Must be cold this morning with a Blue Mouthed Redfish

Turbot time - most of the netters now have their turbot gear aboard and the Gary M has a good shot to show for theirs......
a box of not so common stone bass from the Ocean Spray........
and an even more rare blue-mouthed red fish......
a busy start to the week after last weeks barren offerings......
with her bows down low the Dignity suffers some indignity.....
its fuel time for the Chloe T....
and spring time is evident in keel alley......
the hull of the Excellent is looking a good deal cleaner ready for some serious caulking.....
despite the cold sea water, there are enough crabs to make a few bowls of soup up at the Red lion pub in Newlyn's Old Town.

Lands End of the line

What better place to enjoy the going down of the sun than the end of the land within sight of the Longhships lighthouse and a local punt fishing for bass just inside the Kettle's Bottom.......
that is unless, when arriving at the restaurant you find there is no food for non-residents - not even a packet of nuts - the look on the Italian visitors' faces was nothing short of incredulous, "zis is ze ristorante?" as they tucked into the only food available, a packet of Golden Wonder crisps - one drink and off and nil points for the Land's End Hotel - apparently they were very short staffed - bet they were all down the beach enjoying what feels like the first proper bout of sunshine for the year! - lets hope they are sorted for when the season proper gets underway!

Good luck with the flying lessons Kai.

Excellent opportuntiy for hull cleaning.

Spring is in the air which means the boats will start their annual round of hull inspecting.....
and a chance to chew the fat......
despite a quiet week on the market the Saturday morning wash down continues........
Jeremy le-Grice takes up gallery space at Badcocks......
with his nautical themes.......
around Penwith the number of art exhibitions is huge, reflecting the fact that there are more practicing artists here than anywhere else in the UK......
don't miss the latest offering in the centre of Town at Penlee House.....
arts are not the only growth area it seems.......
the hull of the Excellent is long overdue for a clean as this almost non-existent anode testifies.....
just as well she has not been to sea for a while.....
one man from Gdansk and his pressure washer - on the day that the political and social elite in Poland including president Lech Walensa and his wife were killed in an air tragedy over Russia.
Sat am

Condor cat crossing

While the chain ferry waits to cross to Sandbanks the Poole to Cherbourg high speed cat Condor passes her bow, or is it stern?

Ferry 'cross the Sandbanks

While the ferry is on the Purbeck side a tug passes through the channel......
along with early season leisure craft headed for Brownsea Isalnd......

once the ferry hits the ramp on the Sandbanks side the chains take the strain and slow her down.....

before the cars are all off the ferry begins to load from the Sandbanks side......
minutes later the shortest ferry crossing in England hits the beach.

There's no rubbish in Newquay!

Fishing For Litter gets underway in Newquay with vociferous support (as ever!) from the boys aboard the Loyal Partner.
Pictured from left: Phil Trebilcock (fisherman), Dave Trebilcock (fisherman), Derek Aunger (Newquay Harbour Master), Aaron Trebilcock (fisherman) and Sarah Crosbie (Fishing for Litter Project Officer).

Newquay fishermen will be taking part in an international project to help reduce marine pollution as the North Cornish port joins the ‘Fishing For Litter’ scheme this month.

‘Fishing For Litter’ encourages fishermen to bring ashore marine litter caught in their gear during fishing operations, by providing the facilities and infrastructure required for its safe and responsible disposal. Newquay Harbour is the fourth port in the South West to sign up to the project which aims to remove 100 tonnes of rubbish from our seas by 2011.

It was initially feared that space restrictions would prevent the port from being able to accommodate the litter collected however Cornwall Council and SERCO have provided the project with a tailor made container, specifically designed for use in the port.

The first Newquay based skipper to sign up to the scheme is Phil Trebilcock, who fishes the Loyal Partner, he said “It feels good to be doing my bit for the environment and ‘Fishing For Litter’ makes it easier for me to do that. I would encourage other skippers to get involved. The scheme provides us with large sacks to collect rubbish we find at sea, all we have to do is bring it back to port. It makes good sense to me.”

Commenting on the issue of marine pollution, Sarah Crosbie, Project Coordinator for Fishing For Litter South West said, “Despite many initiatives to reduce marine litter, it remains one of the most significant problems affecting the marine environment on a worldwide scale. This year’s Beachwatch survey by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) found 1849 items of litter, for every kilometre surveyed and 63% of it was plastic. Plastic litter has increased by an enormous 121% since Beachwatch started in 1994. The Fishing For Litter scheme aims to combat the problem by retrieving rubbish before it reaches our shores.”

Sarah added, “Plastic litter does not biodegrade, it merely breaks down into smaller pieces and ultimately into microscopic pieces or dust. These small pieces of plastic are commonly mistaken for food by birds. The MCS reports that microplastic particles are now found inside filter feeding animals and between grains of sand on our beaches, in some parts of the ocean there are more plastic fragments in seawater than there are plankton.”

“Marine litter also costs the fishing industry thousands of pounds per boat every year, through contamination of catches, broken gear and fouled propellers. With facilities in place at Newquay, an important milestone for the project has been met. One of our main objectives was to involve fishermen working out of four South West harbours and I am pleased to report that we are well on track to exceed that target as the project also gets underway in Appledore and Looe later this month.”
Julian German, Cornwall Council cabinet member for Waste and the Environment, said “Cornwall has the longest stretch of coastline in the country and we are keen to play our part in protecting this glorious natural asset.”

“We are very pleased to offer further backing for this scheme which is proving to be a big help in tackling the problem of marine pollution. I look forward to many more local fishing boats joining the scheme over the next few weeks and months.”

“This scheme is gaining momentum across the South West and I’m sure it will be just as popular in Newquay.”

Fishing For Litter is funded by The Marine and Fisheries Agency, The Environment Agency, Cornwall Council, The Cornish Fish Producers’ Organisation, The Crown Estate, Duchy of Cornwall, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Natural England and forms part of the Fishing for Litter network run by KIMO, an international organisation of local authorities working to tackle marine pollution and environmental issues.

Visit www.fishingforlitter.org

Only weighing scales on the market.

Spotless! - not a single fish landed on the market this morning.......
just a gray start to the day with only a handful of netters having left the port after the weekend.....
with more evidence that fresh water does to wood aboard boats when it is allowed to collect......
here, two murals that adorn the window of the Meadery in Penzance both contain the faces of well known characters - amongst this group, that looks like George Lawry, fisherman and founder member of the Cornwall Fish Producer's Organisation in the red cap.....
it would be good to put names to all the faces, some of whom were regulars in the nearby Dock Inn (known by many as the Lock-In) back in the 70s, where a photo of George can still be seen at the right end of the bar.....
more new art work for the IOS company.