Help get Antony back on the Water

Meet Antony Newcombe. This inspirational 12 year old young man from Cawsand, Cornwall started to ‘make some waves’ recently by selling “fresh fish and crab with no carbon foot print on Cawsand beach”.

Here a recent quote from his own Facebook page: “I will be launching my new venture selling the best quality locally caught sustainable lobster, brown crab and fish, all caught from my own Registered Punt. I am a Registered seller of first sale fish and can provide receipts to pubs and Restaurants. Over this winter I will be learning to make traditional Withy pots. My aim is to save for a small inshore fishing vessel and to keep our fishing heritage alive.”

A few days ago however ‘the waves’ seemed to have gotten the better of him: although tied up properly, at a recent high tide his - and another - boat had “gone on a journey of its own out to sea”. After a search for a few days his boat was finally found; sadly smashed into many pieces on the local rocks. Of course, this didn’t just leave Antony’s boat devastated but him too...

Question: do we let this young man’s dream die with the demise of his boat? The answer surely has to be ‘no’, and this is where you all – hopefully – come in.

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Antony has already had some fantastic responses and offers of financial and/or other support. Skur Boats from Liskeard have offered to build Antony a 12ft boat at cost – materials will be donated for free too - and Spencer Carter Winches have offered to help with a davit arm. The MMO have already confirmed Antony can keep his Registration of NPV1162 and the new boat will be named ‘Ocean Harvester 1‘

This ‘upgraded’ boat will:

- will get Antony back out on the water, doing what he loves best: fishing

-speed up Antony’s aim of a proper ‘small inshore fishing vessel’

-set him up for the foreseeable future

-make the whole operation extra safe for Antony (btw. his dad has been guiding/watching him all along)

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Where is the money raised going to be spent on?

-together with a private pledge already made, plus Antony’s own contribution of £150 he recently received for doing a podcast, £2000 raised will get Antony not just a safer ‘upgraded’ boat, but it will also send out a message to him that ‘the Community’ has his back.

-if we raise a maximum of £500 over the £2K target this will enable Antony to buy some extra items like an upgraded life jacket, replace some pots that were lost, etc.

-any amount raised over £2500 – or unspent/not needed money will go to: www.ghostfishing.co.uk. Ghost Fishing UK is dedicated to removing Abandoned, Lost, and Discarded Fishing Gear known as ‘Ghost Gear’. Interesting detail: Antony did a sponsored swim last year for this Charity, swimming from Picklecombe Fort to Cawsand Beach. He swam 1.5 nautical miles in1 hr 35 minutes and helped raise... £2000!

*** Let’s all make this work***

Thank you.

Ps. Check out Antony’s Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/ForgottenCornerFishandCrab and his Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/@npv1162