FY 17: MEVAGISSEY & FILEY...

 FY 17 (Mevagissey & Filey…)

Bustling for space, baulking,

FY 17 sidles against the tangles

Of ropes, nets, baskets and lines,

And its neighbour, likewise moored

Below a mighty inner harbour wall, sulking

In Mevagissey. Its livery scarred

And in need of a repaint,

As it leans into FY10 at an awkward angle,

Awaiting its next venture, hulking

Into shoals without restraint,

Relieved to escape a caulking

And an enforced quayside constraint… 

Lounging in space, listing,

FY 17 rests upon the harsh shingles

Of dust and stones, in the confines

Of Filey’s sea-front, largely ignored

Below a dragon plant, dry and clawing

In adversity. The livery scarred,

In need of restoration,

It lies sadly at a shy, forgotten angle,

Awaiting perhaps removal and storing

And care and conservation,

Then reclaim a quayside mooring

And a skiff’s fitting preservation… 

Pete Ray

29th April 2021

Strange to see Filey’s small boat FY 17 (FY for Filey, I guess…) on the sea-front last week, for I spotted the real FY 17, called ‘Kingfisher’ in Mevagissey in 2019, a trawler/netter, a 1983 boat from Polruan which also needed some care and attention…

Then I came upon Simon Hart’s painting of FY 17 which he has given me permission to use with my poem…

Why FY 17? 

Well, 17 has always been a special number for me… 

Not lucky, just special…