Despite the forecast

The Crystal Sea II takes ice watched by a handful of young anglers....
it was fundraising day for the RNLI and the Swordfish was doing its bit to support......
as the grub goes aboard these guys know they are in for a bumpy ride with a big sea running and worse forecast....
the Ajax sits low in the water having just taken on her ice for the next tide's netting trip.

Cornwall tops the call-outs and shouts for the RNLI in their busiest year ever

Seems the weather last year helped to up the number of shouts for our worthy friends aboard the Ivan Ellen and other lifeboats boats up and down the South West's coastline. Falmouth's all-weather boat was called out 104 times while the Ivan Ellen's shouts were 23 more than the previous year. See the full story here.

Heavy drizzle

Back in port and landing in heavy drizzle being swept across the deck, the Cornishman returns from her gannet mission.....
and with the weather blowing them back in after a few hauls this fish is in top condition....
so too for the Crystal Sea II who's fish are now safely aboard a lorry from OceanFish and bound for PTA in Plymouth.....

at last, with the advent of a tide big enough to allow the fisroom hatch to be cleared, the Roseland has been successfully pumped out, re-floated and moved to a safe drying-out berth up the harbour.

No expense spared for a young gannet!

When it comes to animal welfare and the Brits, anything vaguely furry, fluffy or feathery comes out on top. This week a young gannet aftre being rescued by the Navy made the journey from ship off Scotland (HMS Gannet of course) to shore and then via helicopter to RNAS Culdrose before being ferried to the bird sanctuary at Mousehole for some serious R&R. After recovery the release was filmed as the bird was put aboard Stevnson's flagship beam trawler, the Cornishman (maybe that's why she had her day signal replaced!) and then ferried off out to sea for release.

Footnote: The RSPCA was founded in 1824 and the NSPCC was founded 60 years later in 1884 and, to this day, the welfare of our children do not have 'Royal' approval.

Cornwall Maritime Trust - the fishing lugger Barnabus on film

If you are a fan of traditional working boats, get to Falmouth this Saturday as there is a showing of the film telling the story of the Barnabus and her restoration project under the auspices of the Cornwall Maritime Trust.

Rockin' Roger wades in to support Helford Fishermen and their battle for a jetty

Roger Taylor, ex-Truro School, Queen's drumming legend and long-time resident of the now infamous Helford Village has voiced his support for the proposed new jetty. The story has now graced the pages of the nationals including the Daily Express. There's an interesting comment added to the article at the foot of the page.

Troika fans beware!

Back in Newlyn's recent creative past, ware from a local pottery became popular with tourists visiting the area. The Troika pottery produced earthenware pots in a distinctive style very much of the day 1970s (you either loved it or were only too glad when the vase someone bought you was knocked off the shelf by the cat and smashed). When the company ceased trading the moulds were not destroyed, instead they ended up in a garden shed 'up North'. But now there are concerns amongst collectors that the market is seeing a growing number of fakes available on the auction site Ebay - see the full story here.

On the jobs to do list

Decisions yet to be made regarding the unfortunate Roseland. She was one of the original ex-admiralty MFVs that arrived in Newlyn after the war for Stevenson's along with the Jacqueline and the Efficient. Then named the Alison, she helped to pioneer side-trawling in the port......
there's a few heavy items waiting on the quay to go aboard the Cornishman.....
including a new fishing day signal to replace the rather battered one she has at present!

Kung Hei Fat Choy! (Happy New Year!)

For all those lovers of Chinese food - tonight's the night many Chinese restaurants celebrate their New Year with a feast (almost certainly, you'll never eat it all!). This is the year of the ox.

If you are in the Penzance area why not take advantage of Chan's Oriental Foods shop just off the top of Causewayhead in Penzance? Owner Steve Chan used to run the Dynasty restaurant on the Helston Road - these days he can be found in his new food shop which offers just about everything oriental in the way of food and cooking supplies - and they will order in if needed. Steve also gives one-to-one cooking lessons to enlighten you on the secrets of Chinese cooking and food preparation - give him or his wife Ket a call on 01736 350455 or 07816 456534 for more details - if all else fails, they will cater for your own Chinese Dinner Party at home!

