Mousehole celebrates Sea, Salts & Sail 2026 in stunning sunny style!

A big banner welcome to Mousehole's bi-annual Sea, Salts & Sail Festival...

with over 50 classic sailing boats assembled in and outside the historic harbour...

some rafted up enjoying an afternoon flat calm in the sunshine...

with thousands making the most of the fine weather, soaking up the party atmosphere and enjoying fone food, good music and all the spectacle these boats offer and enough to get the ITV News team down to record the event...

the harbour's new pontoon berth  makes access and boarding much easier for the smaller boats...

Gleaner, the biggest and oldest visitor was built in Kitto's yard in 1874, Porthleven as a Lowestoft drifter...

and turned out to be the subject of choice for the Cornwall Plein Air painters group, many of whom chose to make the boat the focus of their July paint-out as they captured the stunning scenes to be had...

the 1884 Barnabas hoists her lug in readiness...

 to join in Sunday's Parade of Sail...

along with the historic Maggie Helen which left Inverness some two weeks ago and only just made it to the festival owing to lack of wind at times!..

one local punt fisherman couldn't resist the opportunity and took time out from days at sea to mingle with the fleet...

in particular getting the chance to get close up with one of the most famous luggers still sailing, the engineless Guide Me, she' continues to have a hugely successful racing career, and not many 1911 Cornish luggers have sailed across the Atlantic to do so!..

the fleet passed between the harbour and St Clement's Isle...

in all directions...

and with relatively light airs all were able to hoist a full set of sails...

like the local Barnabas...

which just added to the spectacle...

on display in Mousehole's Rowing Clubhouse where, (under the direction of Sylvia and Leon Pezzack who founded the festival back in 1996) was 'Time less Traditions', an original painting donated by artist Vicky Norman created especially to help raise funds for the event...

who took to the stage to give potential bidders some context to her fitting tribute to the boats captured in action on the water and so evocative of times gone by...

then it was up to local lad Len Maiden to get the best possible auction price which eventually went for a worthy £3,200...

while the crews were busy getting back into the harbour for the prize giving and general end-of-festival celebrations...

no doubt sculptor Jean Luc...

who, with his photographer friend, sailed the smallest boats to attend this year's festival across from Aber Wrac'h in Brittany after reading about the festival online just a few days before!..

time to walk away...

and say, "See you next time"!

Newlyn Old Harbour turns the clock back 100 years!

The scene was all set by Thursday afternoon, when Cornwall Maritime's Trust (CMT)...

Courtesy of Penlee House museum gallery

set about re-creating this regular scene from the 1880s with its Party on the Beach for classic fishing and sailing boats...

with its flagship Barnabas centre stage, filled Newlyn's old harbour with some of the country's oldest fishing boats...

ITV news crew were there to record this historic event...

talking to local plein air artist Vicky Norman, CMT's very own Artist in Residence...

who was not alone, all keen to capture this many sailing boats kedged on the beach for the first time in such numbers since the 1890s!...

and when most of your boat is still afloat there's only one way to get back aboard after a run shore for the shopping...

100 year old fishing sailing boats were not alone, this hardy coupler had seen the event advertised online and decide to sail their 14ft boat - from Aber Wac'h in Briattany!..

wherever you looked, oil paint was being applied to canvas as this unique scene was captured...

from every angle

promptly at 6:30, the Party On the Beach officially began with a giant paella being served...

with all hands and crews suitably fed and watered, it was down to the CMT's Rob McDowell to thank all those concerned for putting on and attending this speciall fundraising event - a speech in which he duly acknowledged the work of Newlyn arbour Commissioner Nick Howell and his hardy team of volunteers who, with the help of financial support from Historic England had made the whole event possible as a direct result of the work to bring back the Old Quay into working order - as can be seen over on the Newlyn Old Harbour website...

some familiar Flats & Sharps faces provided some fine background music...

while fans of classic working and sailing boats basked in the glorious evening sun...

as another old timer sailed in one of the port's sardine boats left on only the second night of this season's sardine fishing which has just got underway...

back in the day the majority of boats seen on the beach like this would have been fishing for the very same fish, thogh back then of course they were better known as sardines!...

wind the clock forward to Friday morning and with high water at 7:31am fast approaching it's all hands on deck to get the boats off the beach and on to Mousehole for this year's Sea, Salts & Sail Festival starting tonight...

with the engineless 1911 lugger Guide Me leading the charge...

but having no alternative but to get the oars out and row all the way there as there was hardly a breath of wind in the Bay this morning...

some managed to catch a tow, Unity obliging...

not so lucky, and despite 20 or more heaving and pushing willing hands, was the Barnabas who found herself beneaped; let's hope there's enough water tonight for her to get off as there is a big area of high pressure keeping the tide lower than predicted...

not that that deterred artist Clare Bowen who was back at the canvas at 6am to capture three more scenes before the sun had barley graced the sky...

on a small boat, sculling is the way to singlehandedly get going...

while others were happy to drift...

leaving the rest of the fleet all set to sail on tonight's tide.