Gearing up for summer

 Scallops ahoy! The Jacoba, one of the Uk's biggest scallopers working 27 dredges a side gears up for the new season......

 a little head scratching on the deck of the Billy Rowney, recently featured in programme four of Monty Hall's Fishermen's Apprentice, faced with two huge sets of gear to repair there's afew hours work ahead.......

at this time of year there's plenty of visitors down on holiday and fascinated by the scale of the fishing gear being worked by these big trawlers.

Let them eat hake!

Goujons of Hake aka Cornish Fish Fingers -  well, that's what the visiting kids were told they would be having for supper.

The week before Easter is a high spot on the fishing calendar. Traditionally, Good Friday is a day of huge fish consumption in much of the Western world, especially those with significant Catholic populations. 


Having done some research TtG has found as many reasons for the consumption of fish on Good Friday as there are species of fish landed on Newlyn market on an average day - loads. Most seem to centre around the need for some form of penance in the shape of abstinence or fasting - though those two are not the same nor mutually exclusive. Others include historical references that cite the high cost of red meat being prohibitive for many, making fish a viable alternative, to more religious ones on the grounds that preparing meat involves the letting of blood á la JC on the cross.


This fish-eating Good Friday thing is also a well known phenomenon across La Manche where the missus of Louis XIII (Marie Antionette, though it may have been Marie-Thérèse the missus of Louis XIV) actually said 'hake' not 'cake' and is oft mis-quoted. 


Be it penance or pleasure, the eating fish is also permissible and indeed to be encouraged on every day of the year. 

Episode 5 of Fishermen's Apprentice - one way to go?

Spot the difference between the UK and the US? 

In the penultimate episode of the Fishermen's Aprentice, Monty Hall takes his mentor, pot fisherman Nigel Legge across the big pond to the once thriving port of Gloucester. Apart from the difference in accent Nigel acknowledges that the fishermen of Cadgwith and Gloucester are all but identical. However, after the disastrous consequences of the failed cod stocks back in the 90s things are looking up for some small scale operations thanks to community fishing schemes (CFS).


The challenge is, could such schemes work here in Cornwall for some of the smaller boats fishing from their isolated coves? The mechanism for such an enterprise already exists in the UK - Community Interest Companies. Here's what Monty and Nigel heard from those involved and some of the customers of the CFS.

Scillies lifeboat on shout to dismasted yacht .

With the aid of VesselTracker's AIS, two vessels involved in assisting a dismasted yacht can be seen tracked.  


St Mary's lifebaot, The Whiteheads was called out and launched at 4.14pm to go to the aid of a yacht 26 miles southwest of the Islands.  Dismasted in strong northeasterly winds, the single-handed yacht, Betelgeuse is waiting assistance. The 200m car carrier Aquamarine Ace had altered course in response to the Mayday call earlier.


MCA update:

Meanwhile, Falmouth Coastguard had requested St Mary’s RNLI lifeboat to launch. The lifeboat was an hour away in rough weather with a five metre swell. Once the lifeboat arrived on scene, the sailor was rescued from his yacht and taken back to St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly. The yacht had to be abandoned due to the rough weather.

Terry Collins, Falmouth Coastguard Watch Manager says:“In an emergency situation, using VHF DSC makes a massive difference to how quickly we might be able to get rescue resources to vessels in distress. A VHF DSC alert gives us an instant position allowing coastguards to deploy lifeboats, helicopters or other units almost immediately.  In this particular case, DSC was even more helpful because voice communications were difficult due to the vessel being dismasted.”

#rnli #rescue #islesofscilly

Newlyn market end-to-end with fish

 The 140m Perseus J's with lights blazing, one of three ships at anchor as a nasty little front passes overhead.......

 Tom's keeping a close watch as ever.......

 looks like the Dignity is up for her annual scrub under the waterline......

 lesson number one in otolith collecting for Cefas........

 plenty of superb quality monk tails from the inshore boats......

 to compliment a cracking trip of turbot from the netter Gary M...... 

 along with a good run of hake and other white fish from the Ajax......

 where the boys are busy taking of nets to be mended by net maestro Freddie.......

 Sarah will be well pleased with this haul of grade 1 rubbish from the Harvest Reaper.......

 heavy showers were forecast and heavy showers is what the Bay gets.......

 two visiting Scottish boats huddle together in the icy blasts - though Cornwall can't quite beat the 5 inches of snow at Aviemore yesterday......

 as the Copious takes on board fuel.......

 more gear to go aboard the Govenek of Ladram.......

 showing off her hard chine hull.......

 Waghorn's has now transmogrified into a brand new art gallery for Newlyn - the Helen Feiler's new Gallery's first show is, NSA a fine catch - running until the 14th of April when the abstract works will be on show until the 30th of April......

 a selection of figurative....... 

 pieces and.......

 landscapes are the main themes for the current show......

 but did yer bin get picked up?...........

 auction styles, old hand Robin Turner studies the form......

 while Ryan Ladd makes a note of his latest sale......

a little later, a little lighter.