Penzance pirate comes ashore

There's some major gear overhaulin' going on at the end of the Calisha's derrick....
and a stack of new dredges waiting on the quayside....
some say this is the sign of the mad axe man of Penzance, others just say, "Hi Jeremy"....
the 'Pirate of Penzance' is on the dockside for some annual TLC below the waterline...
over the other side of the dock is the barge recently towed to the harbour.

Diving charter ready to sail

A fresh gaggle (not sure what the collective noun is) of divers make ready to sail for a week at sea off the Scillies on the ex-Jersey beamer, Evert Martje...
New wheels welded up aboard the Sapphire are ready to roll...
while the St Geoge still has scaffolding around the funnel and rigging, gone are the days of guys hanging by their fingertips, paint pot and brush gripped firmly between their teeth!.....
PZ85's paint job is beginning to brighten up the end of the quay on an otherwise dull day...
back to his berth on the pontoons heads Mr Thomas after an afternoon on the mackerel....
on the Imogen, Roger Nowell Jnr, lands a quality trip of trawl fish to the waiting Iceberg lorry before it gets sold on Plymouth market....
another mackerel punt passes as the Crystal Sea II makes her way up the harbour.....
and into the ice berth.....
there's always time for a cuppa on the Cornishman...
more holes appear in the sides Emma Louise as she gets the final fitments for her new vivier tank.....
on the Calisha from Peterhead the dredges get the hot-metal treatment...
a big step for man and a helluva stretch for shorter legs, though these are preferable to long legs at sea as they provide a far less stable platform and are the cause of numerous headaches for thier owners...
in through the gaps, the Intuition after a day on the pots....

plenty of spare tooth-bars aboard the dredger.

Day-hauling, landing at the market

The Sapphire is getting a new set of wheels on her beams...

on the deck of the Two Boys, Twinkle sets about gutting the last haul against the market after it freshened up quickly in the Bay...

seems there is plenty of haddock on the ground Nor'West of the Wolf still....

aboard the Shiralee, in a move to save fuel, Mr Page decided to target pollack with hand-lines for the day, a sure sign that fuel-price is now becoming a crisis for the industry as a whole and not just because it affects the bigger boats that burn thousands of pounds worth of fuel a day at sea.

La Conchee faut dix ton de glace

Parked up at Wherry Town on the prom, another colourful fish trailor.....
this time, refrigerated transport from SAL in Grimsby....

Harbour Master Andrew chews the fat briefly with Grimmy Mike over the rising cost of fuel....La Conchee from Guilvenec, Brittany on her way into the ice berth.....
opposite which lays the Emma Louise looking more like a crabber every day....

La Conchee taking ice.....

under the watchful eye of Andrew wearing his other hat, that of French Consulatein the area ...

meanwhile, astern of the ice berth, Twinkle and Tristan put the mended gear back aboard the Two Boys
down the end of the new Quay, a sea of derricks from the biggest of the WS&S fleet
out in the bay there is an increase in the amount of summer trade, a small tug and dredging barge are accompanied by a regular visiting dive boat.

Mr Pascoe heads out of the gaps

Late in the afternoon, one of the Pascoe fleet of punts heads out of the gaps...

there's a veritable feast of colour all round the port..

and enough to keep any Art student happy by way of natural shapes and patterns to study.....
all four colours of the WS fleet in the one shot
with the old-timer workhorse, Chickadee laying quietly in the evening sun.

Not very Spring like at present

Blown horizontal, a scrap of plastic tell-tale hints at the wind strength in Penzance wet dock.....
where the Gry Maritha is still undergoing repairs - Scilly will be desperate for those barrels of beer waiting on the quayside.....
as will the builders waiting for the sand to be delivered...

PD 235 Calisha is down on the scallops and won't be happy with the current weather conditions - dredges don't like any lift in the water....

time for a quick scrub and overhaul for Quentin's Sea Spirit
heading back to tier is the Crystal Sea......
after putting a fresh set of combination sweeps aboard.

A draft through the market

Visiting Peterhead scalloper, Calisha....
along Penzance Promenade, the only promenade in Cornwall, a local dog walker and dog dodge the spray.....
as a chilly wind whips its way through the fish market...

the boys on the Padstow netter, Berlewen get their fish into the back of the waiting transport.