Light on fish, heavy in the sky

On passage, the Holyhead Towing Company's Norsemaid survey vessel lays astern of the Britannia V in the iceworks berth.....
inside the market, Monday morning's auction finished very early with little fish to sell.....
all the information you need to see what is planned with the port next door, head to the PZ Gallery building where detailed plans and papers are on display ahead of the port's re-development.....

waiting for Spring to arrive, a cheery poster depicting the Jubliee Pool in warmer days.

Rue des beaux arts

Straight to the back of a waiting lorry, another big trip of fish from the neeter Silver dawn heads for Plymouth market....
a break between showers leaves the quay running with rainwater.....
another wooden sail boat anchor trawled from the depths by one of the beam trawlers.....
filling with water on every tide, the Roseland presents a sorry sight.....
despite the stars atop her masts....
the boat is named after a house in Old Newlyn Town, this small passage named in acknowledgment of the presence felt in the village made by the colony of artists that lived and worked there...
almost all the fleet are in tier over the weekend.....
the Smugglers Restaurant gets a mini-facelift before the seson starts.....
hoping to catch some pas trade, Telawney Fish are open for businesss.....
the smallest pelagic net in the port is in need of some serious repairs.....
Ebay auction shop, Going Going, Gone! has done just that, and has re-appeared as a barbers for those in need of a trim.....
in the cold and damp Jelbert's Ice Cream is selling no more than old coats......

while the Stove Shop looks to have been kept busy while the temperatures were low.

A certain Fred Steele commits pen to paper!

For all those who fished from Newlyn back in the 70s and 80s the name Fed Steele will bring back many memories - many of which would be unrepeatable in the proximity of those with tender ears and of sensitive disposition! Fred, ex-skipper of both privately owned and Stevenson's vessels has written and published his own memoirs in what could be the first of several books - this early chapter in his life ends around 1972 just as he is about to embark on a new career doing a 'proper job' fishing from Newlyn.

Copies of the book can be obtained from Barron's Newsagent in Newlyn or Books Plus on the Terrace in Penzance at £9.99 or for those who are not in the area, give Fred a call on 00351 919254648.

A review of the book as it appears in the Cornishman.

St Ives 75 years ago today - the 'forgotten lifeboat disaster'

St Ives Harbourmaster, Stephen Basset (left) will lead a memorial service in the village today.

In the early hours of the morning, 70 years ago today, the St Ives lifeboat was launched to the rescue of an unknown stricken vessel off Godrevy Point. Hours later and after capsizing three times, the lifeboat was washed ashore on rocks at Godrevy. Only one of the lifeboat crew survived, he walked ashore from the rocks where the boat was wrecked.

See an account of the story here and an image gallery of the lifeboat.

Deepest water fish filmed for first time

Any boats working the deep water off the edge of the Continental Shelf might just get one of these in the gear - a short video clip of the deepest living fish filmed to date.

Still sunk

Day 2 and the Roseland still sits on the bottom while a decision is made on how to float her.....
good to see the red duster flying on the visiting tug Pendennis......
one piece of sheet steel waiting to replace the cut-out section of the Billy Rowney's side.....

floured and seasoned Mount's Bay sprats fried in olive oil finish off the day.

Fishermen's fight for a new landing quay in Helford upsets some locals

Watch Inside Out on BBC1 tonight at 7.30 for an in-depth look at this story.

Catch it in the news or on BBC iPlayer

After five years of trying, Helford fishermen including Chris Bean (Lady Hamilton), have still to move forward in their plans to have a landing quay and small road built to allow for a safer working environment . Many 'local' residents have written to object to the construction work. A significant percentage of the objections come from second home owners who have property in the tiny village.

Cornwall is what it is and owes much of its culture, heritage and financial dependence to commercial and leisure maritime activities, which includes fishing.

What is considered 'quaint' by many visitors is, in fact, the activities of very real working lives and the fabric of many communities where people are actively engaged in fishing for a living - these people and their way of life must be allowed to evolve as their have thier ancestors before them - no one should be able to halt progress and 'preserve' the past as a living edifice by means of privilege, money or other means and deprive these artisnal workers of living their lives as their needs dictate - especially people like Chris Bean who looks to the future and goes to great lengths to fish for and market the very highest quality fish - much of which is supplied to sushi chefs 'up country'. London Town, where many second-home owners live or work is home to many an ancient monument offering an indication of life in the past; the significance of St Paul's Cathedral is no less diminished in being surrounded by modernity - the two co-exist. If these people wanted control over 'their' plot they should have bought a much larger little bit of England (or Cornwall) sans neighbours - as it is, they have bought into the village of Helford and should therefore accept all that that entails - it is not a living museum or heritage site for those permanent residents who live in and around the village.





