Some sunny Saturdays seems so serene

Chloe T slowly steaming, she slips past the stationary tug Anglian Princess sitting safely at anchor......
it's a tight squeeze for the driver who must so look forward delivering to the Co-op every Saturday morning.....
not for girls - for you real men out there who use charcoal and not bottled gas - this IS the Rolls-Royce of charcoal - known local suppliers are Wyevale Garden Centres - takes at least an hour before the coals are white and ready to cook on - one helping will last you all night....
an interesting handmade weathervane is just one of the pieces on sale at Badcock Gallery's early summer showing.....
the Algrie has yet to get her prop back in place....
ex-local fishing vessel, the Meiz Creiz - a highly successful crabber in her day and sailed on for a season by none other than Newlyn's own harbour master, Andrew Munson, working mainly off the Scillies - is now a live-aboard in PZ wet dock....
if you fancy a sea-angling trip out on the wrecks then these are the guys to book with - Viking Charters or Bite Adventures...
David Pascoe's Little Pearl is having a major makeover with tanks being fitted for the Cornish Sardine season......
you work it out.........
good to see the Dry Dock still has jobs on its books, here the small coaster Boisterous is getting a hull job.....
half-water off the end of the North Quay and a measure of local water clarity - good news for the local divers....
early morning and the inshore day-hauling trawlers make their way out to the grounds.....
visiting Girl Debra shines in the early morning glow....

and the Crystal Sea II is back after her eventful last trip.

Leven Mor sinks - all rescued safely.

Seems there is no let up for the industry, this time the Foey registered Leven Mor has gone down off Mounts Bay. All hands were picked up safely by a Culdrose rescue helicopter and taken to Treliske Hospital.

The Leven Mor was featured just the other day on this blog for his colourful wheelhouse!

First-time visitor from Brixham, the trawler Girl Debra.

Dr Smart had these iron steps made in order to allow access to the loft above the fish processing store - then a neighbour rightly objected to the foot of the steps protruding into the roadway - out with the oxy-torch and a little impromptu smithying soon had that fixed - hence the odd step configuration!....
E444, Girl Debra has just taken fuel after deciding to land in Newlyn rather than steam 12 hours back to her home port of Brixham. These days boats are looking at every means to cut uneccessary steaming when they, 'travel to work'.....
just to make things difficult, another stern trawler, the Defiant had to be moved outside so that the Girl Debra could come alongside the end of the new quay for the waiting transport.....
regular maintenance on the shoes of a beam trawl includes welding 1" (that's 25mm or 2.5cm) blocks of steel to the bottom of the shoes....
a gaggle of yachts on the pontoon berths is the norm these days....
and, as ever in the early evening, the crew and possibly a few new neighbours join one another in the cockpit for a chinwag and brew - just like fishermen really only they get to do it every week of the year for free as it were - call it one of the perks of the job!....
the transport for the girl Debra's fish has arrived and gets the thumbs up as the driver reverses to the end of the quay.....

the floating pontoon used mainly to allow the painting of hulls has had a major refit and is now rebuilt and growth free.

Crystal suffers twice out to sea - what we miss in the port!

Biggest and most successful of local trawlers, Crystal Sea II has suffered this week at sea. First off one of the crew managed to lose the tops of his fingers after getting them crushed (traditionally known as 'trawlermen's rash') - the helicopter airlifted the casualty ashore to hospital. Then, after making the decision to carry on fishing the boat ended up with a rope in the prop and had to be towed in to St Marys in the Scillies. However, the harbourmaster was concerned that she drew too much to risk going alongside the quay which made the diver's job of releasing the melted rope from around her prop an arduous and time-consuming task.

You can read all about these incidents and more from a third party's perspective on a survey vessel working on the Jones' Bank, west of the islands. The bank is a favourite haunt of Breton prawn trawlers so expect there to be plenty of sightings for them! As it was, the survey vessel RRS James Cook was involved in both incidents. The Crystal Sea II has been commissioned to fish within a designated area alongside the James Cook so that the scientists aboard can identify the species of fish they have been recording on their fish-meters and sonar equipent..

Hot off the press!

With turbulent times for all sorts of commodities, be they oil or fresh-fish markets, there are comments coming from all directions on the state of play in the industry. Check out the ever-outspoken Quentin's blog on the Cornish Tuna site and, for an interesting peek at what the Spaniards were doing years ago, see Kevin Bennet's blog (think Consol Oils)!

Tea-up and time for tuna trip three!

