Fishing festival at Canical

Oyster Moon
Paul Foskett & Rhu Nash
Wed 7 Sep 2011 16:51

Position 32 44.8N 016 42.78W

 

17/9/11. We were told about fishing festival in Canical at marina office.  Legend has it sailing boat with four fishermen sank, they were at sea for 14 days assumed dead and then washed ashore presumably where marina is now.  On top of cinder cone is little chapel which they built in thanks for survival and placed Virgin Mary (model obviously).  The marina manager arranged for anyone that wanted to go to the festival to get onto one of the tuna boats and take part in festival.  About 20 of us from the marina went- traipsed up the hill to main road where one of the marina guys waved down bus and made sure we all got on and told the driver where we getting off.  We, along with hundreds of other people, boarded these fishing boats.  There were 12 or 13 x 30m tuna boats and about 5 or 6 x 15-20m smaller boats.  One of the little ones had so many people on it was really listing when turned to port or starboard.  All the boats then left Canical cruising up and down the coastline and then finally en mass to Quinta do Lordes where one of the boats stopped to take on board the VM.  It was like being in a convoy that you see in the old war movies –two lines of tuna boats.  

 

All the boats then had to charge around the headland, out of sight (no idea why) of the procession going to the church to collect the VM and return an hour later.  All boats stopped in bay on the way back and anyone who wanted to could go for a swim dived over the side.  I didn’t as the thought of trying to get back on that deterred me!  But very generously, the crew were handing out beer, water, passion juice, dry salted tuna, octopus in tomato and then as many tuna rolls as you wanted to eat – all for free.  The cook and his wife had apparently been preparing stuff for 2 days and the crew bought all the refreshments.   Then collected VM and all piled back to Canical, VM demobbed and taken to church.   Back on land, the streets near the dock were lined with stalls selling usual junk but several stands selling meat.  Whole haunches of beef hanging up on thee stalls, not just one, two or three.  They were slicing off the meat and putting it onto squires.  On the beach big BBQs had been set up and people were going there to BBQ meat.  We wimped out of that bit, but Helen bought some of the meat and fired that for our supper.  Delish and a fantastic day.  Whole thing repeated the next day as VM delivered back to church and fishing boats got blessed.

 

Decorated boats.

 

 

This guy peaked too early and was not seen much after left the harbour.

 

Overloaded or what.

Fishing boat convoy.

 

Beef for roasting on the beach – not a fish in site.