Of mussels and men

Up on the slip the Trevessa is looking spruce....
framed by the bow and stern lines held taught by the fresh nor'westerly breeze blowing down the harbour a punt makes its way back to berth.....
bit-by-bit the paint job is being completed on the Emma Louise, including zinc treatment under the hauler area of the hull....
an interesting modification aboard which boat?......
quest for the name given to this fitting.....
most of the fleet have returned owing to the forecast....
there's a man on a mission on the Mission.....
for a truly delicious alternative to the classic moules marinerre try this simple Tuscan dish - gently warm a couple of sliced garlic cloves in olive oil together with a big pinch of dried chilli flakes, add a couple of salted anchovies and half a dozen halved and squeezed (get your hands messy) baby toms - cook through until the anchovies have'melted' - add enough mussels for two (adjust the other amounts pro-rata) adding a dash of watewr or white wine and a lid on the pan to trap the steam - cooking only takes a few minutes - at about the same time, boil about 4oz/100g of linguine pasta per person in salted water - at the 'al dente' stage, drain the pasta and add it to the sauce mixing quickly before serving with a genorous helping of broadleaf(if you van get it) parsley tossed in at the end....
don't forget, all your mussels should have open shells as above when cooked - discard any that are not open......

serve in a bowl with something handy to place all the empty mussel shells.....in whites to try with these stronger tasting fish dishes at the moment would be a Viognier or Gewurztraminer.