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The Coastal Brothers of Saldanha
21:33 p.m. EST Oct 26, 2003
Published 00:05 a.m. EDT Oct 22, 2003
So we received this mail from "Saldanha in South Africa (33šS 18šE)" regarding Joe Fontes and Imigrantes voyage featured on this website. It all started with Captain Phil on the Amazon Queen. He was fascinated by Maud Fontenoy's ocean row and tipped us off on Joe's voyage to the Azorers. Joe raged about the Ham radio community keeping him company on his great voyage. Then the Coastal Brothers entered our world offering Joes positions. And so we got a little curious. Who are these guys, monitoring each other on our worlds oceans? Here is their story:
The Founding of the Coastal Brothers
In the second half of the 17th century the buccaneers from Tortuga Island, Haiti, comprised of a society that was organized along the strict rules as set out in the "Law of the Coast". They called themselves the "Brethren of the Coast", "Brothers of the Coast" or the "Coastal Brothers". Later, in Santiago de Chile on 4 April 1951, seven sea loving navigators created the nautical fraternity and called themselves the "Coastal Brothers".
One of them, an European medical doctor (Anselmo Hammer) traveled all over the country to market medical products. He utilized his traveling to introduce the idea of fraternity to various Chilean sailing clubs with much dedication and enthusiasm. Thus, the simple and romantic nautical fraternity spread from Chile (and eventually by Chilean seafarers) to Europe and the rest of the continents. The seven brothers who founded the Fraternity have since passed away. In their honour the tradition of having a minimum of seven members in order to start a table, is maintained.
The 8 commandments of this fraternity were instituted by the seven founder members on 7 November 1951 in Santiago do Chile. This is the only philosophical document which rules the "Coastal Brotherhood" and it is the only law which is to be accepted by the brothers all over the world.
The rules
To be a Coastal Brother is having the privilege of being part of a greater family which is spread over all the continents;
Each elected committee member directs all his efforts to maintain the Brotherhood spirit and promote events to achieve this objective;
If you cannot be loyal to the Brotherhood, excuse yourself;
Obey with respect your Captain's orders as if they were from your spiritual farther or your older brother;
Do not attack a brother with arms or foul word, irrespective whether he is from your port or from your coast;
Welcome onboard the brother that pays a visit; sit him at your table and offer him the best bunk in your cabin;
Expect to be treated in the same manner in which you treat your fraternity or he will punish you;
Do not be envious of your brother's ship nor his sails or motors;
Bring the pilot who is without a port to your port and if you do not possess riches besides a kind heart, embark him on your yacht and consider him as a brother;
Do not be proud nor violent or your brother will isolate you, and you will be left alone with your plight;
The love for the ocean should be the following cult of your days. Make sacrifices to the sea whilst observing these rules.
The South-African Scene
The history of the South African Brothers date back to 1975 when Joao Costa arrived in Cape Town, from Angola, at the helm of yacht "Elize". Since he was close friends to the members of the Luanda table, he felt the necessity of starting the fraternity in South Africa, to maintain the nautical traditions and friendship that his friends from his former hometown had so readily exercised.
It was with the Rally Expo '98 that the old dream was rekindled. A number of participating yachts had the Coastal Brother flags flying. Amongst the crew, his old-time friends (and former members of the Luanda fraternity) of 35 years ago and now members of the Portugal Table, Jose Inacio and Fernando Sancho. On the evening of 31 December 1997 these friends joined Joao at the Saldanha Bay Yacht Club to celebrate the coming of the New Year. On this evening the table of South Africa was created by the reading of the Luanda Table's original code of conduct, by Rui Sancho.
In December 1999 Joao Costa received the Costal Brothers burgee accompanied by a letter from the Great Brother in Portugal, Jose Inacio. The letter appointed Joao Costa as emissary and acknowledged his nickname of "Capitao Viganca" (Captain Revenge).
The letter was the seal of approval and recognition for the South African Coastal Brotherhood.
The history of the Brothers Flag
The modern flag of the Coastal Brothers derived its origin and inspiration from the pirate flag, the "Jolly Roger". The flag was adapted by the Coastal Brothers and has a black background with an anchor, 2 stars on top en 2 crossed oars at the bottom. These symbols are white, replacing the "Jolly Roger's" skull and crossbones with an anchor and 2 oars respectively.
Image of the Brothers flag and Jacobsbaai, a beautiful isolated bay a few kilometers north of Saldanha Bay with a sea frontage of about 2km courtesy of www.saldanhabay.co.za
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