Chapter 1341: The time to set sail had finally arrived

On the vast, boundless sea, the ship's course and destination were navigated by old fishermen using nautical charts and compasses. They weren't as accustomed to high-tech equipment, preferring to use them in conjunction with their experience.

Ye Yaodong also used the positioning system installed on his own fishing boat.

If he hadn't wanted to keep the other boats in sight for mutual support, he would have just sailed off alone; that would have been much simpler.

Fortunately, he had tried to get to know them a bit beforehand, and they were all easy to get along with. By the time they were drinking with his father, they had gone from being polite to calling each other brothers.

Ye Yaodong didn't rush to take the lead; instead, he trailed behind the two other boats by a short distance, following silently.

The radio channel only had brief exchanges when they first set out; after that, it went quiet. It wasn't like a telephone call—the signal wasn't particularly strong, and the reception was full of static.

Only his group of friends was excited enough to chatter away constantly. They were talkative and didn't mind the noise, keeping the conversation going.

He didn't feel like talking while listening to that static, so he mostly listened in silence, or kept it tuned to the public channel to listen to broadcast information.

In the winter, the warm sun shone down on the sea surface. Looking out from the wheelhouse, he felt a hint of warmth amidst the cold wind.

The workers had already returned to the cabins to rest. There were 14 people on the ship this time, plus him, making 15 in total.

His own rest quarters were in the rear section of the wheelhouse, so he didn't have to squeeze in with the workers.

The three ships were now heading full-throttle toward the fishing grounds. He estimated that the fishing area was less than 100 nautical miles from the port, requiring a voyage of over 5 hours.

This was only because their ships were large and powerful; if they were in the Dong Sheng Hao, it might have taken seven or eight hours.

They were sailing southeast. As they traveled, the fishing boats they encountered became larger and fewer, until, after two hours of sailing, they stopped seeing any other vessels at all.

Only the seagulls that had been following the fishing boats continued to dance behind them, occasionally diving down to catch the fish and shrimp stirred up by the ship's propellers.

Once they were further out, they occasionally saw black shadows flashing past on the horizon.

Ye Yaodong had sharp eyes and was observant of everything around him. He clearly saw that the flashing black shadows were giant devil rays. These fish loved to "fly kites" from time to time, leaping out of the water and gliding before falling back down. They were pitch black and huge, making them easy to identify even from a distance.

In the past, when they were lucky, these rays would glide right over their fishing boat, and they could even catch one.

Now, he just watched them with his naked eye as they breached the surface in the distance and glided back down. No one knew where they landed, so there was no way to chase them.

For them right now, reaching the fishing grounds was the priority. If they happened to run into a school of fish or other valuable large fish along the way, they certainly wouldn't let the opportunity pass.

Ye Yaodong had been following the two fishing boats the whole time. This had the advantage of not needing to identify the direction himself or worry about what lay ahead; he just had to follow them, as those two boats were helmed by veteran sailors.

However, they didn't wait until they reached the destination to cast their nets. Their method was very similar to his previous style of fishing.

Halfway there, he heard static on the channel; Zhao Chengzhou was notifying them to slow down and prepare to cast nets nearby, then continue forward while dragging the nets.

Ye Yaodong checked the display screen; they had traveled about 50 or 60 nautical miles.

As a junior, he humbly followed instructions. He notified his crew not to sail at full speed and that they could cast nets nearby. He also slowed down, gave a response, and grabbed a megaphone to notify his workers.

They didn't cast the nets immediately. He steered his fishing boat slightly away from the others, maintaining a certain distance while using the sonar to probe the area and search for schools of fish first.

During the voyage, to ensure safety, the sonar on his fishing boat had been on the entire time, specifically to avoid obstacles and prevent running aground or hitting reefs.

After all, this was his first time sailing with these two boats, so being extra careful was the right thing to do.

That was why he had been following behind without needing to use his brain—he had technology on his side.

The Dong Sheng Hao hadn't been equipped with a sonar detector. Being a 24-meter boat, and with limited technology and budget over the past two years, they had relied entirely on experience, casting nets blindly and dragging them—it was pure luck.

The other two boats had also split up, moving slowly in the vicinity to search. They didn't cast their nets immediately either, which showed their ships had been upgraded.

