An eventful year to say the least, Brexit, far flung travels, a fishing first, an allotment, a new business, more gin and a son that’s taken to the tarmac instead of the river bank. So where are we now, as another year has all but passed by like an autumn leaf caught in a pool of slack water before catching the current to finally take it floating down river and out of sight. On reflection this has been a very busy year with much done since I last wrote on here.
In early spring I chose to move on from my role at Franklin & Sons, a role I enjoyed very much. I had been tempted away with the offer to help set up another drinks brand agency. Before I started to craft the business I took a break with the family, I knew from the outset setting up the new business I would end up being time poor, early mornings, late nights, this new role would need my full commitment, so there has been little time for car boot fairs, days fishing the southern chalk streams or Sussex Coast or walks along the tidal Thames foreshore. What there has been are three memorable trips, the first to Mauritius, the second to the northern coast of Cyrus and the last one to Sicily. However there is once last chance for another memorable trip to the Welsh Coast before the sun finally sets on 2018.
Our trip to Mauritius back in April allowed us all to swim with dolphins and over coral reefs that were still alive. Young Tales caught a PB with a Dorado aboard the ‘Lady Diana’, a memory that will stay with him for a lifetime. In August we took off to the north coast of Cyprus, there we took time out to visit a turtle sanctuary and were privileged to be be able to let 10 turtle hatchlings free under the moonlight, to this day we wonder how they have all fared, especially when only 1 in a 1000 are likely to survived to adulthood. Our third trip allowed a long weekend in Sicily where we drove the original Targa Floria route as well as visited the largest sculpture installation. This has been a great year so far and we have one final trip in store to a remote cottage on the Welsh Coast, literally as stones throw from the sea.
I’ve now embarked on a research project for 2019 which will focus on the sea and sea fishing, it will cover the welfare of our seas, sea shore and fish. More importantly my observations and notes will be around the issues of mental health and how fishing, the sea and rivers can help level the mind, fishing is a great healer.
I look forward to writing more in 2019, I just need to get back into the discipline and with greater commercial pressures my fishing and writing will help me through what I see as a very demanding year ahead. Hopefully I can share with you my Sea Angling Diary an initiative with Cefas.
tales by the riverbank 