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Fremantle fishing boat model
Fremantle fishing boat model

Fremantle fishing boat model

Maker
Date2001
Object number00033596
NameModel
MediumWood, paint, plastic, metal
DimensionsOverall: 780 x 830 x 255 mm
ClassificationsModels
Credit LineANMM Collection
Collections
Description1:20 scale model of a typical fishing boat used for crayfishing in Fremantle in the 1950s and 60s. It is timber planked construction with two masts and sails and with a small wheelhouse placed aft. The model is dressed with various coloured flags as was the custom at Fishing Fleet Festivals.SignificanceThe model is a fine representation of a typical Fremantle fishing boat in their transitional state in the 1950s and early 1960s When the Fremantle crayfishing co-operative was established in the late 1940s, the only available fishing boats were wooden-hulled pearling luggers from the Broome area. By the mid 1950s their hulls were adapted to accommodate an engine shaft. Twin masts and sails were still used until the 1960s when the fully motorised version was used. On festival day, the boats were decorated with flags, palms and flowers.

The model, dressed in its flag regalia, is a valuable interpretation of Fishing Fleet or Blessing of the Fleet Festivals throughout Australia. The Blessing of the Fleet has become an Italian-Australian tradition in fishing ports around Australia's coastline.

The blessing implores Madonna Stella Maris, star of the sea, to protect the fleet and bestow a plentiful harvest. The Western Australian port of Fremantle attracted Italian fishermen from the villages of Molfetta and Capod' Orlando in the late 1800s. Some three generations on, their families revived the Italian tradition of blessing their fleets in the late 1940s.Fremantle's Portuguese merged their ceremony with the Italians in 1973. What began as a small fishermen's festa soon evolved into a multicultural festival involving all the community. Children dance in national costume and teenagers in the debutante's ball, while adults march in solemn procession and the aged tell miracle stories of the sea.