With this year's Blessing Of The Fleet taking place on during the weekend of the 40th week being so close to the public holiday Heritage Day and Heritage Month, one cant help but embrace this theme for this is exactly what this festival embraces. The Blessing of the Fleet festival once again took place at the V&A Waterfront with a great attendance of both the Portuguese and other fishermen's families over the course of a hot weekend. With last season's catches having improved substantially, it is no wonder this year had an even better participation. The tuna pole fleet this past season have mostly all managed to catch decent volumes albeit nothing of the years gone by, but nonetheless a few more smiles have been seen along the quays. Who knows, maybe this year will be even better than the last? Here's hoping.
The only real major issues this off season was that of the slipways and their lack of availability. With Cape Town syncro lift having been closed for maintenance and with Hout Bay's main slip being broken, there weren't too many options available for the vessel owners. This has created an unwanted amount of tension and back log. Furthermore, there were some strike action on the Hout Bay slip, although this was denied by DAFF. This same slipway has been out of commission for a few months now. Not sure how long you need to repair a slip but then I think of all those jokes about "how many people does it take to screw in a light bulb?" Perhaps this is a clear indication that it is time for the slipway in Hout Bay should be privatized?
Secondly, SAMSA have been more vigilant this season and have been checking and enforcing the qualifications of each vessel's crew. We had to send our officers on the fire fighting, first aid courses again which is a good thing. I suspect this is due to the fact that SAMSA is currently reviewing our industry's safe manning requirements and have thus issued you with 2 certificates, namely; Safe Manning Document and now also the Advisory Safe Manning Document which outlines what you will be required to crew with the respective competence in the near future. This is all in accordance with SAMSA's initiative to align the current South African manning compliment with that of the International Maritime Organisation's recommendations. This is to ensure that we conform with the international standard especially for those vessels operating with the high seas command.
So as is this time of the year that all the vessels are receiving their preparations and diligent attention in respect of the surveys that they will undergo to be shipshape for the up and coming pending season. The harbor is abuzz with contractors working under the ever so vigilant eye of the owners and skippers. We have seen the fleet undergo a large amount of maintenance and plank work in preparation for this years arrival of the tuna.
Staying with the heritage theme... I came across a very informative and interesting website called Trawler Heritage. The author of this site who has dedicated this effort to his late dad, has insightful information and comments regarding the fishing vessels both past and present that operate along our coast. His comments regarding each vessel which he has an extensive collection of photos published on this site, are pretty accurate. He has even noticed the color schemes changing on some of the vessels this year. If you are a vessel owner then I suggest that you take a look on his website as he probably has your vessel's history logged. He has gone into great details and effort to keep his pictures and information current and has subsequently received an international ward. Kudos to him and all who have provided assistance. The website provides a great source of information regarding our fishing heritage, harbor infrastructure and general industry news. A good read for those interested and it seems to be updated regularly.
Pictured above in Hout Bay, is three of the former S.A. Sea Products vessels now in the tuna pole sector moored alongside each other namely from left to right; "Hangberg," "Sneeuberg" & "Constantiaberg," while a fourth sister vessel the "Barbara W" which moored directly in front of them has now sunk. At present all four vessels have different owners, and were used as crayfish boats in days gone by. This picture and caption are from their website for your information. (www.trawlerheritage.co.za)
With this year's blessings having been bestowed, all that remains is for the patient arrival of the tuna. Good luck to all and may this season be better than the last.
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