Tiz a muggy mizzly morning.

After a clear night, a band of rain hits the harbour.......

time to get yesterday's St Ive's Bay mackerel on to the market floor......

to join the single trip of fish from the William Stevenson.......

John Marisco Fish, always willing to help identifying fish on the market.......

always goo to see the boss willing to get stuck in.........

a good night's work on the Cornish Sardines from the big blue cat Lyonesse.......

sailing time for the stern trawler Defiant.......

closely followed by one of the few punts working in the Bay at the moment.......

better view of the launch.......

 visiting sardine boat Silver Star makes her way in through the gaps.......

and heads for the fish market to discharge her night's work.

A visitor's view of Newlyn.

The voyage of the French yacht Video Bleu II

It is worth looking at the comments on various blogs of visiting yachts to Newlyn - unbiased customer feedback - hats off to Val in the office for giving this particular visitor access to the WiFi in the harbour office - which should also prompt the harbour to think about making WiFi available within the harbour area - these days a relatively cheap option and a real plus for visitors, service engineers and others wishing to be in contact with the outside world via the internet.

"Newlyn: the largest fishing port in the south coast of England, which contrasts with the wetting of Helford River left this morning and all the other ports of Devon and Cornwall who welcomed us. A working atmosphere, decor and rusty metal, nets, engine noise, big diesel exhaust smells and mechanical grease and of course "fish stock". The leisure boats, oddly, become part of this living picture without offending the eye.

We read in the Imray guide that the The Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fisherman in which all who go to sea are welcome (sic) a hearty breakfast is served in their dining hall. So we tested. It is actually cheap and OK (as the French are reputed discerning breakfast eaters  - hat's off to Keith and the crew!) but the reception is mixed, not even a silly question like, "Are you French"?  - it is therefore so obvious that no one needs to even ask us any more?

And the Mission shower is 3 pounds (unthinkable) against 50p to use the only shower in the port where we seem to be more dirty than entering!  Good point: no WiFi on the harbour but the Secretary of the Harbour Office, without hesitation, offered us access to the Harbour Master's office for an hour and a half. Great class!

After a tour of the town (very quickly) and a little food, drink aboard Ithaca, boat and Gilles Agnès Frenchies of Ouistreham. Basically the stop in Newlyn has given us so to speak down to earth as it began to move into a nomadic too comfortable!

Skills of the hand, artisnal work on and around the harbour.

The Fish Shop, retail outlet for PJ Tonkin, Newlyn Fish Merchant is undergoing a major refurbishment this week including a dramatic window display unusually these days created by a sign-writer rather than using a computer and vinyl......

all that is needed is a brush, a mahl stick (upon which to rest the brush and) and a steady and......

looks like some sort of ex-Admiralty launch.....

the big one has gone two up in recent days......

plenty of big visiting yachts.......

forklift 2 tons, old anchor 5 tons, no chance Royden......

new gear time for the Admiral Gordon.......

you can't call yourself a trawlerman until you can splice wire.......

and then when the damage has been done.......

cut out the damaged meshes and mend the rest of the trawl.......

good to see the old St Ives lugger Barnabus off to sea with a novice crew about to get a taste of life on a dipping lugger.

Fisherman flown to hospital after losing finger.

 

 A fisherman has been flown to a hospital in Plymouth after his fingers were crushed on a fishing vessel.  Falmouth coastguards received a call from a crew member on the beam trawler William Stevenson at 11:55 BST.

William Stevenson picked up by VessdelTracker's AIS software.

An RAF rescue helicopter attended the scene, 20 miles south of the Isles of Scilly.

The fisherman was assessed on the boat by a paramedic and airlifted to Derriford Hospital where his conditon is not yet known.

Monday's mackerel day - in protest.

Pin boned mackerle fillets in olly oil........

on a high heat.........

served with fried bread Mediterranean style (in oil not dripping) and caulflower couscous with a lemon puree sauce - a Cornish variation using locally caught Cornish mackerel (in protest to Iceland's unilateral decision to set its own mackerel quota and ignore the current stock ICES stock estimates) to the cod used by the guest Icelandic chef, Agi Sverisson on last Saturday's Saturday Kitchen - the Best Bites.

Rolex Fastnet Yacht Race is on as they head round the corner.

Picked up on VesselTracker's AIS screen, nearly 300 race yachts make their way past Land's End on the outward leg of this year's Rolex Fastnet Yacht Race. This year's record entry saw the big French multihull Maxi Banque Populaire first to the Fastnet Rock at around 0930 this morning. At a more sedate pace, the bulk of the fleet hit the edges of Mount's Bay on their way to Land's End late in the afternoon with the wind conveniently backing SSW from the NW breeze earlier in the day.

A quiet start to the week, mainly top quality inshore fish on the market this Monday morning..

 One of many boxes from the inshore fleet who were busy over a weekend of fine weather.......

 and a good first trip for the Ajax now under new management.......

with a few boxes of huge 7+ kilo hakes ready to go up for auction......

 a box of big craws will no doubt be the centre piece at a number of good restaurants.......

 light before the auction started would have quickened the heart of Stanhope Forbes and Walter Langley for sure.......

 

 the old Cap'n Keast dugout has had a lick of paint it seems......

 making waves in the gaps.......

 and almost framed by two wild agapanthus, the beamer Chloe T  on the slip.......

 always worth stopping for, a steaming bowl of Jacki'es famous crab chowder........

 the figurehead at Matelot's cottage, she was apparently salvaged by Frank Dewar, from the ship Zaureena. Frank Dewar made miniature lobster pots to sell, and stuffed animals were found in the loft.........

 

 and a perfect day for it shaping up over in Penzance harbour.