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3.13). The company operating from Kalk Bay was Marine Products who erected a new
Shark liver processing factory at Dido Valley near Simonstown. The Blesbok was later
involved in purse-seining.
Amongst the shark-catching skippers of note were Rachel Clarke, Charlie “Haai” Blaauw,
and John “Katokkie” Michaels. Later John Michaels was to become owner of several boats,
including the Four Sisters, which capsized and sank near Cape Point while fishing for
Geelbek. He lost his son Boy Michaels in this disaster. A few years later he had a 16m.
vessel built, called Rebecca-Joan, which was christened at Kalk Bay harbour. This vessel
trawled pilchards in Walvis Bay.
Most of the top Kalk Bay skippers and crew did long months of trawling in Walvis Bay, as
well as catching crayfish and snoek in Luderitz - then part of South West Africa.
One of the most colourful skippers and characters to come out of Kalk Bay was Malik
Cosyn. He used to co-skipper the vessel the Lucille Way which was owned by the only
woman skipper in Kalk Bay - Mrs Lyness. (Fig. 3.14). When radios were first used on the
local boats Malik, who was then skippering Vincent Cloete’s boat the Sunshine, would
often be heard sending out a signal saying “Sunshine calling Sunshine” – “Sunshine calling
Sunshine”, and no one would reply. (Fig. 3.15). After a day’s fishing he would tell the
others that none of the skippers wanted speak to him on the radio. Only after pointing out
that he was calling himself the whole day did you hear that very distinctive laugh that
echoed throughout the village. Sadly, in the early 1990s, both Malik and his wife died
tragically while on a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Jimmy Edwards was also a well-known and popular owner skipper. (Fig. 3.16). He owned
the boats Star of the Sea, Lucky Star and Morning Star. The vessel Star of the Sea, as well
as the Ivy Doreen owned by the Clarence family, and St Anne owned by Leon Klein, (Fig.
3.17), did the Festive and Easter Week-End holiday seasons “Tickey round the Bay trips”.

