CEFAS and their work

Scientific research often gets a bad press with the fishing industry - not least because the research is often subject to criticism that it is carried out using outdated or outmoded methods - using the same old gear on the same old bank towing for fish that any fishermen will tell you are never seen anywhere near the bank - or just plain ignoring the collective received wisdom of those who catch fish for a living. As with the judiciary, none of this will stand up in court as it were - you need real 'evidence'. To that end it is hoped that the work CEFAS carry out working closely with the fishing industry can help provide valuable data that has credit with all sectors of the industry. One of the most recent research projects was with the local netter CarolH, fishing for hake. Read the report here.
hake-selectivity.pdf

Sardines landed despite the weather

With no smoking on the premises, some of W Harvey's girls take a break on the roadside......
Watched by Gary on the deck of the Pride of Cornwall, Tim swings the braille over the waiting insulated tubs, already well filled with flake ice to form a slush.... handling the fish like this keeps it in tip-top condition for the market...... skipper Stefan Glinski is kept busy on the forklift while 'Magic' tops up with ice - the first boat Magic sailed on in the late-70s, along with David "Dumps' Hichens and Anthony Hobin was the Mes Fille owned and skippered by Bill Tate (later had the Silver fern).....in the background the.... Resolute is on her way in with what looks like a slack shot (her bow is way out of the water) - the boats 'had a look' last evening but the weather was too poor so instead they sailed at 5 this morning for a shot just off the back of Mousehole Island..... there's plenty of gear still to be sorted aboard the Billy Rowney since the port side derrick was put back together... despite the rather dull and dismal weather, the paint job is making progress on the new crabber..... another possible entry for next year's Turner prize..... back in town after many months, the Pindar (one of the sponsors of Pete Goss' Spirit of Mystery) boat Hatherleigh takes water..... also making progress under heavy skies, the Dragon an Moar.

Low gi recipes for fish? Chargrilled squid with marinated chicory

Take two chicory.....
grind black peppercorns and a few juniper berries......
in a pan, bring to the boil a sprig of thyme, sliced chilli, 7 fl oz of cider vinegar, 1 1/2 oz of caster sugar and a bayleaf - then add your chicory to the marinade - simmer for 10 minutes.....
clean the squid and slash the surface of the squid (criss-cross looks good!) - tentacles optional for any squeamish guests at the table.....
char grill the squid and serve with the chicory sliced in two - garnish with parsley and sliced chilli (to taste) - recipe courtesy of AWT's (Anthony Worral Thompson) 'gi diet' book especially for those people who need to lose weight but still want to eat well! Thompson himself is diabetic and has championed the cause for maintaining a low gi diet for many years, now a trademark of his cooking.

Away with the wind

Pete Goss mentions his pals in the Vendee Globe race that started from Les Sables two days ago. With these ocean going yacths averaging 10-12 knots plus it won't be long brfore they are passing down our intrepid sailors. You can see from the chart above taken from the official Vendee website how the winds are currently affecting the Vendee boats and further south what look like more fickle winds again for the Mystery!

However, there are currently 8 of the Vendee boats back in port after meeting with some fairly wild conditions in the Bay of Biscay - a reminder to all of the magnitude of the task ahead of the boys aboard the Mystery - we'll see just how real wood plays out against the plastic tupperware favoured these days!

With the tracker software updating on a regular basis we get the chance to see the Spirit of Mystery in full flight - with plenty of wind in contrast to last week. The boys are now down in much warmer climes than the 50˚ North from whence they left last Monday, the next likely significant landmass they will pass is the Canaries. With the weather bringing gale force 8 winds Pete's blog makes for interesting reading.

A painting in the spirit of

Local artist, Jeremy Thompson captured the Spirit of Mystery as she was being rowed towards the gaps on the Monday evening, October 20th. As dusk fell over the harbour, lights can be seen in the Fishermen's Arms and the other houses that overlook the spectacle. For a short while Penlee lifeboat's predecessor, a rowing lifeboat, was kept on the beach here from 1904-1913, at that time the harbour side was still a cliff before being faced with granite as it is today.

So, where have all them gulls gone?

This could be just one of those things - but needs investigating further - where are our gulls?

A few days ago, David Stevens commented on his blog posted at sea that he has recently noticed a lack of white s***e aboard the boat! After briefly thinking this was indeed a good thing he then realised the implications, no s***e equals no gulls! On asking around the other boats at sea it seems he is not alone - the Crystal Sea II has been working around the Wolf Rock off Lands End.

So, an open invitation for comment - can anyone else either offer an explanation or reveal their observations regarding the lack or not of gulls in the Western Approaches? Is it gulls in general or particluar species like kittiwakes?

Squid gossip on the net

For anyone interested in squid - coming up to the time when they should be showing up inshore - there's a largely American but with UK sub-section web site - plenty of info from anglers up and down the coast who mention the squid's close relative the cuttlefish - worth keeping tabs on given the little white torpedos are worth serious money these days - and, for the gourmets out there, they tast real good too!

Useful site for boats on passage

Many thanks to John Lees for this link which gives a very visual guide to the kind of winds being experienced around the globe. It was John ( with family connections to the original crew) who took such an excellent picture of the Spirit of Mystery as she was rowed through the gaps on leaving Newlyn!

If you open the zip file below, it will contain an sequence of images that show the likely wind direction and strength the Spirit will encounter - from this, you can see how they should be able to make use of the prevailing Northerly-ish draft over the next few days!
Wind forecast animation 28th October 2008

Mystery making better progress

With the satellite track giving a more reliable update we can see the Spirit of Mystery making way in the right direction again - no doubt to the relief of all on board! This morning's plot finds them around 112 miles WSW of Lisbon in Portugal - well to the East of the original course made by Captain Nicholls and his crew. Those of you on Windows machines can install a simple Google Earth plug-in which will allow you to follow the boat's progress in even more detail.

