Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Holy Mackerel

First day back at work today and God has it been hard. Picking up the threads of flooded basements, blocked lavatories and recalcitrant contractors. How could I ever have coped with being away from it all?

Cornwall now seems but a dream but one which I have made several escapist dips into over the last few hours. For all I’m totally un-enamoured with being back at work everybody has been telling me how well and how relaxed I look. Plainly Cornwall has done me good. Sadly its boosting effects will no doubt have worn off by the time Friday arrives. I can feel the rising tide of mediocrity lapping at my boot heels even now.

Talking of tides and such... the last day of the holiday Karen, Ben and I went mackerel fishing from Penzance. Karen had been mackerel fishing before and I’d done some night fishing in The Maldives some years ago so we were both well up for it and thought the experience would be a good one for Ben.

The experience certainly started well enough. We headed into Penzance and managed a lovely late afternoon meal at a lovely little café that was proudly advertising the fact that the BBC had named it as one of their food heroes for the area. Good for the BBC. I stuck to omelette not wanting to risk a chilli con carne on the high seas while Karen plumped for the crab salad. Ben, ever the galloping gourmet, went for the chicken dinosaur shapes. Not even Gordon Ramsay could have dissuaded him.

Anyway, such culinary fare took on a slightly sour note once we were at sea in waters that I’m sure your average sailor would merely describe as “a mite choppy”. For us it was a deal more alarming – especially when, the engine stopped in readiness for us to cast our lines forth, the boat was constantly being rocked at 45 degree angles, port to starboard and back again... up and down, up and down.

As the song goes: Huey, up she rises! Huey, up she rises!

Or something like that.

Never having been one who’s ever suffered from any form of travel or motion sickness I was absolutely fine – though I caught not a damn thing; not a single bite. Ben’s chicken shapes however started a deep sea diving expedition about an hour into the fishing time and disappeared overboard with much gurgling and splashing. About half an hour after this Karen’s crab salad also made an escape bid and headed back to the ocean in a much reconstituted form.

Such chumming of the waters may have been what kept the mackerel away. Personally I was juat glad that it didn’t encourage the much reported Great White shark that was stalking the Cornish coast at the time to head in our direction while we were at sea.

Anyway once Ben had recovered some of his colouring the Cap’n good naturedly asked him if he’d like to come mackerel fishing again...

To which Ben told him with frank 6 year old politeness that he “really didn’t think he should...”

That’s my boy.

Landlubber and proud of it.

7 comments:

MOTHER OF MANY said...

I am definitely a landlubber.
Apart from the mackerel fishing it sounds like you had a good time.

Lucy Dee said...

I've never been to Cornwall, but I had a penpal (yup, I said it penpal, back in the days of yore) that would often vacation there. He was an avid surfer.

Nice to come across your blog! I like the photo, with the glasses! Trés sexy!

I'm a standup comedienne in NYC, blogging her way to stardom!

Steve said...

Ha ha! Hi Lucy, I've never thought of the glasses shot as "sexy". It always makes me think of Adrian Mole...!

Thanks for stopping by - I will do the same to you!

Lucy Dee said...

I replied to your post. There's another post I linked your reply to that I think you would enjoy. (No need to post this comment. I couldn't find your email, so I just opted for the original method I contacted you.)

TimeWarden said...

Not that I don't like other things but I'm an omelette man too, Steve!

I'm actually quite good on the open seas! As a lad, I went on a cruise, on the SS Uganda, sailing from Southampton to Vigo, Lisbon and Tangier where I bartered with an Arab for a bracelet for my Mum!!

Travelling through a very rough Bay of Biscay, with the waves crashing over the deck and everyone ordered below, I refused the prescribed seasickness tablet! The school hard case, in the bunk above me, took his and still threw up!! Luckily, not over me!!!

Steve said...

I always like it when the school hard case gets his come uppance!

-eve- said...

LOL! I like Ben's reply ;-) I get seasick too, even while swimming, so know just how he feels. You're lucky you don't :-)