Eighteen foot tide today

Riding well out of the water after coming down off the slip, the CKS will soon be putting all her gear back aboard....
which is waiting for the boys down the new Quay....
despite much speculation about prospecting for oil, the rig is awaiting sailing orders, with an MCA imposed restriction keeping her in port until the forecast is giving Force 3 or less, it is hoped she will move out today and make the three or four hour tow round the Lizard to anchor off Cadgwith....
today's tide is big enough....
as harbourmaster Andrew takes the boat across to the slip.....
it's a tight squeeze in the narrows for the earthmoving kit on its way to the Penlee Marina development.....
maybe the skies will brighten over the port later today.......
clearing up after landing, the Ben My Chree put ashore a good shot of craws and lobster after a trip marred by hauler problems and very uncomfortable weather......
could be a revelation aboard the Cornishman.....
signs of the impending Fish Festival this weekend, the barriers are ready to go......
as ever, the local refrigertaion companies are kept busy servicing the fishrooms aboard the fleet.

Wet skies indeed.

A single gull flies past Tom under very heavy wet skies that greet the Bay this morning...
the resident biggest twin-rigger lays ahead of the visiting Lerwick registered Alison Kay whic has just made her second landing from the deep water off to the Southwest...
despite the rain the iceworks area is getting a clean up......
part of the Alison Kay's trip on the market ready for the sale....
which included a box of monk cheeks, something that Saturday Kitchen's host chef James Martin would love to have had his hands on....
there were a few bass around for those willing to put the time in off the Runnelstone Reef as can be seen from Penberth Cove man, Robert George's efforts over the weekend...
father and son duo Stephen and Gary Leach, keen to get back to sea after landing, take on grub for the next foray out West of the Wolf with their twin-rig gear.

Raft Race day

As ever, a big crowd joined Tom to watch this year's Newlyn Raft Race....

possibly first home in fairly tough conditions......
while the Newlyn Meadery Maids were well down this year in their tried and tested raft.....
always good to see an inventive use of fish boxes....

the jack-up rig has moved yet again....
in through the gaps at the end of her trip twin-rigger Crystal Sea II closely followed by......
the Alison Kay at the end of her second week of twin-rig trials off in the deep water.

The wind effect and another cat in town

The jack-up rig has had to delay sailing to its destination off the Lizard Lifeboat station due to the wind strength....
even the swans seem somewhat dejected by the unseasonal weather.....
another wind - a WindCat on passage, one of a whole fleet currently being built to support the increasing number of offshore windfarms around our coastline....
the Iron Fairy has been picked up by Andrew Stephens transport of St Just.

Construction rig held up..

On the New Quay, the Oliva Jean sporting 18 scallop dredges a side....
these guys must be big fans of the reds!.....
some of the crew from C&J Drilling chew the fat.....
as the jack-up rig they are working from is now berthed over by the slip waiting for a break in the weather. She is due to start work on the construction of a new lifeboat house at Cadgwith for the Lizard Lifeboat.....

Sun's out, scallops 'n sardines are in - fire the barby up!

A gaggle of boats landing to the market this morning, Dom Bosco putting crab ashore, CKS netted wreck and ground fish, Little Pearl with 9 tons of Cornish sardines and the Gary M wreck and ground fish from her mono nets.....
these days gill-netters use their overhead net transporter to roll net into builders bags for easy handling ashore when the nets go off to the net loft for repair.....
more bits get sorted aboard the Emma Louise....
she used to be the Sasah Emiel from Brixham, now she's the Olivia Jean TN35 registered in Troon and rigged for scallops - without the luxury of a conveyor the boys aboard here must do a lot of shovel work!.......
the first few brails come ashore from the Little Pearl sporting her watertight tanks that she was recently fitted with - the guys are still trying to work out the most efficient way to brail fish from the tanks that run right across the boat - you can see both port and starboard flush deck hatches are open.....
so, while skipper David has a brainwave there is the chance for a quick biscuit....
or in Ollie's case a ciggy break.....
though after re-appearing and donning a dry-suit a small crowd appears intrigued as skipper David appears to be practicing some tricky footwork for a new dance routine ?.......
all is now revealed, down under the deck, dryish in the dry-suit David is able to fill each brail to the max....
with the night's work looking skywards.......
they make their way to the waiting FalFish tubs.....
there were also a few boxes of Stone Bass from the CKS on the market....
coming hard astern after landing her best shot of tuna yet - 1300 fish, now safely on their way to FalFish for processing the Nova Spero heads back to her berth.

Sign of the Times - OnLine

It is hard to separate Art and Fishing in this part of the world as Lucas Holweg from the Times-OnLine finds out!

Apart from the Newlyn Orion Gallery, the Exchange in Penzance and the Tate in St Ives all of whom must be benefiting from the weather - don't forget, if you are in Penzance there are plenty of other galleries featuring the work of local artists to visit: in Penlee Park, with its selection of Newlyn School works there is the Penlee House Musem & Gallery, or the Arts Club, the aptly named Rainyday Gallery, the newly moved Lighthouse Gallery specialising in the work of local artists with a penchant for the sea, the freshwater Goldfish Fine Art Gallery - and more - enjoy!