Scillies lifeboat goes to rescue 'missing' dismasted yacht 100 miles off the Scillies.

St Mary's lifeboat is currently steaming WSW of the islands to go and pick up a dismasted yacht that has been 'missing' for 11 days.

This was the last recorded AIS position recorded by the yacht after leaving Antigua.

The catamaran was said to be making "very slow progress" towards Falmouth with an improvised mast and sail rigged by the skipper - photo courtesy of RNAS Culdrose SAR

Here's the story from the BBC:

A catamaran which had been apparently missing for nine days, has been found by a search and rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose. The crew from 771 Squadron found the dismasted vessel about 100 nautical miles off the Cornish coast. The Orinoco Flo, which was en route to Falmouth from Antigua, was last seen on 2 June but had been out of radio contact since. The skipper, who had rigged an improvised mast and sail, was unhurt. The catamaran's radio had been damaged when the mast fell, he said. The skipper told the helicopter crew he had food and water on board, but with his boat making "very slow progress" and poor weather forecast, he would accept the offer of a tow to the Isles of Scilly by the St Mary's all-weather lifeboat.

Looking for a fair deal on fish law reform

Make sure the fisheries minister delivers a fair deal on fish law reform

Here's the latest post on Greenpeace's web site post World Ocean's Day when the Fisherman's Friend Campaign launched in the South West at Plymouth Aquarium with support from Cornish artist, Kurt Jackson.

"Last Friday was World Oceans Day. Being an oceans campaigner that, on one hand, means a lot – but on the other it begs the question of why the rest of the world doesn’t think about oceans all the other days, like I do!? 

We marked the day with an event in Plymouth, sharing a stage with fishermen, the National Marine Aquarium, and artist Kurt Jackson, to officially launch our Be a Fisherman’s Friend campaign in the south west. As if to illustrate how we can’t just leave the fate of our oceans to one day each year, all the while I was in Plymouth we were also frantically preparing for a crucial meeting on European fisheries reform. 

This week - tomorrow in fact - European fisheries ministers face a crunch meeting as part of the process of reforming Europe’s fish laws. This is something that affects all of us, whether we are interested in fish, fishing, or conservation, and something we have to pressure our elected representatives to get right. 

You might have seen the full page advert in the Times today, one that was replicated in Polish, Spanish and French newspapers, by the fine people at Hugh’s Fish Fight. They were letting our ministers know that we, the tax-paying European public, are watching them, and expect a fair deal from this reform process. 

There are a few headline issues at stake tomorrow, such as the recovery of our fish stocks (pretty fundamental, when 70% of Europe’s fish stocks are currently overfished), and an agreement to end the scandal of discards. It also looks worryingly like ministers might backtrack on progress to make distant water fishing fleets (that’s European boats catching fish in places like West Africa and the Indian Ocean) better regulated, and ensure they are not simply stealing other people's fish. 
We all need to make sure that our elected representatives know we care that they get this stuff right – so if you’re on Twitter, then do please tweet at the UK minister @RichardBenyonMP and demand a strong, meaningful reform of those European laws that have let us down so badly. And closer to home you can also remind our minister that he can, and should, also ensure a fairer deal for the low-impact end of the fishing industry.

Greenpeace is working with fishermen in many EU countries, including here in the UK, to try and give the more responsible parts of the sector preferential access to fishing quotas – something that should be a no-brainer, really. 

That’s the essence of our Be a Fisherman’s Friend campaign, and if you haven’t done so already, send your own personalised sea shanty petition to Richard Benyon to join the campaign.

Today may not be World Ocean’s Day, but with this crucial meeting tomorrow, it’s a hugely important day for you to speak up for our oceans, our fish, and our sustainable fishermen."

Bit late with the Cefas news!

Cefas Endeavour is now on the 12th day of her two week June 2012 survey off the souht coats of England. Day one of the trip was recorded on the Cefas blog and clicking on each of the subsequent days on the calendar section will reveal how the boat fared in the less than pleasant weather that hit home waters at the end of last week and over the weekend.

At the same time as the Cefas survey, the RRS James Cook is in the middle of her current survey off the west coast of Scotland - including a cruise past the legendary, and according to some, most isolated rock in the world - Rockall.....

Photo courtesy of Laura's post aboard the James Cook.

and for those familair with this part of the planet, a rather typical view of the rock shrouded in mist!

Falmouth Coastgurad gets a thank you from Sarah Outen in the Pacific Ocean

Listen to the last broadcast from Sarah Outen using iPadio aboard her rowing boat before she was picked up in a rescue coordinated by Falmouth Coastguard over 6,000 miles away.

