"Still Norfolk 'n' Fish" Debut in Cork Harbour 26/08/08

Following the abject failure to get the new boat in the water at the weekend in Galway due to the weather and a strange desire to have a bit of a "gay day" with the lads (dont ask.... ) involving shopping, doing lunch, hair dos and bowling on Saturday followed by copious amounts of alcohol that night the vessel formerly known as Clewless Tew finally made its way onto a slipway in anger.

It was decided to launch out of Crosshaven rather than the preferred site at Ringaskiddy due to a height barrier being in place and not having a key organised yet. Myself and Lee (Scotsman) met around 5.15 and proceeded to fanny around with all sorts of time consuming little tasks before eventually dropping the little SeaHog in the water and firing her up.

Well, what joy it was being able to come out past Camden Fort at 25 knots! However, the speed junkie in me had to be restrained somewhat due to pretty lumpy sea conditions. We began with a mack hunt which it has to be said, in the early stages of the evening proved to be a bit of a struggle ( they reached plague proportions later though ). With a few in the bucket, we headed to our Huss Mark and threw down the hook. Unfortunately though, this yielded just one miserable doggie apiece in about 45 minutes so we upped sticks and moved. Drifting along the edge of the bank saw a few whiting come aboard for Lee (using one of my traces just to rub the salt in a little more ) Next drift, a little further south saw a dab for myself. It was a shame the level of fishing wasn't matching the level of excitement at being afloat in the new boat but sure I guess you can't have everything.

With daylight fading and promises of a steak dinner at home we took a quick spin up to the southern end of the rock and had a little drift about there. I had a reasonable pollack and Lee managed a Poor Cod to cap off a pretty brutal evenings angling. One bit of excitement came as a large Rib came bouncing out past us and almost ended up flipping over its arse after taking off over a wave! It would have been nice to head out of the harbour a bit and stretch our legs but it was pretty swelly and in the interests of comfort we sacrificed a bit of fishing. Still, it was great to be out and the journey back to the slip took no time at all.

Retrieving with the Snipe Breakback trailer was a complete and utter doddle and so it ended. No incidents, no hassle, a very pleasant evening all in despite the lack of fish. I look forward to expanding my frontiers a bit in the near future. 6 species on the board I guess....

Well done Pete, great to hear you got her in the water. Best of luck with her!

I would just like to clarify, Pete and JP went shopping, did lunch and got their hair done (I think they had their nails done too) on Saturday, I just went bowling and drinking!

Best of luck with her Pete...you've come a long way since the first Nofolk n' Fish and those seat of your pance trips out of Swilly & Teelin. Look forward to getting a trip out in the harbour on her

Cheers for the trip Pete. Very uneventful boat launch - this is a good thing! Don't think I've ever been out with anyone on a first launch with no hiccups, not even minor ones, but it all went swimmingly. Lovely little boat, handled well in the conditions .

Thanks for glossing over the fact that I hammered you in the fishing stakes (okay so it was only a few whiting, but hey, good news for all those guys competing against you on Sunday).

The new hairdo was lovely Pete - really highlights your eyes - don't let those other guys tell you otherwise and I was only too happy hauling anchor so you didn't ruin your nails. Think the dress and the perfume were a bit over the top though