Simon and Cat Holman are taking the interesting step of building a sail-powered boat with the aim of using it to make a living from inshore fishing on the sea out of Portscatho in Cornwall – and they’re chronicling the whole thing at the weblog Teach a man to fish.
It’s an admirably low-impact idea, and no doubt the local restaurants and others will be pleased to take their catches. I’m sure we all hope they’ll bring enough back to make a living and that the wind never fails to bring them home after each trip.
The weblog describes their activities, which have included learning about fishing and the fishing trade, and their studies of examples of sustainable fishing. Simon Holman happens to be a marine designer, and the couple are now building a boat he drew up for the purpose – a pdf kit for making up a rather nice paper model of the proposed boat can be found here.
The Holmans recently completed a two-year voyage to the Mediterranean in their 28ft Heard gaff cutter named Planet, which is also described in a weblog.