In the early hours of Saturday morning, a 50m long Japanese fishing trawler (the Eihatsu Maru) carrying fish and fuel,
ran aground in thick fog. It's new harbour being none other than the upmarket Atlantic seaboard suburb of
Clifton. Now for any international readers, homeowners pay a fortune to buy property in this affluent suburb, which offers breathtaking views of the Atlantic and it's coastline below - a rusting Japanese fishing trawler is definitely not something they would want on their beachfront. There have already been attempts to refloat the vessel, all of which have proved unsuccessful. Upon my visit last night it appeared to me that she isn't going anywhere soon (unless they can try on a spring tide perhaps). Surfers have been quite excited about the new arrival hoping it will generate a new surf spot, but that too looks unlikely. There was actually a surfer in the water last night who obviously wanted to be the famed first to ride the new wedge, but all he got was a lot of pounding on the head by ruthless shorebreak. A lot of
questions are being asked as to how, with today's sophisticated navigation equipment, can an experienced fishing vessel run aground? Some are skeptical and think it's all in a bid for a fat insurance claim; others blame it on the fog, which was unbelievably thick on Saturday morning. Whatever the reason, she sure is drawing a lot of attention and I doubt she'll be leaving our shores anytime soon.
