Of wind and windfalls

With the harbour quiet and most of the fleet sheltering from the weather other seasonal events come to the fore. Plenty of wind arrived on Saturday night which meant that orchards all over Cornwall were littered with windfalls - befitting then that Trellissick Gardnes near Truro should be hosting their annual Apple Days in the stable block.....
where local residents bring in apples to be identified by head gardner and apple expert John Harris.....
these Ben's Reds, originally local to Penzance were just a few of over 100 varieties of eaters, cookers and cider apples on show from orchards in Cornwall and beyond.....
to aid apple fans the orchard in Trellissick has every tree identified with a tag.....
and visitors get the chance to sample fresh apple juice from a press that has been in use for over 100 years......
the resident Cornish Black pig is a big fan of fallen fruit and devours the freshly pressed apples with relish.....
walking around the gardens is an education in itself as at every step all trees, flowers and shrubs are clearly labelled....
open till 5.30pm at this time of year....
the house itself with its ( which some might describe as, over-the-top) neo-classical front.....
has a superb view out to sea over Carrick Roads and out to Pendennis Head....

in the grounds is this unusual house conversion, in fact the old water tower that can now be rented out from the National Trust.

It'll be all white on the night

Portent of a stormy night ahead it seems.....

Rain or shine, the Filadelfia will have her hull cleaned and a new coat of anti-fouling sprayed on before the tide drops too far.....
the CKS heads for the gaps....
after one of the longest paint jobs in history, Simon parades before the camera and gives skipper Drew a heart attack as he threatens to take off some of the paint on her starboard side as the CKS comes about in the gaps.....
before making a more sedate entrance and heading up the harbour for the iceworks.....
there's a preponderence or even plethora of white paint about the harbour these days.....
though most is destined for the hull of the Emma Louise currently sporting three hull colours.....
with little in the way of fish being landed the gulls are forced to mooch about on the Stone Quay....
sailing day for the bigger netters sees them taking ice at £10 per ton.....
not too sure what the insurance company for the Mission will have made of their latest claim, "the roof has been damaged by a gold plated galleon"!....
some bright yellow flags flying on the prom opposite the Queens Hotel herald the BAFM's annual conference.

One up, one down

Trevessa IV makes her way down the slip with george in attendance on one of the firm's 'tug boats'....
there's a new trawl taking shape down the quay, summer is definately over looking at the headgear.....
up on the slip next is the Filadelfia......

and tomorrow will see most of the netters get away for their next tide hoping the forecast improves for Sunday.

Of mussels and men

Up on the slip the Trevessa is looking spruce....
framed by the bow and stern lines held taught by the fresh nor'westerly breeze blowing down the harbour a punt makes its way back to berth.....
bit-by-bit the paint job is being completed on the Emma Louise, including zinc treatment under the hauler area of the hull....
an interesting modification aboard which boat?......
quest for the name given to this fitting.....
most of the fleet have returned owing to the forecast....
there's a man on a mission on the Mission.....
for a truly delicious alternative to the classic moules marinerre try this simple Tuscan dish - gently warm a couple of sliced garlic cloves in olive oil together with a big pinch of dried chilli flakes, add a couple of salted anchovies and half a dozen halved and squeezed (get your hands messy) baby toms - cook through until the anchovies have'melted' - add enough mussels for two (adjust the other amounts pro-rata) adding a dash of watewr or white wine and a lid on the pan to trap the steam - cooking only takes a few minutes - at about the same time, boil about 4oz/100g of linguine pasta per person in salted water - at the 'al dente' stage, drain the pasta and add it to the sauce mixing quickly before serving with a genorous helping of broadleaf(if you van get it) parsley tossed in at the end....
don't forget, all your mussels should have open shells as above when cooked - discard any that are not open......

serve in a bowl with something handy to place all the empty mussel shells.....in whites to try with these stronger tasting fish dishes at the moment would be a Viognier or Gewurztraminer.

Finders keepers

With Hope in the air its a nervous time for all concerned especially the owner hanging on to the rail, it's the time of year when all the local sailing fleet in Penzance are lifted out of the water and 'parked' in the harbour car park......
during one of the biggest tides for the year the fleet rides high above the quayside.....
as the weather breaks it'll be touch-and-go whether the paint job will be completed on the Emma Louise.....
reserve boat Volunteer Spirit sits outside the St Piran fisheries patrol vessel......
this week its a simple stir-fry squid dish on the menu....
detail of the Defiant's trawl door - the shoes are removable on this model.....
a lost Spanish buff now being used as a fender on a netter......
this time its a French one.....

view through the cab of a forklift, the auction under Ryan is underway.

BHS - bass, haddock and spurdogs grace Monday's market floor

A scrap of net picked up by a local boat - mesh sizes don't come much smaller than this.....
just a couple of tubs of Cornish Sardines left for the FalFish wagon overnight from the Little Pearl.....
visiting Barrow all-weather lifeboat James Bibby heads back out to sea in the early hours, with what looks like an ex-Breton crabber anchored off Penzance in the distance.....
Fowey registered stern trawler Defiant takes fuel after landing at the end of the new quay......
a good trip of fish from the netter CarolH included these hake, looking snug tucked up in their bed of ice......
unusually these days, a few spurdogs are offered for auction from the netter Ajax.....
the Defiant's fish included a decent shot of haddock which kept the buyers busy.....
hand-written tallies for one of Stevenson's biggest beam trawlers, the Billy Rowney.....
the buyers will pay top dollar for these squid with their fine brown film coating intact.....
Grey Seal managed to hit on a decent run of bass just as the fine spell of weather looks like drawing to a close this week.