The Fishing boat festival
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Sun 18 Sep 2011 13:08
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Yesterday was the fishing boat festival, an annual
ceremony to celebrate the safe return of 4 fisherman lost at sea but who were
washed up alive on this beach at Quinta do Lorde 15 days later. The fishing
boats paraded up and down and then motored round from the fishing harbour
at Canical to Quinta do Lorde where the statue of the Virgin Mary was brought
down from the chapel on the hill and taken back to Canical where it stayed
overnight before being returned today.There were about 25 fishing boats, of
which 12 were the large tuna boats with some having come from the Azores to
particpate. We went on a local boat which had just returned from 10 days at sea
catching tuna----this is a ''big money'' industry. Apparently most of the tuna
goes to Japan. There were about 250 'guests' on our boat and we were given beer,
soft drinks and tuna, both smoked and fresh. We stopped for swimming, for those
who felt strong enough to get themselves back on board, and the whole process
took about 7 hours. We could not have been made to feel more welcome. In the
evening the festival took over the whole of Canical with enormous amounts
of beef being chopped up and sold on hickory skewers for cooking on the various
BBQs on the beach and throughout the town----there were a few drink stalls as
well! This was very much a local Madeiran festival and we felt honoured to be
asked and to take part.
The yellow boat belongs to a lone sailor (about 70
years old) who sailed from Ireland (took 4 weeks) and is crossing the Atlantic
soon. No engine, just sails, a paddle and bottled water. When we asked if he
carried an EPIRB (emergency positioning satellite beacon) he replied ''no, I do
not wish to be saved'' !!
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