Last sea trip of the year

(Baonghean) -Boats returned close together, their sails bustling to shore to welcome Tet after a week at sea. Hundreds of white conical hats bobbed, under the conical hats were the radiant faces of mothers and sisters. With nimble hands and hurried feet, some helped their husbands carry fish to shore, others sorted the fish into different types. In this coastal area, I also met young boat owners who dared to invest in large-horsepower vessels to go offshore, bringing high economic efficiency to their families and society...

Boat to Dien Bich wharf - Dien Chau

Dien Bich (Dien Chau) has over 200 fishing boats, over 60 of which have a capacity of 90 horsepower or more. Without a fishing port, Dien Bich people chose a river channel as a place to anchor their boats. On the last day of winter, the golden sunshine spread gently. The road down to the river wharf was bustling with vehicles and people, calling each other. Boats and ships filled the river wharf. The temperature outside was low, but the fishermen's bare backs were still tanned by the sun and wind. I met a woman about 35 years old, quickly rolling up her sleeves, scooping up handfuls of fresh green fish to weigh for the fish traders in the district. Her face was red and covered with sweat. Chairman of Dien Bich Commune People's Committee Pham Van Hung introduced to me: This is Ms. Dang Thi Thanh, wife of boat owner Pham Van Tien in Chien Thang village. Mr. Tien "dared" to borrow money to invest in a pair of 200 horsepower boats worth more than 1 billion VND. Every year, the couple earns hundreds of millions of dong from offshore trips. Hearing the introduction, Ms. Thanh smiled, wiped her sweat, and said excitedly: "That's Mr. Tien's encouragement to my husband and me, because in our commune there are many big bosses who bought big ships worth billions of dong many years before my husband and I." I asked her: "So how much income will this last trip of the year bring?" At this time, Ms. Thanh had finished weighing the fish for the traders, turned to quickly fanning and grilling the fish, and replied: "This trip caught 7 tons of various types of fish. That's lucky. Catching a lot of fish, I was so excited that I forgot all my fatigue."

Mr. Pham Van Tien, Ms. Thanh's husband, has tanned skin and a strong body. I wonder if it's because he went through so many hardships in his youth that he looks tougher than his 40 years, or if it's the same for all fishermen in the fishing village? He happily joined in the conversation, his voice booming, very typical of the fishermen who "eat the waves and talk to the wind": "That last fishing trip of the year is lucky. If you had listened to your mother that day, then...". Then turning to us, he explained: "My mother told us to wait until the cold air passes before going, it's very cold out at sea." The five brothers on the boat thought differently: "Who knows, the sky and the sea will love us so that the last trip of the old year will be a big success." Moreover, everyone in the village was busy preparing things for their husbands and children, placing all their faith in the last fishing trip of the year to make Tet more prosperous. Having said that, seeing that her husband was determined, my wife did not argue further, hurriedly prepared vegetables, rice, salt, new nets... and the squids carried water and ice onto the boat. It was indeed very cold these past few days. After going out to sea for a few nautical miles, my brothers and I were shivering with cold. But we were used to it. Those seafarers said, "My boat goes out to sea, no matter the rain or shine."

This trip was only 7 days (2 to 3 days shorter than the other trips), but Mr. Tien's boat caught a fish school, so he brought back nearly 7 tons of fish. He boasted that many other boats were as lucky as his. Everyone on this trip was very excited. I asked: "Do you remember your first trip to the sea?" While busily cleaning the boat, he confided: "The seafaring career has been in me since I was very young. I remember when I was only 4 years old, I followed my grandfather down to the boat to ask to go to sea. He only laughed about children's stories, but sometimes he still let me go down to the boat to play. One day, my grandfather and father were preparing the gear for the trip, I insisted: "I want to learn how to fish from my grandfather so that later I can buy my own big boat and hire a fishing partner, unlike my grandfather and father who go fishing for hire."

