Newlyn has excellent is part of an excellent transport network, lorries bound for mainland Europe will head for ferry ports like Plymouth, Weymouth and Poole in Dorset...... though most of the fish waiting to be shipped out are bound first of all for a local processor in Falmouth..... here, 18 tubs from the Lyonesse wait for the aptly named Falfish, a company originally set up by the Scottish pelagic fleet owners, the Taits from Fraesburgh..... once again the Runnelstone is rewarding the local bass boys well with the results of their efforts.... with this small inshore boat having a fine shot of quality fish for auction..... including this very dark, almost black lobster, probably from very shallow water close inshore..... there are a few beautiful looking grey mullet in the mix..... after landing the boxes need emptying of ice and washing...... with two concurrent auctions sometimes buyers are seen sprinting between sales, very impressive Mr Hosking!.... appearing like a jack-in-the-box, Charlie gets out into the fresh air to lend a hand with all those boxes..... under very heavy skies that later broke....... the Ripple looks like she is well wrapped for the winter months.... lined up on the quay, around 20% of the Emma Louise's full complement of pots..... for any interested parties there is a substantial building up for lease right on the harbour road between Trelawney Fish and Cosalt...... it seems that it is not only the Mission's weather vane that has suffered of late - but which building supports this?
Both sides covered almost, the Emma Louise has a grey starboard side from the latest coat of zinc based paint..... at the end of their trip, the Silver Dawn lands to their transport - hopefully once a decision on the tenders recently submitted to Newlyn Harbour Commissioners for the running of the fish market and auction are up and running, all the boats that currently land away from Newlyn will be encouraged to return..... with a nod to tradition, it seems that the yacht Glenore from Falmouth has a proper stove on board, judging by the plume of smoke belching from the small chimney and enveloping the owner as he surfaces..... when a boat the size of the Billy Rowney has one side of gear come fast on the bottom any number of bits can give way - in this instance it was the top of the derrick that sufferred.... so once the Rowney's fish have been stowed in the market fridge..... the boys will be back to sort the rest of the gear.
"When the wind wouldn't blow the ship wouldn't go", so goes a line from an old rugby song. Sure enough, the Spirit of Mystery is being dogged by an awkward weather system at the moment. Looking at the tracking page on the Goss website you can see evidence of the lack of decent wind from their plots which remain fairly static over the last 24 hours. Worse still, a quick check on the forecast pages don't look good for making good any serious progress in a sou'westerly direction for at least three, if not four days!
You can see from the today's chart that there will be little in the way of wind (see Saturday) and, what wind there is, will likely be, 'variable' in direction. The +96 hour chart does hint at a northerly breeze which should at least allow them to make good a west-sou'-westerly course to clear the north coast of the land of bulls and paella.
This should give them plenty of time to investigate the chaffing in the rigging which, although not serious in itself, may give rise to problems in the future. In 1854, the crew aboard the Mystery would have enjoyed the benefit of sailing a boat with a myriad of minor modifications and finely-tuned adjustments to the rigging and general layout born of years of hard wear and tear from fishing.
Here's a handy website which gives the wind in 3-hourly shots over the next 48 hours for the Bay of Biscay - Pete has just updated his blog and sure enough the wind is fickle - let's hope Eliot finds his sea legs!
The boys are making good progress, though not necessarily in the direction intended! The latest plot on their website shows them just over 300 miles fom Newlyn. The fact that those aboard do not know exactly where they are at present is reminder of the faithful recreation of the original voyage. They are navigating with a mixture of dead reckoning and sun sights, though as can be read in the latest entry, Pete Goss is sure they have been making too much ground to the east - and, as we can see and they cannot, he is right! Of course, if they carry on for too long on their current course the smell of paellea and the sight of the Spanish mainland looming over the horizon will confirm his suspicions!
Not too sure of the correct translation for this boat - Moar would seem to mean big or large (from the Irish).....many thanks to Ian Soulsby (Lowena Mor) who tells me that he named this boat about 8 years ago when she came down from Weymouth and is in fact Cornish not Irish!..... the Geordie boys are working in the dark - literally - on some port side door adjsutments.... lined up on the quay and waiting to be christened, hundreds of pots for the Emma Louise.... with a change in the weather later today, the buyers will pay top dollar for these line caught bass..... likewise, the sardine boats are keeping processors like FalFish busy with fresh supplies..... taking a break between sales, Stevenson's auctioneer Ian Oliver tots up the slaes figures on a relatively small market.... it seems that buyers are forced to get down on their knees and pay homage to the quality fish from Jake's Go for it..... delicacies in the case of monk cheeks from the Lizard boat, Scorpio.... weights of a box of good sized monk tails being checked.
Newlyn has excellent is part of an excellent transport network, lorries bound for mainland Europe will head for ferry ports like Plymouth, Weymouth and Poole in Dorset......
though most of the fish waiting to be shipped out are bound first of all for a local processor in Falmouth.....
here, 18 tubs from the Lyonesse wait for the aptly named Falfish, a company originally set up by the Scottish pelagic fleet owners, the Taits from Fraesburgh.....
once again the Runnelstone is rewarding the local bass boys well with the results of their efforts....
with this small inshore boat having a fine shot of quality fish for auction.....
including this very dark, almost black lobster, probably from very shallow water close inshore.....
there are a few beautiful looking grey mullet in the mix.....
after landing the boxes need emptying of ice and washing......
with two concurrent auctions sometimes buyers are seen sprinting between sales, very impressive Mr Hosking!....
appearing like a jack-in-the-box, Charlie gets out into the fresh air to lend a hand with all those boxes.....
under very heavy skies that later broke.......
the Ripple looks like she is well wrapped for the winter months....
lined up on the quay, around 20% of the Emma Louise's full complement of pots.....
for any interested parties there is a substantial building up for lease right on the harbour road between Trelawney Fish and Cosalt......
it seems that it is not only the Mission's weather vane that has suffered of late - but which building supports this?
