In Port Phillip Bay above the penguins at Stkilda Snapoer could be caught in the river north of the first bridge!

Gary, I was personal associate with Jim Racovolis and close working associate with Peter Racovolis using his dot matrix printer. Jim owned race horses sold to Sanfords Peter Racovolis is still available for an interview. I used to fillet 12 boxes of orange roughy a day and retail at $2.99 kg. That was 82?

What about the real Legend Kim McKenzie from the Sunshine Coast still today the best story on 60 minutes ever…… I lived on King also ya should have seen the sharks boats in that Harbour in the seventies

I spent two decades in ships, sailing through some terrific storms and lengthy passages. I spent 100 days at sea without a port call more than twice. I faced the real possibility that I was on my last voyage, and my next port of call would be Davy Jones' Locker. I was damaged, scarred, and savaged by the sea; even once being swept overboard by a rogue wave, only to be washed back on deck by that same wave 200 feet aft. But never did I cling to a yard arm waiting out a storm, while the wind ripped the clothes from the back of my shipmate next to me. With all my experiences, I cannot fathom the hardships they endured on the Cape-Horners.

This business about the local girls liking the visiting sailors mirrors my own experiences at sea (decades later. Though, having said that, I was a sailor from 1977, which was closer to Tom Wells' passage on the Passant, that I am today while I type this. This was almost always the case. And it wasn't merely because I was tall and handsome, with a square jaw. Local women wherever you go are bored and think that wherever this visitor was from must be better. (It really never was, but at least it was different). Or I wonder if this goes deeper, even to our DNA. Maybe the need to diversify the gene pool makes outsiders more appealing? Heave away, heave away Oh heave away, you rolling king, We're bound for South Australia.

The original horse whisperer. Great!

First met Lewis about 45 years ago. A great man with so much Queenscliff history. I had a fairly new Couta Boat in the Cut or Creek and he was all over it like a rash. RIP Lew. You'll never be forgotten my friend.

2016 king Island! Too many Scallops ? Fair dinkum boats? But we had to collapse first! Biblical numbers. Tonne an hour shhhhj.

Rex hunts fishing talks. Rex hunt stkilda and richmond legend also a policeman.

Ian Rule skippered the Dell Ritchie for as long as I can remember. I lived next door to him for a decade.

Dell Richie I was in lakes buying scallops at the wharf I was filleting Jim and Peter Racovolis orange roughly in 1979 at 12 boxes a day. I can count my mates on one hand and my five sons on the other. I skippered the boat that took my mate wilts Billy Mitchell on his last Couta trip. It was out of a creek in corner inlet, Greg beamont the glass man from wonthaghi was on board as was Wilts. Wilts lures bagged a box of couta out of an ex Portland pros alluminium boat. I met a guy recently he was an apprentice at pompies boat yard.

Nice People.

Bernard one of if not the best boat builders. Him Garry Stewart and Tim Phillips. Absolutely fantastic traditional builders.

Thank you so much for posting this.

Should've had Tim Phillips on. He's the sole reason for the resurrection of Couta Boats around Portsea & Sorrento. He has extensive knowledge of the Laccos and is a brilliant boat builder.

Got to give it to you all, I did about 13 years in the navy and several times I have crossed Bass Strait in Destroyers and Destroyers escorts, nothing as small as you lot.

I’m sure I’ve seen the Tacoma in Sydney Harbour in the last year or so. Anchored in Athol Bight near the zoo wharf. Musta been sold.

Great footage with the stories behind it of the boats and men who worked them the ladies splitting and eating the scallops.

What sailors have had to go through in suffering, fear and inhuman toil in the past is an ocean beyond what we can imagine today. God bless the best of them, for their bravery

I heard a story when i was young in the 80s that the Comanchero MC had a club house out of Eden and that they had one pub that was marked as theirs in Eden. After a couple of years of fighting with returning fisherman at the end of season. They stopped going to that PUB. Hard men!!

I cant listen to chat bots

salt

Gary There's a young fella on Phillip Island named Josh Rule he will be a personal associate of Mr Ritchie. Son of Ian Rule and grandson of my best mate Wilts. Bill Mitchell.

I'm not a fishermen, but thanks so much that was fantastic, captivated from start to finish.

Like listing to your, one that remains me when I was in the navy is that when you were on watch you would try and be outside to see the sun 🌞, rise or lower during the day. Some good memories.

HI Gary - I live in Lakes Entrance - can you please tell me if I can get a copy of the Scallop Wars on DVD (or download for sharing) in our venue at the Lakes Entrance Slipway - thanks if you can let me know !

Thank you ❤

Thank you.

Thanks so very much, I was captivated from start to finish❤.

Thanks for the videos on scalloping. I remember a few scallop boats in Mordialloc Creek in the late 70s or early 80s. I remember Norton. Mick

Another superb telling of the story of a part of our once great fishing industry. Thanks Gary

Erickson cut too many corners, all for the owner of the ship and his bank account. Terrible food, a crew that was too thin, and cutting every corner possible.

A great part of fisheries history Gary, well done, glad to contribute in a small way.

My step son skippers the Saxon Onward.

Brilliant …. Sounds very similar to the Irish Sea scallop and queenie fishing industry with the Isle of Man and kirkudbright boats going back to the 50s and 60s to today … great industry to be part of until all the bullshit arrived (paperwork and clap trap )

Some of the bay fishermen had no idea how to operate in open water we watched a Victorian fisherman in about a fourty five foot timber boat put it out of gear while he pulled the dredge in and of course it came up under the stern , hooked under the tuck and ripped the transom out ,it didn't take long for her to disappear, fortunately between us all the crew were retrieved, another incident was when loui barachi on the Anita decided to try drag across the drag and hooked up about three other dredges , what bloody kaos that created, it was always interesting

They found a large scallop bed off Forster NSW years ago. Within seven years it was fished out and never recovered.

Unloading scallop boats in queenscliffe would have been one of the highlights of my career, great blokes and good times.

Bunch of greedy grubs who over fished a natural resource that collapsed there own industry leaving nothing for future generations,shameless grubs

We worked the whole winter inside the Mornington wharf between the wharf and the beach between the moorings one year. One hour and we had our quota.

Give me Johno over Keef any day mate.

1996 on the Bancroft bay lost a crew member bell reef still hear him going over 😵‍💫

Another great video! Thanks for the memories. I’ll send you our old family slides you’ll probably remember the era well.

The orange roughy went the same way, overfishing, no quotas and boats coming from all over. The local boats we 60/80' but we had 200' ice boats coming from NZ to Hobart and the market collapsed. We made some money though but worked hard for it.

Thanks Gary once again for sharing and preserving some of our past .

Hey Gary I must thank you for letting me contribute a small part to this I started out here at 14 and now nearly 60 I worked with most of those blokes great memories great videos best part of growing up in lakes and tassie thank you Jamie

Garry well done 👍 I was with Colin Gale in the little Bass Rover 83-84, mate those big boats had nothing over us! I remember one time up north of the sisters when they were all knocking off for weather and us with our little 6footer and timber tray and wobble stoppers finished getting a load on and SAILED!!!!! Back to Stanley good memories to look back on thanks for all the work you put in to show what many hundreds of us did in our younger days. Cheers, Charley

My back's still buggered.

I was south of Bell reef the night the deckie went over. .. I helped in the search...the conditions weren't really good, I was aboard the Melinda 1. Not many boats were out that night either ..

Port phillip bay is in so much better condition now. Thank god no dredges in the bay.. What total destruction of A state asset by the lucky few. dredging up centuries of waste chemicals and putting it in the water column so reacreational fishermen were getting cancer from contaminants