According to what he had learned at the shipyard in Zhoushan, sonar equipment had only become affordable for small and medium-sized fishing boats in the second half of last year.

Otherwise, let alone small and medium boats, even large and medium fishing vessels would have had to spend a fortune just to install a basic one.

He had seen it; that sonar only came with a simple display screen showing the reflection of sound waves. It wasn't as advanced as the one he had now, but it provided enough information for people to use.

He watched the display screen while moving slowly, keeping an eye on the distance between him and the other two boats to avoid getting lost.

While he was watching the screen and searching slowly, the other two boats had already found their spots and cast their nets, and the static on the channel carried their conversation.

"I've found a spot and cast my nets..."

"I'm about the same here. Don't drift too far; keep moving forward in this direction..."

Ye Yaodong also responded, "I'll look around. I'll find a good spot to cast my nets. You guys go ahead with yours."

"Anything will do... it won't make much difference anyway. We've just come out; let's drag them as we go..."

"Ah... alright..."

He could see many small green dots on the display screen. Throughout the journey, he had been seeing them intermittently.

Different colored shapes represented the density of the fish schools, and the intensity of the echo.

He circled the area, but decided not to look anymore. He notified his workers to cast the nets, then adjusted his sailing direction and speed based on the location of the fish schools.

He would just watch as they sailed; if there were denser areas, he would steer toward them.

Anyway, the fish school density he could detect now was much stronger than in his previous life. The resources were still very abundant.

Just a glance at the display screen showed it was basically packed with green dots. In his previous life, the schools detected were very scattered, and he had to patiently search for them.

In this day and age, as long as a fishing boat dared to go to more distant waters, they would be blind-folded and still run into schools of fish; it was just a matter of whether the density was strong or weak.

The fishing net equipped on this Yuan Yang 1 was not much longer than the one on the Dong Sheng Hao—still over 300 meters—but it had an additional few hundred meters of steel cable, because the depth of the seabed was naturally deeper.

The workers lifted the fishing net, slowly lowering it into the water via the slipway at the stern, and used the winch and pulley system to fully deploy the net, ensuring the mouth of the net remained open.

They also installed otter boards on both sides of the net, using the water flow to keep the mouth of the net spread open, increasing the catch efficiency.

Ye Yaodong also kept an eye on the net-casting process, keeping the ship's speed between 2 and 4 knots, while keeping an eye on the display screen and the direction of the other two boats to avoid drifting too far away.

"The nets are cast. Just keep an eye on things as you go. If you feel there's a catch somewhere, head that way, just don't drift too far..."

It was clear this was directed at him. Ye Yaodong responded, "Understood."

"Dongzi, you said earlier that you only plan to stay out for about half a month this trip before returning?"

"Yes, there are things to take care of at home. I have to come and go frequently. Even if I come out with you guys in the future, I'll probably only stay for 15 to 20 days before heading back. It's also convenient to sell the catch then, saving on the cost of selling to the collection ship."

Uncle Ding said, "Your ship is so big, the fuel consumption is no joke. Are you sure about returning so frequently? Finding buyers for such a large quantity of goods is also a hassle. It's a waste of time. I'd rather earn a little less and give it to the collection ship."

Ye Yaodong listened to the static, piecing together what was said.

"I have partners. Once I dock and return, I can just hand the goods over to my partners to handle."

Zhao Chengzhou said, "That works too. I'm just worried that the back-and-forth will be too fuel-intensive. Your ship's fuel consumption is incredible; just one refueling costs thousands. And selling the goods takes too long, which is counterproductive. It's better to save that time and catch more while you're at sea."

"Well, I have large freezing and cold storage rooms on the ship that can hold hundreds of tons. I'll freeze the valuable ones and keep the cheaper ones in cold storage. If you guys call for a collection ship during that time, I'll sell some along with you."

"That's fine. You have your own plan. Your ship is indeed much larger than ours. Accumulating for 20 days and selling it all at once is also fine."

Ye Yaodong had been thinking the same thing.

This ship was built to the standard of an ocean-going fishing vessel, and he had even modified it later, making it even more practical.

He estimated that the freezing room could barely hold 20 days' worth of catch. In this era, resources were abundant, and the harvest would certainly be significant.

