“Fancy a trip out in the boat tomorrow?” asked John over the phone. Finding myself with an unexpected window in my busy life, going fishing was on my mind, so I readily accepted, and plans were laid for a trip the next day.
We launched from Penzance. It had been a while since I had been in the town, and it was a novel experience to see it from the sea, as we motored out of the harbour. Before long I spotted the Old Penlee Lifeboat Station, and the tragic events of December 1981 came to mind. Sixteen lives were lost, including 8 volunteer lifeboatmen, when the Solomon Browne Lifeboat went to the aid of the Union Star, whose engines had failed in heavy seas. How prophetic this was, in view of how the day’s events were to unfold.
Memories
Heavy seas were not an issue on this day, as John had chosen a good day to make the long journey down west. As we motored along the stunning coastline, memories of family visits came flooding back. Christmas at Mousehole, exploring fishing spots by Tater Du lighthouse, family walks to Porthcurno and visits to the Minack Theatre.
Bass, bass, bass!
Sooner than we expected, we arrived at our chosen mark. As I looked down into the water, an unfamiliar sight met my eyes – grey streaks moving about 15-20 feet below the surface. Bass – and lots of them!
Despite all these fish around, it soon became apparent that they weren’t interested in the bits of plastic I was throwing at them. Maybe they weren’t feeding, or the lure I was using was too big, or was going too deep – or both. I had an inkling this might happen, so had stuffed a pack of 4 inch, 10g Sidewinder Skerries eels in green in my bag when leaving home. Just as well, as 6 of the 7 bass (and 3 pollack) I caught took these. It might have been 8 bass, if what I suspect was a crafty seal hadn’t taken a fancy to one of them! Just a steady slow retrieve seemed to work – especially when cast into a patch of splashing fish and birds. Sadly there was no size to the bass, which ranged between 37 and 47cm, although John did have one slightly larger. Good sport though, and encouraging signs for the future.
Problems
We’d been fishing for about three hours, when I noticed that John was doing something at the back of the boat. “Having problems with the engine” he said. It would start, but then cut out after a couple of seconds. After several more fruitless attempts to get it running, John reluctantly decided that we’d have to head back to Penzance on the spare engine. We’d had an enjoyable trip, so packing up a little earlier than planned was no great issue. The spare engine started easily, and we were off – or so we thought!
We had only gone a short distance, when John declared that the spare was overheating, due to a lack of cooling water circulation. “I think we could be in shit street!” was John’s reaction. It was one of those surreal moments, when you can’t quite take the situation in. But the conditions were good, and we both had lifejackets on, so we were not (at that point) in any danger – although I was watching the rocks to see how close we were getting to them, until John put the anchor down.
Help!
John radioed the Falmouth Coastguard, who put out a general call for boats in the area to assist if possible. The next thing I knew, the Sennen lifeboat was heading towards us. It had only been about 30 minutes since John had raised the alarm. I read the rescue reports in the RNLI magazine – here was I in the middle of one! The RNLB City of London III slowly came towards us. With great calmness and professionalism, the guys attached a line to our boat, and we were under tow back to Penzance in no time.
Just outside Penzance harbour, the Sennen team handed us over to the Penlee team, who would take us to the slipway with a smaller rib.
I’ve been a supporter of the RNLI for as long as I can remember. As this day proved, if you do anything on or near the sea, you never know when you’re going to need them. These guys are mostly volunteers, and risk their lives without a moment’s hesitation. My £10 a month donation seems somehow inadequate at times like these.
Tight lines folks, and stay safe,