Fine weather - fine fish

Newlyn has excellent is part of an excellent transport network, lorries bound for mainland Europe will head for ferry ports like Plymouth, Weymouth and Poole in Dorset......
though most of the fish waiting to be shipped out are bound first of all for a local processor in Falmouth.....
here, 18 tubs from the Lyonesse wait for the aptly named Falfish, a company originally set up by the Scottish pelagic fleet owners, the Taits from Fraesburgh.....
once again the Runnelstone is rewarding the local bass boys well with the results of their efforts....
with this small inshore boat having a fine shot of quality fish for auction.....
including this very dark, almost black lobster, probably from very shallow water close inshore.....
there are a few beautiful looking grey mullet in the mix.....
after landing the boxes need emptying of ice and washing......
with two concurrent auctions sometimes buyers are seen sprinting between sales, very impressive Mr Hosking!....
appearing like a jack-in-the-box, Charlie gets out into the fresh air to lend a hand with all those boxes.....
under very heavy skies that later broke.......
the Ripple looks like she is well wrapped for the winter months....
lined up on the quay, around 20% of the Emma Louise's full complement of pots.....
for any interested parties there is a substantial building up for lease right on the harbour road between Trelawney Fish and Cosalt......
it seems that it is not only the Mission's weather vane that has suffered of late - but which building supports this?

Movement with the Mystery

Aboard the Spirit of Mystery, and despite the lack of underwear, the mood must have lifted as the boat now shows signs of making progres in a southerly direction again - see the latest plot here for Monday morning. Seems the technology has let us down and the tracking plots have not been updated - till now.

End of another neap tide

In time honoured tradition the Sowenna lays against the fish market with her landing gear up to signify her intention of landing during the night...

the gold-plated galleon is still AWOL from atop the Mission...

the Billy Rowney's silhouette is not what it should be...

while across the harbour the rest of the W&S fleet form part of a tranquil evening scene.

Saturday's tale of mis-shapen metal

Both sides covered almost, the Emma Louise has a grey starboard side from the latest coat of zinc based paint.....
at the end of their trip, the Silver Dawn lands to their transport - hopefully once a decision on the tenders recently submitted to Newlyn Harbour Commissioners for the running of the fish market and auction are up and running, all the boats that currently land away from Newlyn will be encouraged to return.....
with a nod to tradition, it seems that the yacht Glenore from Falmouth has a proper stove on board, judging by the plume of smoke belching from the small chimney and enveloping the owner as he surfaces.....
when a boat the size of the Billy Rowney has one side of gear come fast on the bottom any number of bits can give way - in this instance it was the top of the derrick that sufferred....
so once the Rowney's fish have been stowed in the market fridge.....
the boys will be back to sort the rest of the gear.

Fickle autumnal weather dogs the Mystery boys

"When the wind wouldn't blow the ship wouldn't go", so goes a line from an old rugby song. Sure enough, the Spirit of Mystery is being dogged by an awkward weather system at the moment. Looking at the tracking page on the Goss website you can see evidence of the lack of decent wind from their plots which remain fairly static over the last 24 hours. Worse still, a quick check on the forecast pages don't look good for making good any serious progress in a sou'westerly direction for at least three, if not four days!

You can see from the today's chart that there will be little in the way of wind (see Saturday) and, what wind there is, will likely be, 'variable' in direction. The +96 hour chart does hint at a northerly breeze which should at least allow them to make good a west-sou'-westerly course to clear the north coast of the land of bulls and paella.

This should give them plenty of time to investigate the chaffing in the rigging which, although not serious in itself, may give rise to problems in the future. In 1854, the crew aboard the Mystery would have enjoyed the benefit of sailing a boat with a myriad of minor modifications and finely-tuned adjustments to the rigging and general layout born of years of hard wear and tear from fishing.

Here's a handy website which gives the wind in 3-hourly shots over the next 48 hours for the Bay of Biscay - Pete has just updated his blog and sure enough the wind is fickle - let's hope Eliot finds his sea legs!

Spirit of Mystery update

The boys are making good progress, though not necessarily in the direction intended! The latest plot on their website shows them just over 300 miles fom Newlyn. The fact that those aboard do not know exactly where they are at present is reminder of the faithful recreation of the original voyage. They are navigating with a mixture of dead reckoning and sun sights, though as can be read in the latest entry, Pete Goss is sure they have been making too much ground to the east - and, as we can see and they cannot, he is right! Of course, if they carry on for too long on their current course the smell of paellea and the sight of the Spanish mainland looming over the horizon will confirm his suspicions!

Sea beast

Not too sure of the correct translation for this boat - Moar would seem to mean big or large (from the Irish).....many thanks to Ian Soulsby (Lowena Mor) who tells me that he named this boat about 8 years ago when she came down from Weymouth and is in fact Cornish not Irish!.....
the Geordie boys are working in the dark - literally - on some port side door adjsutments....
lined up on the quay and waiting to be christened, hundreds of pots for the Emma Louise....
with a change in the weather later today, the buyers will pay top dollar for these line caught bass.....
likewise, the sardine boats are keeping processors like FalFish busy with fresh supplies.....
taking a break between sales, Stevenson's auctioneer Ian Oliver tots up the slaes figures on a relatively small market....
it seems that buyers are forced to get down on their knees and pay homage to the quality fish from Jake's Go for it.....
delicacies in the case of monk cheeks from the Lizard boat, Scorpio....

weights of a box of good sized monk tails being checked.