But he also had the cold storage room, so he could occasionally sell some and replace them with fresh ones, rotating them until the time came to return fully loaded.

He had already planned it all out, which would maximize his profits. Selling such a large quantity of goods at the dock was certainly more valuable; doubling his money was no small amount.

Spending a few hundred or a thousand on fuel for the trip back and forth was acceptable.

The reason they sold to the collection ship was mainly to avoid the hassle of selling goods at the dock, as the volume was too large to consume easily.

Uncle Ding said, "At our current speed of 2 to 4 knots, we'll probably have to drag the nets twice before reaching the fishing grounds."

"That's fine. This way of working is similar to how I used to fish."

They worked while moving forward. Ye Yaodong also chatted intermittently, increasing their familiarity and relieving the boredom of working at sea.

During the fishing process, he kept his eyes on the display screen. Whenever the sonar detected red dots, he immediately steered toward them, adjusting his fishing direction and strategy.

The deeper the color, the greater the density of the fish school, and naturally, the more catch they would bring up.

The crew would also continuously monitor the position and status of the net gear to ensure the trawling proceeded smoothly.

At the same time, he kept an eye on the density. Now that they had sonar detectors, the time they spent trawling also had to be adjusted according to the density of the fish schools.

The lower the density of the fish school, the longer the trawling operation had to take to ensure enough fish were caught when the net was hauled up.

He estimated this haul took over three hours. It was probably because they hadn't reached the true deep sea yet, so it took about the same time as the Dong Sheng Hao.

In the past, the Dong Sheng Hao would haul the nets at a fixed time, and how much they caught was just a matter of luck.

But this time, he had been watching the display screen the whole time, estimating that there was enough fish to haul up the first net—it wasn't a blind box of random quantities.

When he was ready to haul the net, he also notified his workers.

Everyone immediately came out onto the deck and got busy.

"Haul the nets~"

"A net of gold, a net of silver, may Mazu bless us with a boat full of gold and silver~"

The workers shouted happily as they went to haul the nets.

Everyone always had a little more expectation for the first haul, especially on such a large fishing boat.

Ye Yaodong also wanted to see how much this ship could catch in one haul, and whether it could bring him a surprise.

The workers used the net-hauling machine and the pulley system to slowly retrieve the fishing net.

It wasn't until the fishing net surfaced that the workers connected the mast to the steel cable, which acted as a lever when hauling the fish.

The net was pulled up by connecting the poles to the machine. The mouth of the codend was full of iron rings, and a rod was passed through them to seal it.

Ye Yaodong watched the workers haul the fish from inside the wheelhouse. The principle of hauling fish on this fishing boat was about the same; it was just a matter of weight-bearing.

He watched a large bag of fish being hoisted up, and his eyes widened.

It wasn't the quantity that surprised him—he knew that the net equipped on this fishing boat could hoist about 5,000 jin—but rather that he seemed to have spotted a rare fish?

A golden, super-large fish. Even the tip of the iceberg that was exposed was enough to catch the eye.

"Opah?"

He was a bit surprised. If it was an Opah, that would be rare.

It was said that the Opah was not only beautiful but could also bring good luck.

One might not see one in a lifetime, so it carried a lot of weight.

Because of this, Ye Yaodong was surprised just by taking a glance and seeing only a part of it.

If it really was an Opah, that would be quite good.

He watched expectantly as the workers removed the pole connecting the suspended fishing net, and a large pile of white and black fish fell out.

That super-large golden fish also tumbled onto the fish hold cover with a splash.

Amidst the crowd of black and white fish, this golden giant was exceptionally eye-catching, vibrant, and colorful.

"Opah!"

This time, he was certain.

Although it was his first time catching an Opah, he knew of its reputation and what it looked like.

The Opah had a thin, exceptionally high body, a slender tail base, a forked tail fin, long, sickle-shaped pectoral fins, and a silver or golden body color.

It was said to be a lucky fish.

This time he was really sure.

Although it was his first time catching it, he knew the reputation of the moonfish, and he knew what it looked like.

The moonfish body is thin and particularly high, the tail base is slender, the tail fin is forked, the pectoral fin is slender and sickle-shaped, and the body color is silver-white or golden.

It is said that this is a lucky fish.