
Although all the boats normally anchoring in Kau Sai were sea-worthy, a small number were in fact more or less permanently at their moorings. These were all old boats, capable of movement when required but only very occasionally used for fishing operations either because they were considered too frail or because their owners could not work them regularly. They included two small hand-lining type boats owned by men employed as hired hands on Kau Sai-based purse-seiners and housing their wives and children. (These two were actually often in Sai Kung where the women used them to bring in a small extra income as ferry sampans). There was also a pair of old purse-seiners belonging to two brothers who after several years' bad luck were in 1952 reduced to hand-lining and making-do with part-time employment and occasional partnerships with other purse-seiners. (By 1970 their luck had changed: one junk had been sold and a newer one bought second-hand in its place had been mechanised with the help of a loan from the F.M.O.). Two of the hand-liners were also in fact little more than family residences, their owners being incapacitated: the one by blindness, the other by the recent death of the only adult male. (By 1970 the blind man and his wife were dead and their tenth and only surviving child, having been in and out of gaol several times
73
Hand-liners
The hand-liners in Kau Sai were few in number and uniform- ly poor. Their boats, which had all been acquired second- or third-hand (or even older) were of the same general type as the blunt-nosed long-liners, and had a similar lay-out of holds and deck space. Three of them had no sails, their crews relying solely upon the 'yuloh' for propulsion. Hand-lining was often practised by purse-seiners and long-liners too, sometimes seriously for business, sometimes simply for the sport. Two fishermen in Kau Sai specialised in trapping fish, but not exclusively. One was also a specialist long-liner with a sharp-nosed boat, the other a hand- liner. Apart from the fact that from time to time their decks were piled high with home-made rattan traps they did not differ from those already described.
"House boats"
Although all the boats normally anchoring in Kau Sai were sea-worthy, a small number were in fact more or less permanent- ly at their moorings. These were all old boats, capable of movement when required but only very occasionally used for fishing operations either because they were considered too frail or because their owners could not work them regularly. They included two small hand-lining type boats owned by men employed as hired hands on Kau Sai-based purse-seiners and housing their wives and children. (These two were actually often in Sai Kung where the women used them to bring in a small extra income as ferry sampans). There was also a pair of old purse-seiners belonging to two brothers who after several years' bad luck were in 1952 reduced to hand-lining and making-do with part-time employment and occasional partnerships with other purse-seiners. (By 1970 their luck had changed: one junk had been sold and a newer one bought second-hand in its place had been mechanised with the help of a loan from the F.M.O.). Two of the hand-liners were also in fact little more than family residences, their owners being incapacitated: the one by blind- ness, the other by the recent death of the only adult male. (By 1970 the blind man and his wife were dead and their tenth and only surviving child, having been in and out gaol several times
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