By Katherine Sutherland
THE crazy crew of a Scots prawn boat are whiling away the long hours at sea – making spoof pop videos.
Deckhand Frank Ronald and his colleagues on trawler The Caledonia strip off despite the freezing temperatures for their YouTube creations.
In their most popular production, Frank appears starkers on a red buoy pretending to be Miley Cyrus in Wrecking Ball.
In another a fellow fisherman dons seaweed for dreadlocks and an enormous chain to pose as a rapper.
The team have recently diversified into parody news and weather broadcasts – complete with a tame seagull.
The boat is based at Tarbert, Loch Fyne, which is world famous for its seafood.
Frank said: “We can be away on the boat all week, but we could be landing our catch every couple of days.
“It’s just for a bit of nonsense out in the boat, it’s a bit of a laugh when it’s quiet out on the deck. There’s not much on at this time of year.”
As well as the Miley Cyrus parody the team have produced their version of the the Avril Lavigne song Sk8er Boi. Called Skaterprawn, it features live prawns and fishermen skateboarding along deck wearing nothing but boxer shorts.
And a painstakingly choreographed dance to recent smash hit pop song “Timber”, by US artist Pitbull featuring Ke$ha, shows the lads dancing on the roof of the cabin with no land in sight.
Most of the videos feature one or all of the crew in their underwear. Frank said: “Being in your pants is the best way to report the weather. Us guys have a built-in thermometer.”
Frank, who has lived in Tarbert all of his life, posts the videos on Youtube.
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His version of “Wrecking Ball” has attracted 19, 364 views.
Frank said his family are amused by his antics, although he said: “Obviously they were a bit embarrassed. When they saw that they said they would prefer it if it wasn’t me.”
He has worked as a fisherman since he left school aged 16 and insists safety remain a priority for the crew.
He said: “You make sure it’s all safe. You are still out at sea and you can’t do too much nonsense. We can be out in some rough weather. You all need to pull together”
He recently decided to focus on parody news and weather reports, with several bulletins from the boat uploaded in the last week.
Frank and fellow deckhand Bill Macfarlane, 42, use a pile of empty fish boxes as a news desk and a wooden spoon for a microphone.
A tame seagull has interrupted several of the videos by sitting on the boxes and flapping its wings.
One report features crew members pretending to be sheep, and another shows a fisherman in yellow oilskins jumping out from under a pile of empty boxes.
Frank, who edits the films once safely back on dry land, said: “It’s a lot easier to do the news than music videos. There’s a lot more editing with a music video.
“It’s all off the cuff. It’s not rehearsed or anything. We’ll probably keep on with the news for a wee while.”
