Ross Bridge opens for the Gry Maritha

In the early hours of Saturday morning, after several weeks of repairs, the Steamship Company's supply boat Gry Maritha leaves the dry dock and heads out through the Ross Road bridge. Penzance Harbour Master Neil supervises proceedings. Local fishing boat J-Anne under the command of Mike Mahon gets to be tugboat for the manouvre.

Gry Maritha makes it out in the morning mist

After several weeks in the dry dock its time for the Scilly supply boat Gry Maritha to exit the dock........
as the road bridge swings open a clucth of baby pigeons is revealed from their hiding place under the road....

tug boat assisstance courtesy of Grimmy Mike in the J Anne....

skipper must be mindful of the speed restriction on the crossing.....
so its judicious use of the bow thruster.....
as the gap narrows.....
as she heads off for sea trials out in the Bay....

ts that time of year again when the Cornish Tuna fleet will soon be sailing
hard to tell what is going on in Newlyn this morning....
them ol' worms sure do some damage in the harbour!

St George finally gets to steam through the gaps!

Maybe the first time this particular Keriolet from Concarneau has been in Newlyn, but for many years there was another Keriolet (SS114) under the command of skipper/owner Andrew Traz Treloar - see this archive gallery. The original French owner, Pierre LeQuillec retired and opened a Cafe Bar outside Concarneau and called it....Bar Keriolet!......
young Charlie Downing sees the last few boxes come ashore from the Billy Rowney........
as the St George finally gets away after her mammoth refit to begin the long 100+ mile steam off to the deep water in search of cricket bats (Megrim Soles to you and me)...
the Brixham beamer, Two Boys gets her trip into the back of a waiting lorry........
after shifting there's something of a leap of faith....
as the ends get let go to swing her bow....
the Keriolet sits quietly against the quay...
and the crew are seen here waiting for the return of their skipper......
who finally makes it back to the boat, but not before ending up in court fined for apparently mis-reporting errors in his logbook! The boat came into Newlyn originally to sort out a rope in her propeller when she was boarded by local DEFRA staff as a routine inspection........
latest addition to the mackerel fleet from St ives....
Brixham skipper, Dave Blower's new beamer, the Kerrie Marie landed earlier.....
after landing there is some small damage to be made good aboard the Cornishman, ouch!...
Camel Fish are back in town for the Intuition's crabs....

as they come out of the vivier a bongo at a time, that's about 50Kgs a lift.

The best handline caught pollack there is!

While the industry comes to terms with the fuel crisis, individual players fish on - a handful of insore boats landed on Wednesday morning...
among them, Cornwall Seafood award winner, Roger Coutsoubus with the inshore trawler Nantewan checks his landing....
back aboard the boat crewman Roger gets the important work done - getting the kettle on for a post landing cuppa at 5.30am......
skipper Roger makes sure that the Nantewan's fish is immediately iced over prior to the sale.....
another inshore boat, the Foey registered Defiant cuts off her starboard side trawl...
back aboard the Nantewan, visible evidence of one of those rash decisions made when caught up in the frenzy that is Padstow's 'Obby Oss day - Roger now sporting his new 'hat'.....
back in the market hall, local chef Michael Riemenschneider from the Abbey Restaurant, has brought his three young chefs down to see just how their fish is handled before being served up in the restaurant... more work aboard the Defiant to cut the trawl from the footrope...
the best quality Pollack on the market that morning came from the line caught team aboard the Sea Spray.....
here is a top box just before being iced over....
the Nantewan heads back out to see on a turn-around trip for Roger and Roger.......
visiting Irish beamer the Willie B is in town.....
late Wednesday evening sees the Crystal Sea making a landing...
as a couple of mackerel boats head back to their berths after landing......

methinks someone is going to spend hours looking for their favourite mug aboard the Emma Louise!