"Sarah is now safe aboard the recovery vessel sent by the Japanese Coastguard. Sarah is now making her way to back to Japan. Thank you for all your messages of support and a huge thanks to the Coastguards in Falmouth and Japan for such a swift response and for getting Sarah aboard the recovery vessel safe and sound in difficult sea conditions. We are awaiting final confirmation of details of Sarah’s arrival in Japan and will let you know more once we have further information. All the best The London2London Team"

 Japanese Translation セーラは海上保安庁の巡視船によって無事救助されました 2012年6月8日 セーラは海上保安庁の巡視船によって無事救助され、現在日本に向って航行中です。 温かいサポートメッセージをお寄せくださった皆様、そして非常に迅速に対応し悪天候の中セーラを保護するために尽力を尽くして下さった日本の海上保安庁およびファルマスの湾岸警備隊の皆様に心より御礼申し上げます。 セーラの日本到着日時などの詳細につきましても、最終確認が取れ次第お伝えさせていただきます。 The London2London Team

Here is the post on round-the-world Sarah Outen's London2London blog just after the news broke that she had been succssfully picked up by a Japanese Coastguard vessel. Typhoon Mawar proved too much for both Sarah and Charlie Martell who has also had to be rescued. Both rower's boats were subjected to 30-50 foot waves which proved their undoing as damage to the hulls ensued.

Sainsbury's supports sustainable fishing fleets

Sainsbury’s is making progress to ensure the most popular fish eaten now can still be enjoyed in years to come. Our plans have been in place following claims from marine experts¹ that half of the world’s fish stocks are still at risk of depletion. Sainsbury's is proud to be the largest UK retailer of MSC-certified sustainable fish and seafood products, with over 80 products which carry the MSC ecolabel. Our aim is to offer MSC-certified fish where it is available and where the product meets our strict quality standards. We've plans to significantly increase our certified offer in the next 12 months. 


 The ‘Big 5’ species (cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns) remain the most popular fish eaten in the UK, accounting for 80% of all fish sold every week. Sainsbury’s is working to convert the 'Big 5' species to green rated (green rated is ‘sustainable’, red rated means 'major concern’, according to the Sainsbury’s decision tree; developed with key stakeholders within the fish industry). 


This means moving cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns to 100% sustainable sources, ensuring that the fish are caught or reared with minimal impact on stocks, eco-systems, and the wider environment. 


The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is the world’s leading independent certification and eco-labelling scheme for sustainable wild caught seafood. It works to promote the best environmental choice in seafood. When you see the MSC eco-label, you can be sure that you have found a product that’s been independently certified as being sustainable. We are proud to say that Sainsbury’s is the UK’s largest retailer of MSC certified sustainable fish. We have over 75 MSC labelled fish products spanning all areas selling fish.


Sourced from Sainsbury's web site.

Meva in season

Non-partisan flags in the car park at Mevagissey suggest all Celts are welcome.....

and top of the perennial visitor favourites is good old local ice cream......

with the stormy weather in full swing the tiny harbour is packed with the local fishing fleet.....

time to visit Mevagissey's famous museum - free as well - but feel better by making a donation on the way out.......

St Ives artist Borlase Smart at work in this pen and in wash depiction of Mevagissey's harbour.......

the museum's collection is drawn from all aspects of Cornish fishing community life......

and it seems foreign fleets in local waters are nothing new.......

in those old pipe smoking days......

there's a good example of a basket of lines - these are still used by a handful of boats when fishing for conger eel today......

there's an example of a net making machine, for many years in the homes of Cornish pilchard fishermen their children would be expected to 'make' so many rows of mesh before they were allowed out to play - here's more information provided by Nick Howell, curator of the now sadly closed Pilchard Museum.....

"Thought you'd like to know that the "net making machine" photo that you have in Meva is in fact a Norsel making machine or as the Cornish often called it, " an 'orsel maker" .

Norsels, 'orsels etc were the twine that separated a pilchard/herring net from the head rope. The head rope itself would consist of a left and a right turned rope tied back to back with their twists opposite to each other and with the cork floats in between. This was to stop the net curving, due to the natural twist of a rope, when in the water.

The Norsel machine twisted a few pairs of smaller twine in one hit, each pair only 12" to 18" long, back to back so that, again the natural twist of the twine would not curve in the water".........

next to the Museum is John Moore's boat builders,  Britannia IV and Britannia V were built by the yard.......

Mevagissey is world famous in angling circles for the killer bass lure, the Red Gill invented by Alex Gill in 1968 and more bizarrely for being the first conurbation in the Britain with electric street lights.......

perfect for baking pasties, a Cornish version of the pizza oven known as a 'clone' oven, which were set into the wall of the large granite fireplaces found in most Cornish cottages.......

out in the harbour the age-old seaside pastime of crab catching continues.......

even though it is low water.......

which means the boats are dried out.......

looks like the red mullet are going to be on local menus soon......

gales mean the Mevagissey Ferry is not able to do its Fowey run today......... 

all hands make light work when it comes to scrubbing off below the waterline and anti-fouling the hull......

once a sea of masts........

though there's no sign of fins on the menu.......

another trawler with a voracious appetite for fish.......

the Still Waters is taking advantage of the bad weather to go through her gear......

the fish market at Meva caters for a fleet of much diversity.......

one of many in the village........

the cliff road heads straight out to sea.

French trawler Maranello towed by Plymouth lifeboat

After suffering engine failure the French trawler Maranello was toed into Plymouth by the local lifeboat.

Rescue footage courtesy of the RNLI.