WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY – SO WHERE ARE WE TODAY?
Club history
WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY – SO WHERE ARE WE TODAY?
For the past 4 decades, the club has been active in promoting the sport of
angling, especially competition, development, and the conservation of our fish
and the magnificent Protea Reef that we have off our shore about 8 km out to
sea. We set certain standards on Protea; the club has a gentleman’s agreement
and unwritten law that no bottom fishing is allowed on the two highest pinnacles,
“North and South” and no anchoring is allowed. The club has always been proactive
with conservation and will endeavour to keep strict standards to discourage the
plundering of (endemic) reef fish. The club works alongside SECA
(Sonny Evans Charter Association) to maintain security at the launch
site for all boat users and members of the public.
Over the years, and due to the support of our members, we
have built Shelly Beach Ski Boat Club into a formidable club Nationally and
Internationally and still brag that we have the best sports angling water in the
Association and Provincial body, the Natal Deep Sea Angling Association.
On the sports angling calendar, we are very much sought after by anglers
wanting to compete here. At our annual invitational Inter Club, we usually host
about 15 teams representing clubs from all over the country. Not only are our
angling facilities good, but our restaurant has achieved a reputation for outstanding
food and service. We continue to strive to improve our standards and give our
members and guests the best service.
Unfortunately, the control at the base is not always the
best. This is not by any means due to lack of trying on the part of the
council, but rather from the apathy of some of the users who continue to try to
buck the system. The base has come a long way and there have been major
improvements since the days when Noel Yeoll was in the control tower. We thank
Gary Hossack who has given us twenty years of excellent service in the tower
for the Council.
The safety record at Shelly beach has been outstanding and there has never been
a fatality at Shelly Beach from the recreational angling fraternity;
unfortunately, this has not been the case in the diving fraternity with three
lives lost, two in 2001 and one in 2002. The Charter fishing fraternity have
also had their share of fatalities with four lives lost in 2006. Looking at
statistics, the base launches approximately 500 boats a month and 800 boats in
peak season, with the absolute minimum of mishaps. The base is the most highly
utilised launch site on the South Coast and maintains its status as an A1
launch site.
The Clubhouse was designed and built by Billy Mountjoy in
1981. The building of the clubhouse was financed solely by the members of the
club, with no financial assistance from any Municipality except for the
allocation of the land. We relied on fundraising drivers and sponsorships to
erect the building. As the years progressed, we applied for permission to
extend the clubhouse forward and to obtain more ground to the north of the
building, where we erected and installed a Lapa and a much-needed swimming pool
for the wives and families of the members to use while their husbands were out
at sea. Instead of the husband begging the wife to come to the club, it now
became the children begging mum to go to the club so that they could swim and
have lunch and refreshments. “Fishing widows” were no longer stuck at home but
were able to become part of the club, enjoy the facilities and get outdoors.
The bar and the restaurant are a good income generator, which
helps to subsidize our membership fees, keeping increases to a minimum, and also
assists with the maintenance costs of the building. Members of the club pay an
annual fee, and there are three membership tiers. Our guests and visitors enjoy
our facilities, including overseas tourists who always come back and visit
every time they come to South Africa. We have made many international friends
who go back home and boast about the “little fishing club in Africa”
encouraging more overseas visitors to Shelly Beach. One must realise and
understand that first and foremost, we are a fishing club and we always ask our
guests to be patient during high season times, the wait will be well worth it.
When we have functions the member’s wives put all they have
into spoiling the guests who attend these functions, the prominent names of
wives that assisted us from the start and please forgive us if we have left any
one out it is not intentional are: Wendy Vinnicombe, Ruth Davies, Marina do
Santos, Tilly Walter, Winnie Gets, Dawn du Plooy, Michelle Gets and Robyn Garbade. These ladies
have made us proud, and we are lucky to have ladies of their calibre in our
club. On behalf of all the members and the committee, we thank them for their
unselfish time they gave to the club.
Tournaments at Shelly Beach have always been very successful, the first Bonanza
in 2001 proved such a success that the following year it was moved to St.
Michaels recreational ground where a huge marquee for the weigh-in and
festivities was installed. While the
fish are weighed, the tent is packed not only with anglers and their family,
but also with tourists who now plan their winter holiday around the event.
