November AHA! Night: Casting A Wider Net Exhibit Opening
Thursday, November 14 | 6-8 PM | Fishing Heritage Center | Free
November Dock-u-mentary: Last Season: Portrait of a Trawler
Friday, November 15 | 7:00 PM | New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (33 William Street) | Free
Join us for our next Dock-umentary film screening! Hosted in partnership with New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, Dock-u-mentaries is a free film series that explores themes and topics related to the commercial fishing industry and the working waterfront.
On Friday, November 15, we will be screening the documentary film Last Season: Portrait of a Trawler. Last Season is a portrait of the groundfish trawler Isabel S. from New Bedford, MA. Jeff, the captain, learned fishing from his father, local legend ‘Fearless Freddy’ Hatfield. Brian, the cook, is a biker and a recovering alcoholic. Lo, the deckhand, is a refugee from Vietnam who has rediscovered Buddhism. We accompany them to the once-ample fishing areas of Georges Bank and the Nantucket Shoals, where they haul in nets, and do the backbreaking and bloody work of hand-cutting thousands of pounds of cod and other fish on a pitching trawl deck. The boat is revealed as a social microcosm. Captain Jeff, the son of an esteemed local captain, is at the top of the order, and Lo, who arrived in the U.S. after a harrowing escape from a Viet Cong jail, is at the bottom. Fishing is a complicated and sometimes deadly business. Detailed knowledge of the ocean floor and the habits of fish is crucial to success. But, as Captain Jeff acknowledges as the Isabel S. returns with its catch, “Sometimes a lot of it is a little luck”. Total runtime: 28 minutes
Click Here to Register for Free
December AHA! Night: Season’s Greetings from FHC
Thursday, December 12 | 5:00-7:00 PM | Fishing Heritage Center | Free
Season’s greetings from the Fishing Heritage Center! Stop by the Center from 5pm to 7pm to decorate scallop shells (perfect for holiday ornaments) and enjoy free hot chocolate. Then, do some last minute holiday shopping in our gift shop, which features wonderful items including clothing, books, jewelry, and more. As always, admission to the Center is free for AHA! Night.
December Dock-u-mentary: Charlotte: A Wooden Boat Story
Friday, December 20 | 7:00 PM | New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (33 William Street) | Free
Join us for our next Dock-umentary film screening! Hosted in partnership with New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, Dock-u-mentaries is a free film series that explores themes and topics related to the commercial fishing industry and the working waterfront.
On December 20, FHC will be screening Charlotte: A Wooden Boat Story. Charlotte is a film about an extraordinary boatyard, the Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway, located on Martha’s Vineyard. Ross Gannon and Nat Benjamin established the boatyard in 1980 with the purpose of designing, building, and maintaining traditionally built wooden boats, and in the process they transformed Vineyard Haven harbor into a mecca for wooden boat owners and enthusiasts. After a long career of designing and constructing boats for others, Nat embarks on building a 50 foot gaff rigged schooner for use by his family and friends – her name is Charlotte. Through close observation of the everyday activities of the boatyard, the film emerges as a meditation on tradition, craftsmanship, family, community, our relationship to nature, and love of the sea. Total runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes