Vision runs aground in sight of land!

Atlantic rowers-to-be Phil Pring and Skippy taking the Vision of Cornwall out for early sea trials in Newlyn Harbour last September.

The boys must be gutted - but glad to be safe! After rowing over 2,500 miles since January 10th, the Vision of Cornwall ran aground on a reef less than one mile from her destination in Antigua in the early hours of this morning. Phil and Skippy are reported to be well after their dramatic rescue from their upturned boat by Antiguan officials.

All in a weekend's work.

One small tug should suffice......
time to let go the ends aboard the Cornishman......
and once through the gaps drop the derricks to make for a more comfortable ride when steaming to the grounds.......
with a few jobs to be done below the waterline it's time for Clive to get the boat ashore, first by passing the slings under the bow......
and then attaching the lifting chains.......
once ashore a steadying hand guides her away from the quayside......
with a little help from the boy........
a twin rigger's 'clump' awaits collection.......
out comes the shaft from the punt Cynthia up for a bottom scrub.

Vision of Cornwall almost in sight of land!

With less than a hundred miles to go the morning, the boys aboard the Vision of Cornwall are due to make landfall in Antigua over the next few days. After two and a half thousand miles covered since leaving La Gomera in the Canary Islands on January the 10th their mission to raise money for the Cornwall Blind Association has raised thousands of pounds. Both men are gig rowers so they should make a real difference to their team's chances this season on their return after this serious training exercise!

Celestial Jumbo makes a welcome return to St Ives.

The St Ives Jumbo Association is celebrating the return of a traditional Jumbo beach boat to the port. These two masted fishing boats, named after the elephant at London Zoo that caused such interest, formed the mainstay of the St Ives' fleet over 100 years ago and the boats all but disappeared by the 1920s.

Boat builder and big Jumbo fan Johnny Nance used archive material from the St Ives museum to re-create the new Jumbo, named Celeste, in Collumpton, Devon.

Pete Goss has been roped in to help with the cause and will be giving a talk at a fund raising event in April. 'An Evening with Pete Goss' takes place on Friday 9th April. The Guildhall, St.Ives. Doors 7pm. Admission £5.

There'll be a raffle and a brief auction, and, of course, there will be a bar provided by the St.Ives Lions Club. To reserve your tickets, contract the Tourist Information Centre, The Guildhall, St.Ives TR26 2DS or call 01736 796297.

It could be you!

So now's your chance Quentin!

Read on for this message to the world’s seafarers from IMO (International Maritime Organisation)

"The International Maritime Organization has decided to dedicate this year by choosing, as the theme for World Maritime Day, "2010: Year of the Seafarer". Our intention is to pay tribute to you, the world's 1.5 million seafarers - men and women from all over the globe - for the unique, and all too often over-looked, contribution you make to the wellbeing of all of us.

We will do so with deep appreciation, in recognition of the extraordinary service you render every day of your professional life, frequently under dangerous circumstances, in delivering, to the more than 6.5 billion people of the world, the wheat that makes our daily bread, the gas and oil that warms our homes or moves our vehicles and the gifts we will share and enjoy with our families and friends over this Festive Season.

At IMO, we are ever-conscious of the important role you play in helping us achieve safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans - the goals that we, as the United Nations specialized agency charged with the regulation of international shipping and as a member of the global maritime community, have set ourselves.

And so, we will celebrate next year's World Maritime Day theme with much pride in your contribution to our objectives, to the facilitation of more than 90% of the world's trade, and to sustainable human development.

In so doing, we also seek to reassure you, at the "sharp end" of the industry, that we, who are responsible for the international regulatory regime and who serve shipping from ashore, do understand the extreme pressures that you face and that, as a result, we approach our own tasks with a genuine sympathy for the work that you carry out.

At the same time, we will seek to add impetus to the "Go to Sea!" campaign, which we launched to attract new entrants to the shipping industry and, in particular, to encourage young people to follow in your footsteps by becoming the seafarers of tomorrow. We launched that campaign in association with the International Labour Organization, the "Round Table" of shipping industry organizations (International Chamber of Shipping, International Shipping Federation, BIMCO, International Association of Independent Tanker Owners and International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners) and the International Transport Workers' Federation, all of whom will be joining us in celebrating the Year of the Seafarer.

Last, but mostly importantly, we want to convey to you a clear message that the entire shipping community understands and cares for you - as shown by the efforts we make to ensure that you are fairly treated when ships on which you serve become involved in accidents; are looked after when you are abandoned in ports; are not refused shore leave for security purposes; are protected when your work takes you into piracy-infested areas; and are not left unaided when you are in distress at sea.

1.5 million seafarers serving the daily needs of more then 6.5 billion citizens of the world! It is a fact that goes unnoticed or is taken for granted by most, but one that should be trumpeted loud and clear. For seafarers the world over deserve our respect, recognition and gratitude and, during 2010, we at IMO are resolved to ensure that the world does take notice of your exceptional role and contribution and of the special debt that all of us owe to you. We thank you for that!

Lost buoys

The Brixham boys are in town again.....> as is plain to see......

with their 3m gear for working that little closer to shore......

means they are wont to pick up all kinds of flotsam.......

the net drums on the stern make handy storage for spare trawls and cod ends......

Seafayre Cuisine are in the market.....

as is Ocean Fish adding to their sole collection......

while the ever lighter mornings brighten proceedings......

as does Newlyn Harbour designs and their rainbow collection.

Shooting the seine at Sennen.

With a little help from Google a surprising number of results turned up with regard to the Sennen boys and their endeavour to fish for mullet in quantity using a beach seine - it seems that many ashore take a dim view of what they see as mass slaughter on the beach!

The first article appears courtesy of an angling forum where many of the forum's followers see catching such a large shoal of fish as a henious crime given many of their comments.

Another forum, this time showing the same technique used in Port Erin on the Isle of Man that engendered similar reactions.

The third, an article taken from an American paper, reports a tale of village rivalry and dates back to January 1960. Apparently the boys from Par had also heard that there were huge shoals of mullet in Whitsand Bay and headed down to Sennen armed with the necessary beach seine and a boat. The story was also covered by a national daily here - sensationalised to some extent because of a slight misunderstanding twixt a certain Sennen fisherman and the paper's reporter, whom during the course of an interview held on the beach looking out to sea and the gulls diving on the fish asked what was to happen next, "Well, we'll be shooting soon" was the reply - little did the reporter know of fishing terminology of course as he sped away to the nearest phone box to telephone the editor and announce that war was about to break out and that the rival fishermen were about to start shooting one another!