Japanese film crew in town

Zooming in on anything that moves, the Japanese travelogue film crew catch Chris Morley as he put his punt up on the hard so that he can scrub her bootom and remove some of the heavy weed growth around her stern.....
even local artsists get caught up in the crew's quest for all things local ion Newlyn.

The Trawlmeister at work

As green and eco-friendly as they are, the Curtis clan thought that their fellow crew member was taking measures to conserve stocks of lemons and dovers a step too far in the rigging of their new footrope......
father Curtis demonstrates how it should be done......
next, a new ship in the fleet about to join a growing number of small boats in the harbour, makes her way under tow to a fitting out berth.....
now that the evenings are a little more summer-like, a stroll along the prom (Cornwall's one and only) with a meal at the Poolside restaurant would seem an excellent way to end the week.....
especially as the skyline has been brightened up with this year's Golowan Festival flags now in place all set for the fun and games that is Golowan next weekend.

The wiffer on the end of a rope

An ignomious end to the day's fishing for the Sea Jay as she is brought in through the gaps by the inshore lifeboat - nothing to permanent we hope!

Club night for the yellow wellies over in Penzance

There's some serious kit for the long distance traveller aboard this small steel french yacht.....

another lifeboat, Winsdor Runner on pasage rests at Newlyn......

fishing gear for the duration being put aboard the Nova Spero, she is just days away from her first tuna trip of the year....

good to see the insulated tubs from British Cured Pilchards being put to good use on the top tuna team's transom.......

must upset the red team having to use blue combination for their sweeps......

at the end of the quay, tosher Blue Diamond, the only boat in the port to be registered at Kircaldy in Scotland gets the bottom treatment.....

as fellow Scot Ocean Star lands to a waiting lorry at the fish market......

a possible contender in this year's raft race has gone adrift in the harbour.......

quietly back in through the gaps, the Elisabeth Veronique.......

over in Penzance, officer on watch Eric keeps a close eye on proceedings during the Thursday evening club races......

no need to watch for any paddling from these guys in ideal sailing conditions.....

wheras the bigger boys have all hands at the ready to get as much sail up as possible at the start line.....
there's always one straggler as the Scillonian III turns for the gaps....
as the rest of the racing fleet pass under her stern.....
the dinghies fight it out closer to the shore......
could be some heaving line practice is required up in the bow......
"can I be of assisstance Sir?".......

one of several marine adventure boats that, at this time of year, can give visitors a close up view of dolphins and basking sharks......
at a more leisurely pace, the MBLA's Happy Return provides an evenings entertainment for a novice crew willing to learn how it was done years ago on a dipping lugger......
no doubt with a sky looking this wet tomorrow will be heavily overcast and a good day for visiting museums and other indoor venures.

Falmouth to host the world's biggest free shanty festival - with free ale (for the singers)

If you are of stout voice, or just like stout, head to Falmouth this wekend and enjoy probably the biggest collection of sea shanty and traditional songs in the world. Shantymen (and women) from all over the UK and Europe, some 300 plus, are descending on the town for a massive music mix of shanties and traditional working songs. The lucky competitors will keep their whistles wetted courtesy of Skinner's Ales who will supply thousands of pints to the thirsty troubadours.

The singers can found all over the likes of Custom House Quay and nearby hostelries.

Work at the Dry Dock dries up

Ship Repairers and Penzance Dry Dock......

apart from water, the dry dock is empty at the moment, not a good sign.......

work continues on fitting a new stern gantry aboard the Elizabeth N, with one eye on the future, looks like the boat will now have the capability to fish with trawls as well as beam trawl gear.....

ready ro rock and roll, hydraulic reels have are now in place on the stern of the tuna fleet flagship, Nova Spero - on french tunny pole boats there were tradtionally three lines worked across the stern, nicknamed the mother-in-law, father-in-law and in the middle, the a***hole!.....

aboard the Nova, skipper Edwards will be hoping that at the end of his first trip the bow marks will be down to the 2.8 mark!.......

some high quality engineering work is in evidence on the beamer....

bet the makers of cable ties would be surprised to find that their products are used as a deterrent to sea birds to prevent them from sitting and then s*itting on the rails of fishing boats.......

no prizes for guessing where the scalloper Mattanja hails from......

back to the pontoon berth after a day on the mackerel for SC50.

Sharks on film

Auctioneer Ian shows the Wiffer a thing or two about selling on the market this morning, realising top prices for a few boxes of dogs from the Ben My Chree....

a fine selection of sharks were on display.....

which must have been good news for the film crew from the Far East.......

and given Robin Turner something more to expound upon heading down the quay on another of his guided harbour tours.....

more trade witht the RNLI sees another lifeboat up on the slip......

and the Lizard boat at rest on a pontoon berth.....

TN Trawler's scalloper Mattanja has put an appearance in......

as final preparations are made aboard the tuna boats like the Ben Loyal and....

tuna fleet flagship Nova Spero, now looking resplendent in the morning sun after her annual refit and paint job.

