The fishing fleets keep to the sea in winter as well as in summer, and
it is a hard life indeed when decks and rigging are covered with ice,
and fierce north winds blow the snow down, and the cold is bitter
enough to freeze a man's very blood. Seas run high and rough, which is
always the case in shallow waters, and great rollers sweep over the
decks of the little craft, which of necessity have small draft and low
freeboard.

The fishing fleets were like large villages on the sea. At the time of
which we write, and it may be so to this day, fast vessels came daily
to collect the fish they caught and to take the catch to market. Once
in every three months a vessel was permitted to return to its home
port for rest and necessary re-fitting, and then the men of her crew
were allowed one day ashore for each week they had spent at sea. Now
and again there came to the hospital sick or injured men returned from
the fleet on these home-coming vessels.

When Grenfell passed his final examinations in 1886, and was admitted
to the College of Physicians and Royal College of Surgeons of England,
Sir Frederick Treves suggested that he visit the North Sea fishing
fleets and lend his service to the fishermen for a time before
entering upon private practice. The great surgeon, himself a lover of
the sea and acquainted with Grenfell's inclinations toward an active
outdoor life, was also aware that Grenfell was a good sailor.

"Don't go in summer," admonished Sir Frederick. "Go in winter when you
can see the life of the men at its hardest and when they have the
greatest need of a doctor. Anyhow you'll have some rugged days at sea
if you go in winter."