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!

Spirit of Mystery update

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!

Sea beast

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.

The Spirit of Mystery - the voyage in context

You can keep up with life aboard the Spirit of Mystery by following the boat's progress on their website - the current plot shows them 230 miles sou'-sou'-west of Newlyn on a course that will take them well into the southern latitudes before they turn and run before the southern westerlies and on to Capetown, South Africa.

Totally reliant on the elements, Pete Goss will make use of the trade winds and tides as did his predecessor. A careful look at this image shows how they will use the prevailing winds to carry the Mystery south and west. Once well down in the southern hemisphere, they will pick up the south atlantic trades which will eventually bring them into Melbourne, Australia. This image shows the route for the Velux 5 oceans race and bears a remarkable resemblance to that of the original Mystery's voyage - that there Cap'n Nicholls obviously knew his stuff!

Also on the website is a chart showing the course of the original voyage from the log kept by Captain Nicholls. Consider this in the context of the day when the world was going crazy for gold after it was discovered in California in 1848. At that time the people of America were not even united - there were still 7 years to go before the first shots were fired in the Civil War. It was 1854, still within living memory of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Nelson had only died in 1805, Stephenson's steam engine Rocket first belched smoke in 1829 and the world's fastest tea clipper Cutty Sark's keel was not laid until 1869. Notable Cornish events can be seen here, while the beginnings of a mass emigration of Cornishmen was about to unfold as discussed in this paper.

Here were a handful of Cornish fisherman, their sense of adventure no doubt fueled by a few jars in the Star Inn prepared to sail to the other side of the globe in a fishing boat aided by a compass, sextant and whatever good fortune would come their way. No doubt years of being caught out in poor weather and dealing with the day-to-day mishaps that every fishing boat seems to invite stood them in good stead. Like those in other 'hard' jobs, fishermen deal with the extraordinary in a down-to-earth, matter-of-fact and pragmatic way - no need to get excited or upset as nature soon teaches you a salutory lesson - that you just have to get on with it - wind and waves heed no cries of anger or frustration.

So it was on Monday evening with the departure of the Spirit of Mystery, a low-key affair with little fuss, a local news team from BBC Spotlight covered their sedate progress, rowing the boat from their berth and out through the gaps.

We wish them well.