Alison Kay in Newlyn

Back in after the first week of twin-rig trials, the Alison Kay waits to land her fish...

there's something unusual in the water in front of the Sowenna on the slip...

part of the Alison Kay's catch, discarded fishing gear of every description, monofilament nylon gill net, monofilament Spanish longline, polypropylene and nylon trawl net...

view of the working deck aboard the twin-tigger...

most of the visiting yachts are serious long distance vessels...

closer inspection reveals the floating object to be SS22, the Inspiration, now fully submerged waiting for her timbers to swell and tighten up.

The rain it cometh...

Under dark and brooding skies the classic Art Deco pool on the prom has no takers today...
even though the water is warm enough .......
there's a couple of sharks after this gull riding out the near gale-force Westerly winds.....
two classic St Ives registered restored boats, the Ripple rests astern of the newly launched Inspriation.....
the Lyonnesse still has her ring net up through the power block.

Frustration becomes Inspiration

block boxes of frozen bait wait on the quay for the dom Bosc....
the first clear sky for some time makes perfect evening for a launch party.....
as the latest boat to enter the Newlyn fleet arrives on the back of a trailor, Cap'n Keast's latest mobile harbour fish box in front.....
the aptly named, Inspiration, a nine month project finally sees the boat about to enter the water....
with a helping hand from Dick Ede who will take command once her engine has been fitted.....
owner, Nick Howell, in a previous life, local fish merchant and more latterly owner of the Pilchard Museum has had the boat commissioned to fish for line caught mackerel, squid and lobsters - the shellfish being targeted with withy pots made the traditional way.......
all hands give the punt a lift.....
and pretty as a picture she looks in the evening glow.....
pleasant enough while two men in a boat, Nick and chief carpenter Cap'n Keast wait for the incoming tide to lift her off the trailor.....
just about to float with some additional ballast in the stern.....
then, once afloat, she inevitably takes water - usual for a boat that has been allowed to dry out on land - eventually the timbers should swell and fill any gaps between the planks.....

Watch a short video of the whole affair -

Lyonnesse lands over 11 tons of Cornish Sardines

Sowenna up on the slip, not the best place for a netter to be on the first day of a neap tide (netters cannot work over spring tides as the nets get laid down by the speed of the water and do not 'fish' well)...

 

Mr Turner holding court and being the harbour tour guide for the morning on the day that the....

latest addition to the fleet, the Lyonnesse bagged over 10 tons of Cornish Sardines which she seems to carry well in the insulated FalFish tubs...

her deck crane, used at sea to handle the ring-net, acts as cranning pole to get the fish ashore to be iced...

'ansome Sam passes up a stray sardine on the deck on his way back to the hydraulic arm controls and sorted by crew member Barry Chivers..... even at this state of the tide the crane will reach the quayside.... two up-and-coming fishermen get to give the old man a hand..... by supervising the landing....... a mix of ice and water keep the sardines in tip-top condition, all we need now is some sunshine to warrant firing up the charcoal...

....a sure favourite for the BBQ at this time of year!

watch the landing in progress from the deck of the Lyonnesse.

Blue in red out

Over in Penzance wet dock the Admiral Gordon has been attacked by the scaffolding company for a paint-up.....
no shortage of construction work on the islands it seems, bags of sand and gravel limed up on the dockside waiting to go aboard the supply ship....
Gry Maritha has her ends let go and makes her way in through the gaps.....
after being given a green light to go ahead.....
looks like the pubs are expecting to be busy....
she went into the dock pale blue and, unusually for a fishing boat, has now been given a new hull colour....
her old owner's bboat the Ajax also has a slightly different hull colour.....
Carol H about to enter the gaps for the first time in her new colours on the way to pick up 10 tons of ice......
with young Nathan fancying himself as the Cornish Leonardo de Caprio!......
high water on a big spring tide always attracts a bevvy of anglers down the back of the North Quay trying their luck.

First time visitor from Lorient

Forced into Newlyn with hydraulic problems, the Edilma from Lorient is a first-time visitor to the port. Once underway she will be heading off to the Jones' Bank, west side of the Scillies to fish for langoustine - she, like many of the Breton prawn boats, still works wooden trawl doors - the footrope and net is lighter than is used for bottom trawls to chase whitefish.....
despite the heavy outbursts of Cornish sunshine (that's a euphemism for mizzle, which is a mix of mist and drizzle), the George Johannes has a side of gear to repair...
so it's time to stitch the flip-up rope....good to see Fergie back at sea again!....
there's a few hours work to do yet - the trawl will need some tlc where it is joined to the fishing line looking at the ragged reinforced meshes here.....
all under the watchful eye of Nigel 'Rockets' Richards.....
there is plenty of new bits gone into the trawl already it seems.....
from far flung Falmouth way, Ocean Engineering are down the quay on a job....
Hilary Lister's boat is back ready to go in the water - the cockpit style seat can clearly be seen from this angle.