But Newlyn fishermen catch up with him in Penzance Dock!

In Penzance dock, fisheries minister Johnathon Shaw is keen to discuss how new proposals would affect the angling fraternity....
when THAT pair of yellow wellies puts in an appearance on the dockside....
and 'Grimmy' Mike gets his point across about the amount of haddock he is catching and being forced to dump. 'Grimmy' tells the minister that his first haul this year saw him catch his January quota in one haul - and he's been unable to avoid catching haddock ever since forcing him to dump tons of perfectly good fish on a daily basis....
fellow Danmark skipper, Jeremy shows the minister his dumping figures to reinforce the point. The minister then walked down the quay chatting to anglers about the proposals.

Fisheries minister Jonathon Shaw visits Newlyn - on the quiet

Taking ice, the George Johannes makes an early start....
plenty of cuttles on the market this morning, a bit like fisheries minister Jonathon Shaw, nobody knew they were coming....
crew Jo Crow heads off to the market fridge with a weekend landing from young Roger Nowell's Imogen....
over in the Mission, the disgruntled owner of these yellow wellies bemoans the fact that an opportunity to have a dialogue with Jonathon Shaw has been missed, "why weren't we told?" quoth he.....
berthed at the end of the new quay obviously the boys on the St Piran were in the know as their skipper enjoyed a breakfast with the ministerial entourage..
in the next berth, some serious gear repairs are the order of the day aboard the St George.....
with Perry supervising the fitting of a new set of wheels on the beam under the watchful eye of skipper Billy Worth.....
fresh off the slip and afloat on the end pontoon berth, the Cathryn comes under careful scrutiny from skipper Edwin and a few concerned onlookers.....
she has been replaced by the IOS St Mary's Severn Class Whiteheads.

All aboard the Valhalla!

After two days solid mending the Jackson scraper trawl, all 91ft on the footrope, is at last back where it should be, in the stern of the Valhalla.....
must be a sign that says 'please remove you boots before entering' somewhere....
Sea Spray has some serious GRP work going on down below in her fishroom....
one of the vessels supplying fish to brand new fish restaurant, Tom's Place in London, the CKS makes her way to the fuel berth.....
and don't the boys look smart in their team CKS overalls....

old boat's name board in workshop window.....
driftwood pub sign for the Dock Inn, Penzance......

both the Lady Vista and the
Terramere I have now left the dry dock in Penzance....
which will be prepared for the next job.....
table flower decoration in the PZGallery makes an interesting still-life study......

the Bag o' Rags, as she was always referred to when skipper Chris Hill was in command, has just had a lick of paint
Grimmy Mike is spotted in the wet dock, Penzance, she too had a paint job recently though its not so easy to tell!

Developments in Penzance

After years of waiting, the disused building at the back of the dry dock basin in Penzance is finally being developed - offices and a roof terrace are amongst the planned additions to this classic granite harbour building...
against the harbour wall the remains of steps run up towards the Abbey Hotel...
over in Newlyn, the Orion Gallery has new piece of installation art out front - or is it just the stores for the building work in progress.......
to prevent the memorial being washed away by heavy seas?
on the quay, W&S fleet boss Andy discusses the future of the Filadelfia, bound away today after a four month lay-up....
Over on the new quay another early start for the Valhalla boys as the trawl gets cut from the footrope...
and Colin's mending needle flashes like the blade of Zorro across the stocking....
a familiar figure, complete with harbour box, in the shape of Cap'n Keast makes his way down the north quay....
Elizabeth Veronique makes her way to the ice works....
also in the early morning sun, a couple of twitchers are spotted.............twitching...
over on the slip the Cathryn .......
has undergone some intensive surgery for the medical equivalent of a 'prolapse', after losing some internal support her bottom has successfully been restored to its former position - Edwin will have to treat her gently in the coming weeks when she gets back to work.

A bellyfull of laughs - not!

8am and Colin and co on the Valhalla are busy cutting out their damaged Jackson scraper trawl....
on the Sapphire the gear is up and the needles are out too.....
by 8.30am the market is deserted........
at the iceworks a little ongoing maintenance is underway.....
and by 6pm, Colin and co have worked their way down through the belly and stocking having shot in whole section of trawl, all in a days work and of course what makes trawling such fun!

Over the tide

Sowenna waits at the end of the quay for the next neap....
Crystal Sea waits under the ice works....
The sky matches the fleet colour of the Rowse crabbers.

Hull remembers the worst three weeks in its long Fishing history

Many of the beamer fleet are in but the forecast is looking good - for a short patch....
the Nellie will be keen to get underway later today...
so for some, it's an early stroll down the to the boat before sailing...
as the sun comes up the JTS reveals her missing foremast....
some hi-tech row-locks are evident aboard the Row4Home Scilly Boys challenge
yet the oars look as though they are made of more traditional, tried and tested materials! I'd be looking at sheepskin for the seat covers knowing how vinyl seat covers fall to bits in wheelhouse chairs!

Today, Hessle Road in Hull became the focus of attention as thousands of people poured on to the road and stopped the traffic as the city gave up one minutes silence in memory of the 58 fishermen who lost their lives 40 years ago. The events, in what became known as the, 'triple trawler tragedy', made international news. One of the BBC video clips captures the strength of feeling with the women of Hull who were instrumental in making the changes that were to be introduced by way of improved communication and safety for the distant water fleet at the time. Sadly, even today, too many boats go down where mandatory safety devices fail, eg Margaretha Maria (see the 5th paragraph).