Swanage Lifeboat Week

 Sailing early, the Condor ferry from Poole passes between a local trawler and the Isle of Wight in the distance......

 another Cornish exile moored in Swanage Bay.......

 local fishermen must be watching with more than passing interest as another huge wind farm looks like being built in the bay......

 as usual, not a local box in sight.........

 once stood in the Thames, this memorial to the Battle of Waterloo was brought back as ballast by a succession of boats carrying Portland Stone to and from the quarry down the coast at Portland.......

 one of our lifebelts is missing.......

 the huge annual fund raising week is in full swing at Swanage......

 including visits and trips on the local boats......

 kept in the lifeboat house......

 last reminder to the crew on the way down the slip.......

 the unseasonal weather will not dampen the spirits......

 angling is hugely popular in the area and has its own liter scheme......

 reserved parking ready for action.......

 the sheer chalk cliffs at Studland are part of Dorset's dramatic Jurassic Coast.........

 local gigs are kept on moorings during the summer season......

 a must visit for old and young alike with tons of atmosphere, sounds and sights from another era very much alive on the Swanage to Corfe castle branch line with its annual Thomas the Tank Engine festival.......

where there's water there's always one prankster with a water pistol.

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Inseyandra, missing mast from the Fastnet Yach Race

 Safely berthed after retiring from the Fastnet Yacht Race, competitor Inseyandra was forced to quit the race after losing her mast on the second leg while heading for the finish at Plymouth........

she shows signs of some strong seas, with the Rolex vinyl sticker blasted off the bow of the yacht.

Tiz a muggy mizzly morning.

After a clear night, a band of rain hits the harbour.......

time to get yesterday's St Ive's Bay mackerel on to the market floor......

to join the single trip of fish from the William Stevenson.......

John Marisco Fish, always willing to help identifying fish on the market.......

always goo to see the boss willing to get stuck in.........

a good night's work on the Cornish Sardines from the big blue cat Lyonesse.......

sailing time for the stern trawler Defiant.......

closely followed by one of the few punts working in the Bay at the moment.......

better view of the launch.......

 visiting sardine boat Silver Star makes her way in through the gaps.......

and heads for the fish market to discharge her night's work.

A visitor's view of Newlyn.

The voyage of the French yacht Video Bleu II

It is worth looking at the comments on various blogs of visiting yachts to Newlyn - unbiased customer feedback - hats off to Val in the office for giving this particular visitor access to the WiFi in the harbour office - which should also prompt the harbour to think about making WiFi available within the harbour area - these days a relatively cheap option and a real plus for visitors, service engineers and others wishing to be in contact with the outside world via the internet.

"Newlyn: the largest fishing port in the south coast of England, which contrasts with the wetting of Helford River left this morning and all the other ports of Devon and Cornwall who welcomed us. A working atmosphere, decor and rusty metal, nets, engine noise, big diesel exhaust smells and mechanical grease and of course "fish stock". The leisure boats, oddly, become part of this living picture without offending the eye.

We read in the Imray guide that the The Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fisherman in which all who go to sea are welcome (sic) a hearty breakfast is served in their dining hall. So we tested. It is actually cheap and OK (as the French are reputed discerning breakfast eaters  - hat's off to Keith and the crew!) but the reception is mixed, not even a silly question like, "Are you French"?  - it is therefore so obvious that no one needs to even ask us any more?

And the Mission shower is 3 pounds (unthinkable) against 50p to use the only shower in the port where we seem to be more dirty than entering!  Good point: no WiFi on the harbour but the Secretary of the Harbour Office, without hesitation, offered us access to the Harbour Master's office for an hour and a half. Great class!

After a tour of the town (very quickly) and a little food, drink aboard Ithaca, boat and Gilles Agnès Frenchies of Ouistreham. Basically the stop in Newlyn has given us so to speak down to earth as it began to move into a nomadic too comfortable!

Skills of the hand, artisnal work on and around the harbour.

The Fish Shop, retail outlet for PJ Tonkin, Newlyn Fish Merchant is undergoing a major refurbishment this week including a dramatic window display unusually these days created by a sign-writer rather than using a computer and vinyl......

all that is needed is a brush, a mahl stick (upon which to rest the brush and) and a steady and......

looks like some sort of ex-Admiralty launch.....

the big one has gone two up in recent days......

plenty of big visiting yachts.......

forklift 2 tons, old anchor 5 tons, no chance Royden......

new gear time for the Admiral Gordon.......

you can't call yourself a trawlerman until you can splice wire.......

and then when the damage has been done.......

cut out the damaged meshes and mend the rest of the trawl.......

good to see the old St Ives lugger Barnabus off to sea with a novice crew about to get a taste of life on a dipping lugger.

Fisherman flown to hospital after losing finger.

 

 A fisherman has been flown to a hospital in Plymouth after his fingers were crushed on a fishing vessel.  Falmouth coastguards received a call from a crew member on the beam trawler William Stevenson at 11:55 BST.

William Stevenson picked up by VessdelTracker's AIS software.

An RAF rescue helicopter attended the scene, 20 miles south of the Isles of Scilly.

The fisherman was assessed on the boat by a paramedic and airlifted to Derriford Hospital where his conditon is not yet known.