North Sea stalwart shares advice with the next generation

December 16, 2024

When Frank Donn blew out the candles to mark his 80^th birthday, you could be forgiven for expecting the veteran North Sea trawlerman to be looking forward to enjoying a quiet life.

Instead, he was taking just a few minutes out from his second career – teaching the next generation of seafarers the intricacies of one of the time-honoured trade.

Frank, who hit the milestone on 25 November, has no intentions of hanging up his net gauge quite yet. As an instructor at the Scottish Maritime Academy (SMA) in Peterhead for the past 16 years, he cherishes the opportunity to pass on his vast experience.

The SMA, a North East Scotland College (NESCol) centre of excellence overlooking the town’s port, is home to students from across Scotland and beyond. With courses for new recruits to the maritime industry as well as refreshers for those already active in the sector, it is a hive of activity.

Specialist bridge simulators, radio rooms and other industry standard facilities provide a hub for the fishing industry as well as shipping companies and individuals operating in everything from oil and gas and offshore renewables to transport. The latest technology is taught alongside traditional crafts. The net hall – where students learn the skills required to repair and rig fishing gear, tie knots, splice ropes and perform other deck tasks – is where Frank is most at home.

The 12-week trainee deckhand course, running three times per year, is one of the programmes Frank is involved in delivering and the progress of participants is a source of great personal and professional pride.

He said: “It’s brilliant when you see one of the students you taught when they were young getting on in their career. There are lots of good examples of that, including one who is now the skipper of a pair trawler and getting on very well. You like to see them all thriving and as long as I’m fit I’d love to carry on. It certainly keeps my mind and body active. I’m one of the lucky ones in that I’m still able at my age, a lot of fisherman have trouble with the knees and hips after so many years at work. Although I had a hip replacement last year due to arthritis, I’m still going strong. ”

The modern SMA facilities are a far cry from Frank’s earliest experiences at sea. He joined his first boat, the Easter Morn skippered by Francis Reid, as a 15-year-old. Although born in Banff and spending his early years in Crovie, Frank spent the majority of his childhood in Fraserburgh and still lives in the Broch today.

Frank recalls: “The fishing industry was a tough environment to go in to – but it was where I wanted to be. Fishing was the only job I was interested in when I was at school, I come from a family of fishermen. I was the youngest on the boat by a long stretch and there was no slacking, you knew you had to do your job. If there was a bulb fused, it was me that was sent up the mast to replace it! In saying that, they looked after me and there was a lot of common sense involved in how we went about things.”

In those early days on the line-fishing Easter Morn, Frank would spend three weeks at a time on the west coast. Mallaig became a home from home. As he grew older, and with family life in mind, he moved on to herring drifter fleet on his native east coast and eventually, as the 1970s came over the horizon, joined the white fish trawler the Harvest Reaper and spent more than five years under skipper John May.

That was the beginning of a long and rewarding relationship with what became his second family, with Frank explaining: “When John retired his son James took over as skipper and in 1975 the new Harvest Reaper was built. Our crew of five stayed together for the next 26 years, with no changes. I’ve got some great memories from that time, working and living so closely with the same group of men brings a camaraderie that’s very special. James is 89 now.”

Frank, married to Kathleen and with son Andrew and daughter Susan as well as three grandchildren, would spend up to five days at sea but was able to balance family life with his career. He said: “We never sailed on a weekend and when the fishing was good we could be out in the morning and back with a full hold the same night. Those were the really good days! There were times where we had to move to prawn fishing, but white fish was our bread and butter.”

Even after retiring from those longer trawler trips, Frank continued to work part-time on a creel boat with his son Andrew as recently as two years ago.

Alongside the happy recollections, there are poignant memories from Frank’s lengthy service in the industry.

He reflected: “My father was lost at sea when I was just eight-years-old, in the big storm of 1952, and all of us have also lost friends over the years. Working at sea is a dangerous job – you have to respect the sea and have your wits about you. The course we teach now has an excellent health and safety core to it, but we go above and beyond what’s in the course by passing on real life experiences and lessons we have learned.”

Frank joined the SMA in 2008 as an instructor and has helped to steer hundreds of new entrants to the industry as well as shaping the careers of those who already taken their first steps on their chosen career path. When asked for one piece of advice he would offer with the wisdom of his 80 years, Frank does not have to think too long.

He said: “Keep in your mind what you want to achieve and follow-up on it. Sometimes you might feel like you can’t do it, but if you really want something you have to push through the tough times. Fishing is a brilliant career if you stick at it.”

The SMA, part of NESCol, provides training across the Merchant Navy and fishing sector. The nautical centre of excellence is an approved provider for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Merchant Navy Training Board, Association of Marine Electronic and Radio Colleges, Royal Yacht Association and Seafish.