At Brest 2016, William Chérino told us the story of Tarzan, the last representative of the Mediterranean gangavier flotillas. The gangavers fished for sponges. They dragged large metal hook nets that scraped the bottom of the sea to catch natural sponges.
A Neapolitan-inspired schooner, the Tarzan was armed with sponge fishing in 1950 in Sfax, Tunisia. But in 1957, with the abolition of the Monarchy and the establishment of the Republic by Habib Bourguiba, the Tarzan left Tunisia with five other fishing schooners. The schooners tacked on Malta before reaching the coast of Sicily to finally reach France.
Arrival of the Tarzan in Sète in 1957
The boats arrived in Sète in 1957. At the time, the fishermen of Sète owned small boats of 15 meters with engines of 90 horses. The Tunisians arrive with their 23-metre schooners and 160 horsepower engines. Unlike the Sète fishermen, who fish with trawl on the side, the Tunisians fish with trawl by the back.
The arrival of Tunisian fishermen provokes the slingshot of fishermen from Sète who fear competition from these more powerfully armed vessels. The gangavers are then disarmed. The Tarzan was rearmed for fishing in 1962 with a crew repatriated from Algeria. The Setois acquire new fishing techniques and build new boats on the model of schooners. Thus, in 1964, Sète became the first fishing port in the French Mediterranean.
Tarzan classified as a historical monument
Disarmed in 1980, the Tarzan passed into the hands of a yachtsman before being bought by William Chérino. In 2006, Tarzan was included in the inventory of historic monuments. William Chérino's objective was to restore the boat to its original condition with its mistic schooner rig. The association Friends of Tarzan The company, created for this purpose, has a contract with the Guip shipyard which will start the restoration. Convoyed to Brest last March, the hull of the Tarzan is exposed during maritime festivals.
