Steady as she goes: Gillnetter rebuilds the Native Sun to carry on his family's tradition in New Jersey

摘要

In a fishing career spanning more than three decades, Eric Svelling nearly lost his first big boat early on, but now has rebuilt it four times."In 29 years the boat's been alive, it's been rebuilt about every seven years," Svelling says on the dock at Lighthouse Marina in Barnegat Light, N.J.The Native Sun, a 42-foot gillnetter, embodies generations of Scandinavian-American fishing and boatbuilding experience — and the memory of Eric's late father, George Svelling, a first-generation American born in 1934 at the remote north end of Long Beach Island. In an unusual way, George is still part of the crew.