No panic! says Quentin as he grabs a bacon buttie before heading off to the Nova Spero for their third tuna trip.....
still flying her mizzen sail, the Ben My Chree was bought many years ago from the Breton port of St Guenole - they disovered a full set of sails in her forepeak - bet they wish they had them now to help cut the cost of steaming - which is what the sails were for - the then Breton, Gloria Maris fished for tuna with poles just as the Nova Spero is today and would start the tuna season with a seven day steam down off the Azores!......
and here's her shot of hake on the relatively quiet market......
for the second time this year, young Charlie is caught working......
back on the Nova the boys are waiting aptiently for Quentin to finish his buttie and yarning.....
here's happy skipper Shaun about to leave for the tuna grounds....
but not before studying the latest sea temperature printouts for the Bay of Biscay.....
over on the slip, harbourmaster Andrew Munson keeps a careful eye on the Algrie as she is placed carefully in the cradle....

with their own personal fly-past organised, the Nova Spero heads off into the rising sun.

Tall ships and top tables

You pays yer money and takes yer choice - to buy or to let, that is the question for anyone looking at investing in the stunning looking Abbey Wharehouse development in Penzance Harbour.....
and what striking scenes you would have to look out over each morning and evening....
there's a change of colour for the Seaking in the dry dock....
over in Newlyn, a pair of young gulls wait patiently for their supper....
as they are passed up by Dennis and son Andrew after an evening on the mackerel.....
has added some silver paint while she's laid up......
open for the first time this week, The Bistro, a new eatery in Newlyn openly celebrating the raison d'etre for the port - with a seafood menu.....
with several local successful restaurants behind him, chef Kevin Handley at the helm is sure to fill expectant foodies with fine fayre....
in bright and cheerful surroundings of what was for many years, Barry the Butchers on the Bridge.....
the Mount's Bay Lugger Association's Happy Return always evokes memories of days gone by when there were hundreds of these boats working in the Bay......
a new stocking gets stitched on to one of Ocean Spirit's nets.....
more tall ship activity as the resident local charter vessel Ruth is passed by a three masted barque......
here's a happier man aboard the Valhalla having made the first trip with a brand new Cat main engine providing the power.....
to put ashore another high quality trip from local grounds....
the stem of the Intuition looks all the better for her bottom scrub, weed grows very quickly at this time of year and can take several knots of the speed of the boat if left to grow too long......

another inshore boat heads for the market after a day trip, the Roannah....

Points of view

Mr Johnson Jnr cranes pallets back aboard the Jacoba after making her first landing of scallops to Newlyn this season.....
with fuel prices as they are its important that these dredges don't miss anything....
aboard the Lyonnesse, probably the smallest vessel in the UK fleet to sport a powerblock more normally associated with large pursers.......
a gaggle of gulls of all ages scour the quay for scraps...
it's around 7pm and the Scillionian, passing up a gaggle of local yachts in their Monday evening race, heads for the gaps in Penzance harbour after her day in Scilly....
a good combination, ice and fresh fish.......
stern view of the Lyonnesse and her large ring-net....
singing fisherman, Twinkle makes his way in through the gaps on the Two Boys.....
and if you are in town, here's the latest exhibition showing at the Orion Gallery......

with the ever-watchful Tom on his pedastel as the sun goes down.

Holiday reading of sorts

Hot off the press from the author (Mark Kurlansky) who brought us the enlightening tale of Cod, the history of the fish that changed the World, comes another thought provoking title, The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Our Disappearing Fisheries.

While fishermen tend to go on the defensive whenever conservation, the "Greens" or anything remotely environmental is mentioned, this latest book to hit the shops makes salutory reading - in the same way the current sharp rise in the cost of fuel has brought home to every household just how precious the natural resources of the planet are and the need to manage them. Reads like this are not good for getting off to a comforting night's sleep for anyone involved in the industry but should help to focus minds on how best to make way in the future.

Cornish Tuna boys' second landing

Time to wash down the decks on the Nova Spero after landing her second tuna trip to the FalFish and M&J Seafoods.....
Quentin, tuna-meister aboard the Nova Spero is happy to be back with over 1000 fish - Richard Ansell, the man from M&J, he say yes!
out in the Bay there is a jack-up rig anchored up....
while down the end of the New Quay, the Charisma puts her second trip of tuna aboard the waiting Falfish wagon....
good to see an old lifeboat still in service and making the rounds.....
catch of the day, brown crab from the Dom Bosco swing their way into the waiting viver lorry under the supervsion of Emma on the quay...
as the big tide passes, the Harvest Reaper heads for the netting grounds....
while the Charisma lands, the CKS passes by on her way up the harbour....

for these big tractor units, the private operators must be feeling the affect of fuel costs every bit as much as the boats.