At that time, perhaps the excitement of going to sea was also due to... curiosity. And I was also very brave. When I was 5 years old, one day, also on the last voyage of the year, I secretly hid in the hold of Captain Hung's boat. I stood still there, until the boat had turned the waves for quite a while. I looked out to sea and saw that it was starting to get dark before I dared to step out and admit my mistake. I was mentally prepared to be scolded and punished, but unexpectedly the whole boat clapped their hands in welcome. That trip was also a great victory for the boat. Everyone went home very excited, saying that perhaps the little boy's sea luck was also good. "So aren't you worried that everyone at home is eagerly looking for you?" I asked. Mr. Tien laughed: At that time, I beckoned to my sister: When the boat starts, tell your mother, when I have money from my grandfather's New Year's gift, I will let you buy some balloons." Mr. Tien's first voyage turned out like that!

Before officially becoming a fisherman, Mr. Tien spent several years working in coffee in the South to contribute capital to his dream of returning to the sea with a ship. How much sun and wind, how much hardship, working until forgetting to eat, forgetting to sleep in the middle of the vast coffee plantation to think about a ship of his own. Returning to his hometown, at first, the brothers bought a small boat together but found it ineffective, there were trips that were unprofitable, and there was a shortage of fuel money. So Mr. Tien boldly discussed with his wife about borrowing money to build a large ship worth billions of dong. His wife worried: "Borrowing so much, when will I be able to pay off all the debt?": But he still decided to borrow from banks, brothers and friends to build a ship to stay at sea and go to sea. Now, with a pair of large ships, each year he earns about 200 to 300 million dong in profit from his trips to the sea, in addition to creating conditions for 5 workers who are his uncles and aunts to participate, giving him a stable income of 3 to 4 million dong per person per trip.

While we were chatting happily, Ms. Thanh had finished fanning several baskets of grilled fish. She put each type of fish away separately and said to her husband: "We will offer this fish to our ancestors on the afternoon of the 30th and during the Tet holidays. We will bring this fish to Vinh tomorrow morning to give to the ladies. And this fish is what people ordered for Tet."

Saying goodbye to Mr. Tien and Ms. Thanh, I followed the hurried crowd, carrying a heavy pole loaded with fresh fish on my shoulder, up to the riverbank, where it was bustling with buyers and sellers. Mr. Hoang Van Liem, a young boat owner just 30 years old in Bac Chien Thang hamlet, also shared the same joy as Mr. Tien, excitedly boasting: "The last trip of the year like this is God's mercy on the fishermen of the coastal village. At first, we saw the monsoon, then the cold, more than ten days left until the end of the old year, staying at home for a long time was also impatient, we decided to brave the cold...". Mr. Liem's ​​boat also harvested over 7 tons of fish. Standing at the riverbank for a while, his phone rang continuously. He explained: “When the ship returned, people kept asking to buy and placing orders for fish. 7 tons of fish, but the “orders” were all booked for the silver carp and silver carp. There were only a few fish left that had not been grilled yet. It is known that at the end of the year, buying and selling is also very open. The sellers are “open-minded”, but the buyers rarely bargain. Mr. Liem said that on the sea trips at the end of last year, ships and boats returning to Lach Van often ran aground and could not enter, so each one returned to Cua Lo. Some boats sold fish right at Cua Lo, the rest transported fish back to sell according to pre-arranged arrangements, which was a bit of work but had to be accepted, so people say “going to sea has its turn”. This year, luckily, the tide was favorable. The boat arrived all the way to Dien Bich river wharf.

Mr. Pham Van Hung added: With over 200 ships and boats, the annual output is 7,000-8,000 tons, the total revenue from fish in a year of the whole commune is over 100 billion VND. Having those numbers is also thanks to fishermen being confident in sticking to the sea, boldly investing in large capacity ships to go offshore. Most families with large capacity ships also earn profits of several hundred million VND each year. Poor, desolate fishing villages are just... a thing of the past.

Going out to sea, being brave like that, "eating waves, talking to the wind" like that, but the Dien Bich people live together with love, still following the traditional village customs of many generations. They say to each other: The village is small but the love between people is not small. Even though every family goes to sea, at the end of the year they still give each other the blessings of the sea, which are the best fish. Then they gather together to wrap and cook banh chung, when the cakes are cooked, the New Year's Eve begins!

Thu Huong