All things being equal, whilst still reassuringly busy we are at one of the crossroads of our working year, the heating oil season is wrapping up as the seasonal surge in gas oil demand gets under way. Farming and fishing are both coming to terms with the unprecedented price hikes during the winter months. On the fishing front there are going to be casualties as the fuel hungry beam trawl fleet succumbs to the crushing increase in fuel costs whilst earnings fail to keep up.

In real terms as a result of the strengthening Euro, export prices for fish are very good but that cannot alieviate the pain that fuel prices are visiting on the beamers. This problem is compounded by the typical age of the vessels concerned, engines that were built in a different age of plentiful cheap fuel were designed for durability rather than fuel efficiency. Ageing vessels are also more costly to maintain as corrsion and wear take their toll. As a result of dramatically decreasing earnings skilled crewmen are being lost to the offshore oil industry support vessel sector.

From a crewmans perspective this is a very viable option particularly for ticketed skippers and mates whose skills are are in great demand to cope with the harsh conditions that support vessels tend to encounter. A major attraction for these relocated crews is the predictability of their working year, a month on month off cycle ensures that holidays etc can be planned with confidence and they are able to spend quality time at home with their families whilst enjoying a guaranteed income. Most support vessel operators evolved from trawler owners diversifying away from previous upheavals in fishing such as the infamous Icelandic cod wars. This mobility of skills clearly illustrates the old adage that when a door closes another one invariably opens.

Many of the crewmen who have taken up this option actually manage to combine the best of both worlds by owning “punts” (18′-20′ open boats with miniscule overheads) handlining for mackerel, bass or pollack in their free time at home. These bonny little craft are actually still a buoyant sector as the demand for sustainably caught traceable fish increases. It once again demonstrates the tenacity and adaptability of the Cornish in difficult times.

The first early potatoes are now being lifted having been planted under clear polythene sheeting around the turn of the year, this eagerly awaited annual treat while costly is one of the most delicious meals I can imagine especially when accompanied by a couple of pan fried handlined mackerel fillets and some freshly cut local asparagus. What we may lack financially at times is more than compensated for by the bounty around us that must never be taken for granted. Hats off to those who work so hard to provide it and are so often undervalued and undersold.

Tommorrow is Mayday which to me is synonymous with Padstow and its “Obby Osses” and the addictive compelling beat of the May Song which anually brings Padstonians home from the four corners of the World. I regard Padstow as one of Cornwalls inner sanctums, the tourist trade can do its tacky worst but Padstonians are still there fiercely guarding their heritage. They may have moved up the hill to new estate houses while their former cottages in the town are mainly classy second homes but once a year they reclaim the town as their own to enact their ancient ritual to the beat of drums and accordians. The Streets are bedecked with sycamore boughs and cowslips and blebells abound with the locals dressed in red and white or blue and white to denote their alliegiance.

Having good friends in the town I feel humbled, as an outsider, to be invited to join in the comradeship that is a vital ingredient so rare these days elsewhere. Actually the second day is the better when the flowers have all faded and the streets are looking bare but the sound of singing echoes around the narrow streets and the children with their minature accordians and drums gather around the maypole in the afternoon. To me one man stands out in the crowd, John Murt, Northcoaster, former crabber, lifeboatman and above all still a singer. A small lively man with bright eyes, mischievious smile and a fund of songs  (several hundred from memory) like no other, from the emotional evocative “Second Day of May” to the hilarious “I was the lover of Lady Chatterly”. Now well into his seventies this human dynamo, in the words of his sons Bernard and Maurice “is a nightmare, he’s got no off switch”. To know John and be priveliged to spend some time with him is priceless, when he is the ringleader the boys from Newquay, Bude, Cadgwith or the Cape sing their little hearts out and we are all the richer for it. To walk aruond the Custom House and hear them through the open windows of Sarah’s house is enough to make the hair on the back of your neck prickle and put a lump in the throat of the toughest nut.

