Blog entries - January 2009

Inflation worries

David Stevens — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:30:14 +0100

We sailed again early monday morning, as we left Newlyn there was such a strong north west wind blowing down the coombe that we had a job to get out of the gaps, I had to put the throttle down to scrape clear of the south pier. So we new were in for a rough ride, sure enough as we got clear of Gwennip head and opened up the sea it was blowing a north west gale.

As we were shooting the netsJanis got the toggle of his lifejacket stuck in a mesh, it inflated straight away and he looked li...

Another Quick Flip

David Stevens — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:20:31 +0100

I have just got home after another short trip, we are landing tomorrow morning for PTA on monday morning. The fishing was good again we have 90boxes for 5hauls 24hrs. We were catching quite a few pollack's and lings this time, the south west gales must have stirred up the ground and now they are on the move across the ground, shifted off the wrecks.

It was a poor trip with a hugeswell again that didn't ease much at all, the wind backed out all day today from the north west...

Ready to go at any time

David Stevens — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:12:09 +0100

I went on the internet monday evening to see what the weather was doing and it was looking poor for the next day, then I woke up early on tuesday morning and it seemed quiet, so I went on the net again and the weather was not coming as first forecast. So I called the crew and we set sail early tuesday morning, I have to say the swell was huge as we got out to open sea and we were glad to get thenets in the water as soon as possible. It went away fine after the first haul, the wind eased and t...

Typical January!

David Stevens — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:56:27 +0100

Were still in the harbour along with the rest of the fleet waiting for the stormy weather to pass, I have to admit it's quite frustrating knowing that we could be out on good fishing, but a least it's so poor that you are not Iming and aming. The weather is still forecast to be sou west gales all of next week as well, but we have plenty to do, on monday Janis and I are going to startcleaning the engineroom, we have to spray detergent on the pipes and deckheads to remove the smeac...

Weather Stops Play

David Stevens — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:21:13 +0100

We landed our catch last night and it was sold at Pta this morning, we got lucky and carried on fishing well, mainly catching Haddocks,gurnards and smooth hounds, we had 170boxes for 36hrs at sea which for us is good fishing. I am glad the fish was handy this trip as we didn,t really have enough time to travel very far. Unfortunately the weather is looking awful for the next week ahead! soI don't think we will be getting away for a while yet, but if we get a chance is good to know we...

Unsettled Week Ahead

David Stevens — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:37:47 +0100

We landed our last trip on Sunday morning and had 145 boxes of Cuttles and Haddocks and a bit of prime, for our 3 days to the SW of the Lizzard.

It blew a Southerly 9 Sunday night into Monday but the wind droppped away quickly through the day so we prepared the boat and headed off on Monday evening. As we approached Tater-Du lighthouse (Lamorna) we encountered a huge swell so thoughtit best to return to Newlyn to turn in for a few hours. We got away again at 0400hrs this morning,...

Off To A Good Start

David Stevens — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:25:59 +0100

We landed our first catch of the New Year after 4 days at sea, the prices were good and we had a nice bit of fish for our time - so we're off to a good start - lets hope it continues for the rest of the year!

We are off to the SW of the Lizard again but have moved further west today the fishing has been good with a few more Haddocks this trip. However what is unusual is that we are catching30kg of small Squid a go, normally this time of year they are very big, maybe they spawned ver...

Visit from Her Majesty's Navy

David Stevens — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:36:37 +0100

We have been working to the SW of the Lizard point still catching Cuttles, they've hung on a bit down this way this year, we haven't seen much of the Haddocks as the tide's too slack, but we have been seeing a nice bit of Monk, Brills and Red Mullets along with the Cuttles.

We had the Royal Navy on board today for a routine inspection it was only our third day back this year, but all was ship-shape and after being aboard for 2hrs they left to carry on inspecting other v...

Delayed Start

David Stevens — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:13:32 +0100

Just like it we have been in since the 16th of December, then yesterday we were running the engine ready to get ice and we found that the 110v generator had packed it in. So we phoned downies in Scotland and luckily they have one on the shelf, so Alec And Dad left for Fraserbrough in Scotland this morning, they are hoping to pick the new generator up tomorrow and make there way back down , so we arehoping to fit it on saturday. So better late than never we should get to sea sometime saturday or ...