Last modified on Fri 7 May 2021 00.26 EDT
Dawn was still four hours away and the small Normandy port of Carteret was alive, some boats hurriedly unloading their catch for a rapid turnaround, others turning on their lights and firing up their engines for the first time that night.
Minutes after 3am on Thursday they had left the quayside and, in pitch darkness and a gentle swell, were pushing smartly out to sea to join a growing armada of 60-odd boats from Cherbourg right the way round to St-Malo.
Ringing in their ears were the words of David Sellam, from the Caen office of Franceâs inter-regional maritime directorate, who had told them at a fiery impromptu meeting in Granville market on Monday that they were up against âpeople of ill-willâ.