In this year that celebrates the bi-centennial of Darwin's birth and his book, Origin of the Species, this incident represents a far more serious interruption in the natural evolution of our working environment than resident who recently complained bitterly about the noise emanating from some boats landing fish in Newlyn Harbour during the night!

See the full story here.

A sorry site as the Roseland sinks

Lying against the quay just as the tide starts to make, the Roseland is watched over by shore staff from Stevenson's who will have the task of pumping out and refloating her later to day...
they will have to wait until the tide is falling this afternoon before they can begin pumping and attempt to find the cause of the leak....
the Rosleand was converted to gill netting in the ealry 90s but has not been active fishing since the 1970s when she was side trawling......
passing lifeboat from Ilfracombe heads out of the gaps now the weather has fined away for her trip round the corner and up the channel to her home base.....

with bad weather continuing from last Thursday there were only a handful of fish lots on the market this morning - biggest was 3 tons of high quality pollack from the CarolH that had sailed on Monday and shot off the Lizard - the fish made good prices averaging around £4+ a kilo - here Edwin, from Ocean Fish, reports back to base on a small shot of sprats taken by their boat, the Resolute ,overnight.

5000 odd miles to go

Looks like it is not only Newlyn under heavy skies - check out the latest news from Pete Goss aboard the Spirit of Mystery, three days out and only 150 miles on the log!

Christopher Booker from the Telegraph wades in to defend Newlyn's 'pirates' and their Mums

Outspoken and forthright, Christopher Booker writes in the Telegraph to highlight the plight of those recently convicted in the Black Fish case. He describes the stituation as, "A draconian quota sytem which forces fishermen to throw countless millions of saleable fish dead back into the sea".

Booker highlights two issues to arise from the case, namely that the fishermen concerned were prevented from speaking and that further research needs to be carried out to ascertain whether or not there was "quota available to lease" so that the fish could have been caught legally.

Christopher Booker often writes to champion the case of the UK versus Brussels and is a supporter of UKIP .

A must this June for traditional boat fans - Looe Luggers

This year's Looe Luggers festival promises to be the best yet with a promise of several Breton classic sail boats joing in the fun - find out more from the local paper, Looe Today. No doubt the local fleet of luggers (Barnabus, Happy Return, Our Grace, Dolly Pentreath) will be in attendance, including the Ripple which should be doing the rounds now she is afloat and fully rigged.

Gales and a weekend off for the fleet

A few residents can keep an eye on Tom from the comfort of their homes......
while two local swans keep their heads down as gale force winds whip across Penzance Boating Pool in Wherry Town.....
this chart, courtesy of the NOAA's website shows just how quickly the wind came on Saturday evening, peaking at 52 knots before dropping back to around 30 knots for the duration of Sunday.....
a member of the Responsible Fishing Scheme gets to fly the flag, literally.......
over in Penzance Harbour their are some serious pieces of heavy lifting gear against the quays....
a good handful of locally caught langoustine were on offer at WS&S's fish boutique, shoppers are riminded they can place an order and pick it up after completing their shopping in town....
waiting for a break in the weather the Crystal Sea II......
as usual, Phil on the gillnetter Carol H is keen to take ice and get away first for the next neap tide.....
the new crabber Emma Louise is considerbaly longer than fleet sister the Dom Bosco.....
while the final member of the Rowse fleet is blown off he quayside in the wild condtitons.....
as the sun rises, Silver Dawn reflects some early morning light.......
the fishing day signal (which should not, of course, be shown in port!) - two inverted cones can take many forms - is intended to indicate to other vessels during daylight that the vesel concerned is engaged in fishing activities....
this one has seen better days.....
and used to look like this......
a sign of the times perhaps, one of the better looking housing developments in the area has ceased to progress......

someone has gone to the trouble of making a rope fender for a specific purpose on the bow of the Chloe T.....