Frustration becomes Inspiration

block boxes of frozen bait wait on the quay for the dom Bosc....
the first clear sky for some time makes perfect evening for a launch party.....
as the latest boat to enter the Newlyn fleet arrives on the back of a trailor, Cap'n Keast's latest mobile harbour fish box in front.....
the aptly named, Inspiration, a nine month project finally sees the boat about to enter the water....
with a helping hand from Dick Ede who will take command once her engine has been fitted.....
owner, Nick Howell, in a previous life, local fish merchant and more latterly owner of the Pilchard Museum has had the boat commissioned to fish for line caught mackerel, squid and lobsters - the shellfish being targeted with withy pots made the traditional way.......
all hands give the punt a lift.....
and pretty as a picture she looks in the evening glow.....
pleasant enough while two men in a boat, Nick and chief carpenter Cap'n Keast wait for the incoming tide to lift her off the trailor.....
just about to float with some additional ballast in the stern.....
then, once afloat, she inevitably takes water - usual for a boat that has been allowed to dry out on land - eventually the timbers should swell and fill any gaps between the planks.....

Watch a short video of the whole affair -

Lyonnesse lands over 11 tons of Cornish Sardines

Sowenna up on the slip, not the best place for a netter to be on the first day of a neap tide (netters cannot work over spring tides as the nets get laid down by the speed of the water and do not 'fish' well).....
Mr Turner holding court and being the harbour tour guide for the morning on the day that the....
latest addition to the fleet, the Lyonnesse bagged over 10 tons of Cornish Sardines which she seems to carry well in the insulated FalFish tubs...
her deck crane, used at sea to handle the ring-net, acts as cranning pole to get the fish ashore to be iced.....
'ansome Sam passes up a stray sardine on the deck on his way back to the hydraulic arm controls
and sorted by crew member Barry Chivers.....
even at this state of the tide the crane will reach the quayside....
two up-and-coming fishermen get to give the old man a hand.....
by supervising the landing.......
a mix of ice and water keep the sardines in tip-top condition, all we need now is some sunshine to warrant firing up the charcoal......

....a sure favourite for the BBQ at this time of year!

watch the landing in progress from the deck of the Lyonnesse.

Blue in red out

Over in Penzance wet dock the Admiral Gordon has been attacked by the scaffolding company for a paint-up.....
no shortage of construction work on the islands it seems, bags of sand and gravel limed up on the dockside waiting to go aboard the supply ship....
Gry Maritha has her ends let go and makes her way in through the gaps.....
after being given a green light to go ahead.....
looks like the pubs are expecting to be busy....
she went into the dock pale blue and, unusually for a fishing boat, has now been given a new hull colour....
her old owner's bboat the Ajax also has a slightly different hull colour.....
Carol H about to enter the gaps for the first time in her new colours on the way to pick up 10 tons of ice......
with young Nathan fancying himself as the Cornish Leonardo de Caprio!......
high water on a big spring tide always attracts a bevvy of anglers down the back of the North Quay trying their luck.

First time visitor from Lorient

Forced into Newlyn with hydraulic problems, the Edilma from Lorient is a first-time visitor to the port. Once underway she will be heading off to the Jones' Bank, west side of the Scillies to fish for langoustine - she, like many of the Breton prawn boats, still works wooden trawl doors - the footrope and net is lighter than is used for bottom trawls to chase whitefish.....
despite the heavy outbursts of Cornish sunshine (that's a euphemism for mizzle, which is a mix of mist and drizzle), the George Johannes has a side of gear to repair...
so it's time to stitch the flip-up rope....good to see Fergie back at sea again!....
there's a few hours work to do yet - the trawl will need some tlc where it is joined to the fishing line looking at the ragged reinforced meshes here.....
all under the watchful eye of Nigel 'Rockets' Richards.....
there is plenty of new bits gone into the trawl already it seems.....
from far flung Falmouth way, Ocean Engineering are down the quay on a job....
Hilary Lister's boat is back ready to go in the water - the cockpit style seat can clearly be seen from this angle.

Running repairs

BM 362 in for the first time in a while.....the Vanduck makes an landing of scallops to the back of a FalFish lorry....
a nice touch on the Alison Kay, the initials of the individual shareholders are displayed on a plaque around the bow.....
clearly visible here is the woven structure of Hilary Lister's Artemis the carbon fibre hull - now showing some damage - judging by the angle the damage was not done on passage.....
view looking for'ard in the cockpit of Hilary Lister's boat, with the pneumatic 'suck and puff' system that allows her to control almost every aspect of the boat when underway.

There's a new girl in town....

With all this rain and warmth providing ideal growing conditions and before she turned completely green with algae, the Dom Bosco is getting a fresh lick of company colours with plenty of white paint....
the algae is not so obvious aboard the Pen Y Glas as she lands to the continental vivier lorry.....
Here's the new girl, and she's in a port as far-away from home as you can get - Alison Kay, top whitefish trawl boat from the Shetlands will be working from Newlyn for the next three weeks on twin-rig trials....
a few interested words are exchanged between the visitors and ex-beamer skipper (Girl Pat III) Roger Thomas - the Alison Kay will be trialling twin-rigging over traditional summer beamer grounds to target megrim and other quality fish.....
but not before the Caterpillar man has been down to sort a water pump problem on her 1000hp main engine.......
in the background, two local beamers make a match for the twin-rig gear here seen on the net drums with their very heavy rockhopper footrope....
and of course, one Scot can't pass up the opportunity to talk shop with another, Jacoba skipper Robbie (laying ahead) hops ashore after a guided tour.....
here's the last thing the megs will see as they head towards the business end of the boat.....
a full view of the trawl deck on the Alison Kay - if you are out and about in newlyn - epxect to see her back in port next Monday.

A hard day's sail for round Britain yachtswoman, Hilary Lister

The Mojo is being kept busy working over the weekend carrying out a seabed core survey in and around the entrance of Penzance harbour for the proposed extensions.....
she's one tough lady is Hilary Lister, having left Mevagissey at 9.30 on Saturday morning she fought the prevailing sou'westerly breeze throughout the day on her way to Newlyn. There was every intention of catching a shot of her as she came through the gaps - but as she eventually made it to Newlyn at just gone midnight it was not to be! Reckon she will need a few days rest after what must have been a very uncomfortable trip with the wind on the nose for much of the way!....
the dive charter boat Mair has paid us another visit.....
not often seen, a heavy duty aluminium hulled yacht of serious proportions is on a pontoon berth.