Kudos to our Search & Rescue crews who are there when we need them most.

Incredible footage captured this morning as a HM Coastguard winchman boards a heaving fishing boat in rough seas to rescue an unwell crewman.

HM Coastguard received the call for help this morning just after 7.30am reporting an unwell crewman onboard the vessel, 50nm south east of Sumburgh, who needed urgent assistance.

The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Sumburgh flew to the vessel and on arrival it took several minutes for the winchman to land as the seas rocked the vessel from side to side.

Once onboard the winchman quickly winches the crewman into the helicopter where he was taken to Lerwick for onward transfer to hospital by the ambulance service.

From Russia with love - well, Gdansk.

The Russian trawler, Nivenskoye from the Kalingrad based Fishing Company has steamed from Gdansk and is now heading south west off Cornwall to a destination unknown. Once the vessel is out of range of the shore-based AIS antennas the vessel's track can only be followed via satellite...

meanwhile, one of the world's most powerful tugs, the Abeille Bourbon has left her berth in Brest and is anchored in the lee of Ushant - presumably waiting on station in the event of any emergency cover that might occur as the severe storms predicted lash the western shipping...

she can be seen here showing off her huge power and sea-keeping abilities in this poor weather video.

Work in progress, day two.

The sky and early morning clouds get sketched in before giving the sea some shape and depth...

by roughing out each of the heavy seas  as they pass under her including the crest of the swell that the boat is just dropping down from.

New work in progress - sketching out and underpainting

Charcoal sketch on 30" x 20" primed canvas...

with maybe too much detail gone in on the boat, hard to spot are the two crew holding on to the rail just foreside of the hauler hatch...

trying to capture one of our netting fleet enjoying a not-so-comfortable day at the office away west of the Scillys.

More progress - the boat is now more recognisable as the Newlyn hake netter, Ajax!

The foreground waves need more work to help convey the power and relentless motion...

experienced by boats in heavy weather...

and as the sky is hugely dull there should be little in the way of contrast between the darkest and lightest areas...
 

of the waves in the foreground.

Work in progress...

Beginning to pick out detail in and around wheelhouse and stern of the boat...

and a little more on the water action as she takes another heavy sea...

changing the angle of the photo...

heavy seas are always a challenge to give the scene sufficient depth.