Newlyn's sardine fleet sails for the night.

Taking advantage of a big tide and more time dried out the John Dory king has a little maintenance to do alongside the market...

the big ship is back in port...

a sign of the times, times, a completed safety folder gets the once-over - it seems the industry is being swamped in officialdom, paperwork where the safety rules for much larger vessels with far more complex working and vessel operations have been crudely adapted to police very small fishing vessels with little regard for the skills, competence and fishing operations they live by - increasingly seems we live in a world where we attempt to mitigate against any and every kind of problem - every new set of rules simply creates a need for audits which in turn creates easy money for the auditors but ongoing costs and additional work and paperwork for those being audited...

Cornish sardines look out! - the fleet is leaving the harbour, first off the Asthore...

followed by the Plymouth based, Charlotte Clare...

and the Lyonesse...

one of them there St Ives men heads down the steps...

and waits for Dan to get the Golden Harvest moving...

as the rest of the fleet join in the hunt...

with one hand on the tiller...

his thoughts might just go back to the time his hands were sheeting the mains'l during the 1994 Defi des Ports de Pêche - next year will be the 33rd such event - five days of intensive yacht racing with crews made up entirely of fishermen makes for some pretty intense competitions between fishing ports from all over Europe - maybe it's time the guys put together such a team again?..

not too sure what to make of this, maybe its so they can have two on watch?...

first sight of the new Rowse crabber just arrived from France...

she's an ex-netter...

so won't need quit so much work to convert to trawling...

mackerel man Mr Morley emulates one of Ralph Bramley's most accomplished watercolours, Eyes and No Eyes, which can be seen in the Penlee gallery in nearby Penzance...

though the presence of the young eyes in his case is missing...

all quiet on the lifeboat front tonight.