On the last Sunday of the holiday we at last started to catch some mackerel. Before that there was a sail across to the other side of the bay. A line was dropped over the side of the boat and we had a bite just before we got to the other side but the fish managed to fight itself free before I could get it in the boat.

On the way back we saw dolphins breaking through the water in the distance. Behind Owen Island the sails came down and more lines went over the side. It wasn’t long before the fish were biting and after a furious ten minutes we had a good twelve of them in the green bucket. Some of them were of modest but good eating size but at least three of them were big and heavy and needed a large fist to hold them steady for the tap on the back of the head.

Back at the Cottage I filleted it them down by the water. The gulls came in quickly pulling up short in the air as we threw out the guts.

We had the fish for lunch cooked plain on the BBQ. We didn’t eat them all but those that were left were put to one side. I cleaned the fillets of their skin and bone and masked the flesh with a fork. Some mayonnaise was stirred together with a flavouring of squashed garlic, salt and pepper and some parsley. It was good spread on toast.

That evening we ended up for a final night in The Tin Pub listening to music and saying some good-byes. Unfortunately there was no opportunity to mistake the famous neighbour for a hobbit (he had been spotted the previous weekend in an elaborate waterproof which when I saw it out of corner of my eye led me to ask who had come into the pub dressed as a medieval warrior!). We were compensated by a version of Alfie sung acapella by the youngest daughter after the band had finished. There may be some money to be made in the pubs next year.

We walked back through a light drizzle of rain camera lights flashing in the sudden dark under the trees.