Most of the Icelandic crews were composed of sailors from the nearby coast and from the Belgian coast. There were between 18 and 20 members of the crew, working in two shifts.
The lack of fishermen was a serious concern for ship-owners. Some years, more than 2,000 men were needed to crew the ships.
Very often the members of a crew were relatives; they embarked with their father, their brother or their cousin. It was not unusual for a sailor to take with him his ten-year old son as a ship’s boy.
A fisherman wearing an oilskin and sou'wester, holding his fishing line. Photo: Port Museum Collection.
The Reverend Servaes, director of the FaskrudsfjordHome, on the deck of a schooner in 1912. Photo: Oeuvres de mer.