Autumnal equinox brings out the best in the weather

With some space down the quay, the Intution loads the waiting vivier lorry....
latest addition to the fleet, inshore boat, the Leon is having a major refit.....
still on the hard after her collision, a close-up of the damage to the starboard side of the Nantewas - here you can clearly see the direction and angle of damage caused by the bulbous bow of the vessel that is understood to have been involved, a container ship called the Herm....
....at the time of the collision, shortly before 10.00am, the weather was Easterly 2-3 under a clear sky - skipper Roger and crew Terry were mending one of the twin-rig trawls in the stern of the boat whilst dodging slowly ahead......with the container ship at 135 metres and just short of 10,000 tons and the Nantewas at 9.6metres and 36 tons it is nothing short of miraculous that these guys are still with us..... to give you some idea of the scale involved, the containers on the deck of this container ship are 12m long - almost 3m longer than the Nantewas.....
Monday's market was dotted with a substantial number of 'line caught' tags - and on bass too!....
there were also some boxes of quality from one of the few beamers to land....
with the grading machine back in action, the job of handling the Defiant's big trip of haddock was made much easier....
Charlie is kept on his toes as the plaice come down....
the conveyor, after passing over a weight sensor at the beginning of the line the flippers sort the fish by weight....into boxes below, ready to be pulled off when full to the tally section at the end of the line....
the tuna boat Charisma has her wheelhouse windows lit by the rising sun.....

and its time to scrub down the Lowestoft registered, Sea Spray after landing her shot of line caught pollack.

You don't need this.

Damage on and below the waterline to the starboard side of the Nantewas which was involved in a collision with another vessel, the Herm is clearly visible...

as is the damage to the wheelhouse...

a handful of inshore boats landed to the market on Friday evening...

Drew on he CKS continues the paint job on the hard...

after landing, the multi-purpose boat Capriole heads back to a berth...

keeping an eye on the bridles to make sure they are an even length has to be done on the quay for the best results...

not many of these left today, an ex-Danish style Anchor seiner from Grimsby reveals the lift-up section of her whaleback that allowed easy access to the anchor when fishing with her 'anchor seine' - hence the name...

the huge net hauler aboard the Sowenna which is in Penzance wet dock for a refit...

the Lady Vista is still in dock.

Colour and light all in one night

You can never be sure what you will see down the quay, possibly some sort of tai chi being practiced by the guys from Olympic Conveyor Services.....
the Geordie boys land to the back of a lorry......
as the Billy Rowney makes her way in through the gaps....
possibly the oldest working fisherman in the port, and not a grey hair in sight on 'Milford' Mike's head!.....
after last night, now away from the hard and up the slip over the big tide goes the James R H.....
Mr Curtis gets his boxed trip ashore....
from the Elisabeth Veronique sporting her new colours......
out in the Bay it's the Thursday evening club race......
landing well into the night, the beam trawler Nellie fills the waiting Darley Ford transport bound for Plymouth Market.....
also working into the night, the guys fit a new wheelhouse lock......
and it's 24/7 for Consols Oils.....

seen here alongside the iceworks keeping the Crystal Sea II topped up.

Goujons galore! in celebration of Seafish fortnight's '2 a week'

Time for some more cooking tips, especially if you get your hands on some small whitefish like whiting or haddock.

Step one, as per the previous post, is to skin and then fillet your fish......
step two, cut the fillets into bite size chunks or 'goujons' - adjust the size according to the eating styles of those at your table - these are great for kids or the fussy ones who can't deal with a few bones! - and then cover (dredge) the goujons in flour....
dip each flour-coated goujon in egg - one egg, whisked in a small dish will do the job.....
next, and here's a hot tip to impress your guests, ever wondered how those breadcrumbed fish in the restaurant are so crisp? - well head to your nearest supplier of oriental foods (or maybe your local supermarket) - ditch that packet of awful yellow sawdust you have been using for years and get yourself a packet of Japanese breadcrumbs.....
here are the bite-sized chunks waiting to go into the pan of oil.....
a good alternative to the chip-pan is a wok, you won't use much oil - which must be hot of course before the fish go in, they will only take a minute or so, when the breadcrumbs turn a light golden colour whip them out quick and do the second batch, as a guide, do two fillets worth of goujons at a time....
the wire ladle, a must have tool for the kitchen leaves the oil behind.....
and keeps the goujons crisp....
ready to be served hot and crunchy!

2 a week and it's 2 in one night ce soir

Check your gills! look for blood red gills on your fresh fish......
a good filleting knife with a flexible blade makes the job of filleting much easier, if not get your fishmonger to do the job for you.....
the trick is to keep the blade tight against the backbone......
back to the salmon steaks, a splash of Japanese shao xing rice wine, parsley, one sage leaf and a few basil leaves, cover the bowl and give a couple of minutes in the microwave....
back at the harbour tuna man Quentin takes the fast boat out for a spin.....
in Penzance Dry Dock the Rix Harrier is being worked on well into the night....
replacing the Cornishman on the hard, Pete Elsworth supervises the James R H as she goes against the quay.....
and several tons of steel weights are dropped on the sidedeck to lean her into the quay, closely watched by Billy Stevenson, who despite having retired from 'active service' likes to keep an eye on proceedings with the family's fleet of beamers......
the stern rope is made good......
a disconsolate Edwin shares the prices from his landing docket from the previous day with Mike Mahon and hopes the prices will be better tomorrow.....
not that these lesser spotted dogfish will make Mike rich but they will keep the crab pots baited....
a cold start for the big motor on the Cornishman as she leaves the quay at high water on the top of the tide.