Sunny Saturday, samphire and salty tales.

With the sea water temperature rising slightly the crabs have been walking again, albeit slowly......

of course, one of the Rowse team, Dom Bosco skipper Mario had to go one better and find a crab severely affected by the cold water; “I call her Shelly” from Mario Perry on Vimeo....... good to see the Mission working in tandem with the local Round Table.......
a little gem in Newlyn, Lovells the fruit and veg shop is on first name terms with many of its customers and sources locally where it can - enjoy the end of this year's purple sprouting harvest or grab some samphire while they have it, ideal with many fish dishes.....

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young Roger Nowell is twin rigging while there are good showings of flats on the grounds.....
back in for a few hours, the biggest netter in the fleet takes on boxes.......

fish tally with the boat's name in Cornish as well as English.....
much lees common than many years ago, a box of red bream.......
converted lifeboat Douglas Currie stops by en passant.......
two pairs of doors make a change for one half of the pair team now single boating.

Cornish sailor finds starving Pacific Islanders.

Alex Bond, a sailor and fundraiser for Shelterbox from Penryn near Falmouth has come to the aid of twenty starving residents of a tiny island in the Pacific. He was delivering a yacht from Hawai to Australia when he made the discivery after going ashore on the tiny island of Kanton.

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All at Sea - a race at sea with a difference.

Appearing as if by magic in Newlyn, featured in the TV programme, All at Sea currently running on ITV, the ex- Jersey registered beamer Evert Martje lays alongside the Stone Quay with a fresh batch of divers aboard.

The mackerel are back!

Pens at the ready.......
time to bid on these huge John Dorys - known as 'handbags'......
or plenty of mackerel that have put in an appearance again.....
snapped up by Ocean Fish.......
the Elisabeth Veronique landed a good mix of quality fish......
as did Jeff Page on the Shiralee seen here heading to the iceworks.....
a mains'l that wouldn't drop proved something of a problem for this visiting French yacht......
more rubbish on the quay, this time Spanish line gear....... let's hope the pollack make good money for Mr Smith and the boys......
there's a boat's wedding to pay for.......
quay flowers blossom with their own light source.......
one of the few big stern beam trawlers in the UK, the George Johannes is having her bottom done.

Some surfing fishermen and Shakesperian thespian Timothy Spall.

This week, BBC4 provided a feast of salty seagoing action:

'Sea Feaver' had some rare homemade Super8 footage of surfing action at Sennen and Gwenva - look closely 42m 56 seconds in and you'll spot ex-fishermen and co-founder of Scewjack Surfing Village (the world's first surf holiday venue) Chris Tyler along with some other notorious characters of the day - all regulars of the Swordfish in their day.

'Somewhere at Sea' follows actor Timothy Spall around the UK coast in the unlikely vessel for such a journey - the barge that he and his wife Shane live a board in London. This week they make the potentially hazardous journey around the Lizard and Land's End - though regulars of the blog will know that the barge Matilda was holed up in Newlyn for several weeks waiting for a weather window before attempting to go 'round the corner' to St Ives.

Power to the Penlee boys.

This summer's noisiest and potentially most exciting waterborn event (if you like that sort of thing) will undoubtedly be the Superstock Powerboat Race from the 21st to the 23rd May. Accompanying the super-noisy boats out at sea will be a two day rock music festival showcasing many local bands.

In support, and using the opportunity to put on a power show of their own no doubt, will be the Penlee lifeboat boys with Cox'n Patch Harvey at the helm. With twin 1,250 Hp Cats down below the Ivan Ellen should give the powerboat racers something to think about!

Cornish hake on the menu?

Cornish fishermen are showing their commitment to sustainable fishing as they announce the start of their assessment for the coveted Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabel for the Cornish gill-net hake fishery. Since the early days of net fleet when the boats used multi-monofilament nets, hake has been the predominant catch by both weight and value on Newlyn.