Blessing of the Fleet an important tradition for Provincetown fishermen

PROVINCETOWN - Fishing boats on MacMillan Pier were bedecked with American, Portuguese and Azorean flags as their owners readied for Sunday's Portuguese Festival and Blessing of the Fleet.

Captains and crew of lobster boats and mobile gear boats, including scallopers, sea clammers and draggers were readying their boats for the procession Sunday morning. A lobster boat crew used a crane to lower lobster pots with onto the deck of their boat.

Antonio Dias was squid fishing off the family boat, Berco De Jesus while waiting for his brother, Jorge. They were planning to take their 45-foot scalloper out to line up for the procession. The Dias family grew up in Provincetown, one of hundreds of Portuguese families that have made their living from the sea.

Stories of danger at sea

The blessing and festival keeps their heritage alive, Dias said. Every boat has a story to tell of danger faced and overcome - or not - at sea.

"Provincetown was built on fishing," he said.

Fishing is a tradition with deep religious significance.

Christ told his disciple Peter, a Galilean fisherman, that he would be the rock on which he would build his church.

Psalms 107: 23-24 says "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep."

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'A prayer for safety as well as for success'

As Jorge Dias loaded gear onto the boat, he called the blessing an important tradition. He is Roman Catholic, so the blessing is a prayer for safety as well as for success.

"Hopefully we'll do good for the year,"  Jorge said.

Beau and Kathleen Gribben were loading up their scalloper, the Glutton. Kathleen passed folding chairs, links of linguica and beverages while symbol flags waved in the breeze.

Beau grew up in Provincetown and left high school to become a fisherman. Out of seven families in town, five were fishing families or dependent on fishing to support themselves, he said.

He remembered when the fishing industry was much larger with about 70 boats. He estimates there are about 28 lobster boats and 12 mobile gear boats now.

"I was exposed to fishing in infancy," he said. "I went out when I was 10-years-old, and then anytime I could. We were always on the pier."

He rattled off the names of fishermen he called legends: Louie Ding, Anthony Jacket Jr. and his son, Tony. There were too many fishermen to name who left lasting impressions on him and the community, he said.

He returned to Provincetown after fishing in Kodiak, Alaska for a few years.

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"The more I worked on land, the more I realized I should be a fisherman," he said. "Somehow we carved out a decent life."

It hasn't been easy. This year scallop catch is down 37% and ground fish catch is down 92%, Beau said. With stock assessments and right whale protections in place, there have been reductions in days fishing and huge areas of water have been blocked off to fishermen, he said.

The cost of fuel at $5.20/gallon, for two boats carrying 250 gallons each of fuel, means there is less profit. "It doesn't mean the cost of goods goes up," Beau said.

But fishing is the job he loves.

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"There are a lot of reasons for the blessing," Beau said. "The tradition is important. It's about the connection to the church, to celebrate the life you carved out on the water, to ask for protection from the elements, and to give thanks for the life we have."

Keith Rose was on his boat the Kimberly Ann, a sea clammer. It's an emotional day for Rose, whose family has been fishing since they arrived on the Mayflower, he said. A banner reading "In loving memory of Michael Gregory," hung from the boat's rusty dredge.

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The banner is a memorial to a good friend who died five years ago. He'd been a fisherman, a man who lived by the tides and the seasons on the seas.

Rose uses a hydraulically-operated dredge that uses water to stir up clams on the sea floor. The clams are harvested without being broken, he said. He's spent a lifetime on the water. He is familiar with the dangers.

"I sank twice on other sea clam boats," Rose said. "I was rescued by the Coast Guard twice. I swam through oil."

His daughter, Vanessa, works with him. It's likely she'll carry on the family business.

,Contact Denise Coffey at dcoffey@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @DeniseCoffeyCCT.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Provincetown Portuguese Festival, 75th Blessing of the Fleet tradition