Basking sharks off Gwennap Head

Having heard reports being broadcast on Radio Cornwall all day of basking sharks off Gwennap Head, Through the Gaps headed out to Porthgwarra in search of the beast, on the way a cock pheasant strolled leisurely across the road......
and a decidedly dog-eared fox sat gazing out from the cover of a stone wall.....
at sea there was much spindrift in evidence.......
but eventually, after settling down on the cliff edge, half a dozen baskers were seen feeding in the ebb tide.

Ideally, to get the best view of these gentle giants of the deep you need to join them in the water - see this remarkable footage shot of the first baskers to arrive off the Cornish coast this year by underwater photographer Dan Burton.

Basking Sharks 2009 from Dan Burton Photography on Vimeo.

Satellite image of trawlers working

A unique satellite view of shrimp trawlers working the mouth of the Yangtze River in China which shows a cloud of mud astern of each boat - at least they all seem to be towing in the same direction - unlike working for prawns on the Smalls!

Mood for change in the port expressed

Leading daily Westcountry newspaper, Western Morning News published an article yesterday claiming they had sight of Newlyn Harbour's accounts which showed a significant deficit in the finances of the port. The harbour commissioners are in the middle of a transition period where, as a trust port, they need to adopt a new set of rules by which to operate in the wake of the Modernising Trust Ports - A Guide to Good Governance published in 2000 - as yet not adopted by NHPC - things take while to filter down to the far west it seems!

The story leads on a lack of faith in the remaining six commissioners (two recently resigned) from ten, to tackle the changes and initiate the developments needed to compete in a global fishing market - these are further exacerbated by the current economic downturn. The harbour will need to do everything in its power to provide the most modern facilities and services available to take advantage of its unique position in the heart of the most prolific high quality fish grounds available in Europe and as a haven for leisure craft and other maritime interests including the arts for which Newlyn is world renowned.

For further reference, a look at Falmouth Harbour's annual report (another Trust Port - though they do turnover in excess of £3 million) is an indication of the weight of business experience and acumen recruited to the running of that port in today's ultra competitive maritime environment where ports need to be sensitive to the commercial and leisure interests of all concerned. Falmouth's website is, indeed, divided into two such sections for the benefit of harbour users.

Hilary Lister resued off the Welsh coast

Hilary Lister, hoping to be the first disabled sailor to complete a circumnavigation of the UK was rescued off the coast of Wales by the Fishguard lifeboat. She was taken to hoispital with mild hypothermia but released after a couple of hours.

Most un-June like

Heading back in through the gaps, a pair of swans from the resident flotilla make for calmer waters.....
a strong easterly breeze is indicated by the flag and wind vane atop the Mission building....
while the Scillies helicopter flies past the harbour light into a headwind on her way back to the heliport at Penzance.....
down at sea level one boat braves the choppy waters of the Bay....
taking the downs......
with the ups on her way to a spot west side of Mousehole Island for a spot of evening handlining......
back in the comfort of the harbour the tug Sea Trojan is still berthed.....
while the Charisma gets set to sail.....
the boys on the Pen Glas throw a line ashore and wait for the Portuguese vivier lorry to arrive for thier crab catch.

Langoustine from the Twilight

One non-fishing visitor the tug Sea Trojan (AIS) (model info) berthed outisde the Irish beamer Mary Kate which landed to the market this morning....

keeping a careful eye on their morning's work, Rosie Dyer watches as husband Mike hoists a box of top quality mackerel ashore.....

careful sorting of the Mary Kate's fish, as the plaice fly through the air.....

the boats use plastic film on high quality fish like....

these red mullet to help maintain their appearance......

a good number of boxes of langoustine from the Twilight, fishing away to the West'rd......

the quality of fish (like these trubot) can also be guaranteed with the use of slush ice from boats like Roly Kirby's Helford based Sardia Louise......

there were even signs of big ray fishing with Smarts Prime Fish unable to resist spending the cash.

Twixt Kettle's Bottom and the Longships

Not the most comfortable of rides for this small speedbaot just outside the Lonships.....
as Danny Downing on the Josephine heads, at speed, back to the south'ard.....
a lonely canoeist investigates a zawn near Land's End......the rig that graced Newlyn for many weeks is now safely in place off the end of the lifeboat slip at Sennen, with the lifeboat now on her mooring station.

Penlee lifeboat Ivan Ellen has an early Sunday morning shout

Sunday sail day, as the Snowdrop heads ot for a day in a strong breeze under captain Mervyn.....
closely followed by the Ripplemeister himself.....
as the crew pull fenders aboard.....
the crew waste no time after clearing the gaps.....
as they hoist the mains'l......
and head off towards the Mount.....
creating a picture from a bygone era....
before the peace is shattered by the Ivan Ellen racing out.....
on a shout......
while the inshore scalloper, Katie Clarie takes things at a more sedate pace.....
later, the Ivan Ellen tows her disabled yacht under the stern of the MCA's Anglian Princess on her way back to Newlyn, mission accomplished.