Black Bank Holiday Monday

With the cost of fuel showing no sign of decreasing in the immediate future, the outlook for a large section of the home fleet has reached something of a crisis - to the point where it will be uneconomical for some vessels to go sea without the guarantee of a good catch. Some skippers and crews may well be considering their options over the Bank Holiday period.

For some in the fleet looking through the gaps, there are dark skies ahead .

At the other end of the scale, the mackerel fleet are being kept busy by a mixy run of fish....
and its good to see that there is still some young blood coming through, here Andrew Pasoce heads up the harbour with his boys aboard.....
the gulls always handy when the mackerel boats are about....
more bottom cleaning in fron of the harbour offices, the wed on the boats has seen prolific growth in the last few weeks...

another tosher heads in through the gaps while the Mount remains shrouded in the early morning fog bank.....
a good run of fish for some it seems....


after anding it's back to the pontoon berth.

Birthday for one!

The temptation to use the deck-wash in your hand when someone is busy cleaning is always too much it seems....
time to take cover under the shelterdeck........
al hands to the boxes in the back of the lorry for the CarolH's fish...
there's plenty of room too.....
as skipper Phil guides the boxes through the top of the shelter....just in case anyone missed the birthday event for this weekend!

Friday evening and inshore boats land to the market

Gary, from the port's latest new addition to the fleet, Achieve, lands several boxes of red gurnards - despite the recent interest in these by the restaurant trade, these fish will move down the quay and go straight aboard a crabber to be used as bait...
so it's out of one box and into a bongo before being passed back down to the deck of the waiting crabber the William Harvey....

it might be the end of the trip but as ever in the world of trawling there's a job to be done when the boat gets back to her pontoon berth...
netted fish from the Lamorna comes ashore in boxes.....
most recent addition to the Ocean Fish fleet is a high-tech mackerel boat from Buccaneer Boats
down on the pontoon, captain Leach makes a start on the night's mending job on one of the two damaged trawls - not a good day!.....
father and son team will work well into the dark, especially as the mesh is only 80mm, bit like the old days on the prawns!.....
mind you, there's always time for a quick yarn with fellow inshore skipper Edwin off the Cathryn....
seen here with the day's catch on deck ready to go ashore.....
under the watchful eyes of his grandson who is looking forward to a Friday night fish supper courtesy of Grandad Ed!
looks like 'Tom' will end up being well protected with the new mini coastal defence scheme over on Newlyn Green.

Splice an eye

You can't beat a bit of line caught bass for breakfast from boat number 4!....
a one-off lonely shark languishes waiting for the auctioneer to ensure its destination....
part of a superb trip of brill and turbot (around £18 per kilo for the biggest fish) for the Padstow netter, Berlewen being auctioned by stand-in Robin Turner......
another view of the Berlewen's trip across the market width.....
Thursday evening sees the Intuition head for the gaps...
what the warp sees as it makes its way through the hanging block at the head of a derrick on a beamer - not all beamer derricks have such a subtle bend as this one though!......
double-purchase block with splicing the end eye in the background.....
as ever, the guys on the Cornishman provide a clourful scene as they work through her gear...
a few more turns needed in the end-splice - Portuguese style?...
the ice-works looks somewhat shrine-like with a trawl wrapped around the base...
despite the cold waters, the spiders are beginning to move for the inshore boats, Jake directs the lorry reversing along the market to pick up the fish...
with a fascinated audience, none too sure of the unusual looking spiders and lobsters...


weighing and sorting the Little Pearl's catch

a small welding job, courtesy of Penzance Dry Dock Company atop the wheelhouse of the St George.

Badcock gallery makes for an interesting diversion from the quayside

Starting today with a splash of colour passing the Swordfish and Co-Op....
and some more traditional transport artwork in the lorry turning area......
in Badcock's Gallery there are some interesting new faces to ponder....
while a set of gear waits on the quay to be put back aboard...
night-time passing gull on the wing....
at the same time, Pride of Cornwall heads off to chase the Cornish sardines, no sign of the new, big blue cat getting in amongst the fish yet.....