Useful site for boats on passage

Many thanks to John Lees for this link which gives a very visual guide to the kind of winds being experienced around the globe. It was John ( with family connections to the original crew) who took such an excellent picture of the Spirit of Mystery as she was rowed through the gaps on leaving Newlyn!

If you open the zip file below, it will contain an sequence of images that show the likely wind direction and strength the Spirit will encounter - from this, you can see how they should be able to make use of the prevailing Northerly-ish draft over the next few days!
Wind forecast animation 28th October 2008

Mystery making better progress

With the satellite track giving a more reliable update we can see the Spirit of Mystery making way in the right direction again - no doubt to the relief of all on board! This morning's plot finds them around 112 miles WSW of Lisbon in Portugal - well to the East of the original course made by Captain Nicholls and his crew. Those of you on Windows machines can install a simple Google Earth plug-in which will allow you to follow the boat's progress in even more detail.

Fine weather - fine fish

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?

Movement with the Mystery

Aboard the Spirit of Mystery, and despite the lack of underwear, the mood must have lifted as the boat now shows signs of making progres in a southerly direction again - see the latest plot here for Monday morning. Seems the technology has let us down and the tracking plots have not been updated - till now.

End of another neap tide

In time honoured tradition the Sowenna lays against the fish market with her landing gear up to signify her intention of landing during the night...

the gold-plated galleon is still AWOL from atop the Mission...

the Billy Rowney's silhouette is not what it should be...

while across the harbour the rest of the W&S fleet form part of a tranquil evening scene.

Saturday's tale of mis-shapen metal

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.

Fickle autumnal weather dogs the Mystery boys

"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!