Saturday 2 July 2022

Sensational Sea, Salt's & Sail Saturday.

With Mousehole being a tidal harbour the fleet of visiting classic yachts and workboats attending Mousehole's Sea, Salt's & Sail festival are all at anchor off the harbour gaps...


as high water nears some of the fleet raise their sails and treat the festival goers to the sight of gaff and lug rigged boats under full sail...


though the Anny of Charlestown, in the foreground, remains at anchor...


as the parade of boats increases...


passing between the shore...


and St Clement's Isle, the Barnabas in hot pursuit...


with the Eileen being chased down by Gladys, built in 1901 on the Isle of man...


all make a close pass to the Amy...


before heading off towards Penzance...


leaving the crowds in Mousehole...


to enjoy a sunny day on the beach...



great to see the Gleaner back again...


as young and old enjoyed the festival delights on offer in the inner harbour...


back in the day, diners seated in the restaurant overlooking the harbour staying in the Lobster Pot hotel would have been treated to ringside seats, well worth keeping an eye open for is the book, "A small Cornish Hotel" which recalls the days when the Lobster Pot was frequented by many rich and famous guests, including Dylan Thomas, under the ownership of Major Kelly, his wife Cinders and who could forget manageress Kate, sister of actor Kenneth Moore...


the banners are out...


and the sharks too...


engineless Guide Me, an SSS regular, rows her way into a berth amply demonstrating how things were done back when these working boats relied on sail-power alone...


another relic of the past...


sculling, using a single oar over the stern of the boat, was the preferred means of power when moving punts around to ferry people of stores...


for some it's time for a beer or two...


as the crowd enjoys the sight of more boats being brought into the harbour and the sculling competition gets under way...


though this competitor seems to be having trouble making a good course...


alongside master sculler, St Ives Jumbo boatbuilder and all-round working boat maestro, Johnny Nance who makes it look so easy...


no traditional working boat festival would be complete without a Breton presence...


Mounts Bay Luggers Association's Happy Return plays quay boat...


as the sun goes down the music stage crowd gets larger and the drinks begin to flow...


and the enormously foot-tappingly-contagious Afro-Celtic fusion band, the Trojans, played a storming set to close Saturday's festivities.