Its been a long hard winter with likely an even harder summer to come, I am due a couple of days R&R so I am off to Padstow. Bugger the work, to hell with the local elections, while the politicians squabble like Black Backs raiding the fish market offal bins I am going to be having a drink with old friends, enjoying the music and comradeship of a very, very special place. They can keep their elections, policies and initiatives which have brought us to where we are today, its playtime.

Spent part of last week at the Commercial Vehicle show at the NEC just off the M42 near Birmingham. The show and venue were highly impressive but I  can see why so many Brummies want to join us in the “Promised Land” given the grime and congestion they daily endure. The wall to wall surveillance cameras around the M42 are unreal and the recently introduced use of the hard shoulder for traffic proved an ingenious means of queuing for the next exit. There is no doubt that the measure expedites the flow of through traffic but it must be interesting if a vehicle in the queue breaks down and the traffic behind has to enter the inside lane to pass it.

Having got parked, buses quickly shuttled us to the exhibition halls where the displays covered every aspect of road transport and vehicle repair and maintenance. Two days were barely sufficient to see it all. There were four of us catching up with all thats new, meeting colleagues who had also travelled up from home in surprising numbers and trying to decide on what make of truck will replace our treasured ERF’s when the time comes. The ERF marque has been the backbone of our fleet since the early days, their economy and reliability has been legendary and will be a hard act to follow for our sort of work. Since their take over by Germany’s MAN choice has been restricted to the point where it is no longer possible to buy a British truck tailored specifically for our unique operating requirements.

This unpalatable fact does not decry the makes and models still available which are superb products but nevertheless will not give us the flexibility we formerly had to cope with our legendary narrow lanes with such ease. When Bennetts Fuels came into to the fold last December we also took over their trucks, one Scania 6 wheeler and an MAN four wheeler plus a couple of old ones not required for further use. Scania was a make that I had never previously considered being totally happy with and focussed on ERF’s, however during the past few months I have monitored the Scania and am becoming increasingly impressed with its reliability and build quality. One of the redundant Bennetts trucks, a DAF 6 wheeler has a very good bottom loading tank suitable for remounting on a new chassis with a 6 wheel rear steer Scania chassis soundly in the frame for the job.

Looking at our fleet profile rear steer six wheelers are becoming increasingly important to our operation due to their increased carrying capacity and manouvreability. The  economies to be gained from selling our oldest but still very servicable 4 wheeler and replacing it with a new rear steer 6 wheeler are increasingly obvious in view of the valuable spare tank we have acquired.

It all seems too good to be true, sure enough it is, due to decreased build capacity and surging orders in the enlarged European community lead times for new truck chassis are now up to 2 years in the worst case. Scania are actually quoting 19 months and a hefty £20,000 premium over  IVECO who are quoting a 14 month lead time which is still pretty awful. We are also looking at MAN & DAF as possible alternatives but the really interesting twist is the opportunistic Japanese who are offering Isuzu & Hino models with proven credentials in some of the worlds toughest conditions. They are quoting around 3 month lead times which is much more realistic and may end up offering us a radical alternative to the established order if we decide to go down this route out of necessity rather than preference. The real benefit of this outstanding show was the ability to compare like with like under one roof with all the technical experts readily available to fine up specifications and options.

The overnight stay was also brilliant, just a meal and a relaxed drink with good friends worked wonders for everyone, but the really funny bit was when another gang travelling back to the hotel with us in another car with the sunroof open got caught in an absolutely torrential shower. The electric sunroof would not close and a truck hitting a puddle of standing water nearly filled the car, they were not happy bunnies as they shook the drips off in the hotel car park. It makes a refreshing change for something like that to happen to someone else as I usually seem to be on the recieving end. The next evening was even better as we came over Four Burrows towards home with a gorgeous sunset relecting off the sea a long way from the M42 and very glad to be back.