Beachport’s annual Blessing of the Fleet has been rescheduled and will now take place on Sunday, October 1 beginning at 3pm.
The original date of September 30 coincided with that morning’s street market but clashed with that afternoon’s AFL grand final in Melbourne.
All skippers, deckhands, families and spectators are to gather at the foreshore War Memorial Rotunda where there will be hymns, Bible readings and prayers.
The Beachport fishing fleet will then steam past the nearby jetty for a blessing and a blessed cross will be ceremoniously tossed into the waters of Rivoli Bay.
It will be retrieved and then borne by one of the lobster vessels for the remainder of the 2023/24 season.
The Blessing of the Fleet is staged by the Beachport Professional Fishermen’s Association in conjunction with the churches of Beachport.
October 1 was the usual start of the fishing season along the South East coast until recent years.
