Public meeting to discuss the proposals to 'modernise' the coastguard service.

These days people immediately become suspicious when they see the word 'modernise' in the context of the future of something - and in the case of the coastguard service rightly so - up and down the country there are dozens of similar meetings being held in the fight to preserve the integrity of the service - be there!

Fact finding Friday.

Signs of Spring as the light creeps into the sky noticeably earlier each day.......

at £3.00 per kilo these cuttles made the Cornishman's latest trip another good grossing for the fleet's flagship........

keeping those rays inside the market on the move.......

and if the sardines aren't there, get the gurdys out and pull in those mackerel.......

active research as Will and Alex, third year students from Falmouth School of Art discuss the state of fishing with Robert George from Seafood Cornwall.......

queuing up to buy.......

good to see such cheerful CEFAS faces as a the old hands show some new recruits the way things are on Newlyn market...... 

with the challenge of locating those somewhat elusive otoliths proving the most popular as ever.

Coastguard Cuts - next week's public consulation meetings.

MPs to probe coastguard cuts plans             17 February 2011

The House of Commons transport committee has announced a full inquiry into government plans to close ten coastguard stations with the loss of more than 200 jobs.
Eighty-seven MPs – including 19 from the governing coalition parties – have signed a parliamentary motion opposing the scheme.


Individuals or interested groups should send written evidence for the committee to transev@parliament.uk by Tuesday 26 April.


Already 1,176 people have written to their MPs to protest using a form on the PCS website.


The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) – which runs the service – is holding twenty open consultation meetings around the UK in the next three weeks.


PCS – which represents coastguards and other workers at the MCA – is urging everyone who opposes the cuts to attend the meetings and make their feelings known.


Each event will be independently chaired, starting at 7.30pm and scheduled to close at 9pm.


The full list of meetings from the MCA website is:


• Humber - Monday, 21 February 2011, The Spa, South Marine Drive, Bridlington, East Yorkshire. YO15 3JH
• Thames - Tuesday 22 February 2011, Columbine Centre, Princes Esplanade, Walton on the Naze, Essex. CO148PZ
• Yarmouth - Wednesday 23 February 2011, Great Yarmouth Town Hall, Hall Plain, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. NR30 2QF
• Aberdeen - Wednesday, 23 February 2011, Pittodrie Stadium, Pittodrie Street, Aberdeen. AB24 5QH
• Forth - Thursday, 24 February 2011, Waid Academy, St Andrews Road, Anstruther, Fife. KV10 3 HD
• Dover – Thursday, 24 February 2011, Dover Town Hall, Biggin Street, Dover, Kent. CT16 1DL
• Shetland - Monday, 28 February 2011, Town Hall, Upper Hillhead, Lerwick, Shetland. ZE1 0HB
• Stornoway - Tuesday, 1 March 2011, Nicholson Institute, Springfield Road, Stornoway. HS1 2PZ
• Solent - Tuesday 1 March 2011, Thorngate Halls (Community Centre), Thorngate Halls, Bury House, Bury Road, Gosport, Hampshire. PO12 3PX
• Holyhead - Wednesday, 2 March 2011, Holyhead High School, Alderley Terrace, Holyhead, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey. LL65 1NP
• Clyde - Wednesday 2 March 2011, Port Glasgow Town Hall, 35 King Street, Port Glasgow. PA14 5HD
• Belfast - Thursday, 3 March 2011, Marine Court Hotel, 18-20 Quay Street, Bangor. BT20 5ED
• Liverpool – Thursday, 3 March 2011, Southport Convention Centre, The Promenade, Southport. PR9 0DZ
• Milford Haven – Friday, 4 March 2011, Cleddau Bridge Hotel, Essex Road, Pembroke Dock. SA72 6EG
• Swansea – Monday, 7 March 2011, Marriott Hotel, Maritime Quarter, Swansea. SA1 3SS
• Portland - Tuesday, 8 March 2011, All Saints Church of England School, Sunnyside Road, Wyke Regis, Weymouth. Dorset, DT49BJ
• Falmouth – Wednesday 9 March 2011, Tremough Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall. TR10 9EZ
• Brixham - Thursday, 10 March 2011, Brixham College, Higher Ranscombe Road, Brixham. TQ5 9HF
• Kirkwall - Tuesday, 15 March 2011, Town Hall, Broad Street, Kirkwall. KW15 1DH
• Ullapool – Wednesday, 16 March 2011, Macphail Centre, Mill Street, Ullapool, Ross-shire. IV26 2UN.


House of Commons tRansport Commitee


Read the parliamentary motion opposing the cuts


Write to your MP quickly and for free – even if they have already signed the motion


Lib Dem leaders rebel over coastguard cuts


PCS in the Department of Transport

Crossing Padstow's Doom Bar with a ground sea running.

The 15 metre Brixham registered beam trawler Harvester is caught on CCTV camera as she crosses the aptly named Doom Bar at the entrance to the river Camel and Padstow Harbour on the North Cornish coast. In what looks like relatively benign conditions a huge wave picks up the boat as she crosses the bar.

SOS - Ben My Chree gets tow from Sennen lifeboat.

Ben My Chree on the slip at Newlyn.

 

Newlyn gill netter Ben My Chree suffered a main engine problem while steaming back from the grounds north of the Scillys in the traffic separation zone between the islands and Land's End - not the best place to stop.  Sennen lifeboat was launched and, after securing a line aboard the stricken vessel, made the long tow back to the boat's home port arriving in the early hours of the morning. The Ben My Chree was working nets for ground fish like hake, pollack and ling on the rough ground around 20 miles from the Scillys when she broke down.

In a previous life, Gloria Maris tuna fishing.

Built in St Guenole, Brittany, as the tuna boat Gloria Maris the Ben My Chree was brought to Newlyn in 1979 for the Hicks fishing family.

In recent days, another Ben My Chree has made the headlines - this time in the Isle of Man were a ferry of the same name was hit by a 60mph gust temporarily delaying passengers at the port of Douglas while the boat underwent inspection.

SOS - Save the Coastguard service!

Nautilus International have just published this paper behalf of its members in response to the planned reduction in services of the Coastguard in the UK.

Please read.

Just call him Captain!

Nathan Marshal - Jumping for Joy!

After months of studying the laws regarding stability, righting angles, GZ times the weight = RM, free surface effect, deviation and variation, TVMDC, declination and amplitude, index errors and eye sights, MHW, chart datum, notwithstanding anything contained in Rules 4 through 18 any vessel......, the vessel on the starboard side....., morse code and all the rest that goes to make up a Class II skipper's ticket, a certain young Nathan Marshall is no doubt celebrating this afternoon having successfully completed his final oral exams in Dublin. Most certainly he will enjoy a pink pint or two in a hostelry oft frequented by friendly sailors before catching a plane back to Cornwall.

To see an example of the kind of questions you get asked in an MCA Oral Exam - check out MCAOrals.co.uk or test your own knowledge of the Rules of the Road, as the Collision Regulations are known.