The Maritime Museum

To our knowledge, the first extension to the mill was made in 1915 when its southern side was extended towards Market Street. In 1919 the building was bought by the S.A. Milling Corporation and once more extended – this time northwards towards the railway line. Major renovations were carried out in 1946 to increase output. The final extension – a store – was added in 1953.

Steam-driven milling equipment was used until 1922 when Mossel Bay got electricity. In 1951 the building was sold to the South-Western Wheat Corporation and used as a warehouse.

Since its reconstruction, the theme of the Maritime Museum has been the history of the voyages of colonial expansion around the southern coast of Africa.

A replica of the caravel used by Bartolomeu Dias to round the Cape of Good Hope in 1488 currently dominates the interior of the museum. Various maritime exhibitions depict the ‘successes’ and ‘failures’ of the Portuguese, Dutch and English seafarers around the south-eastern coast of Africa.

A blue-and-white ceramic tile mural in the foyer depicts a dangerous mythological creature, Adamastor, first created for the Portuguese epic poem The Luciads by Luis Vaz de Camões (1524-1580). Adamastor symbolized the dangerous natural forces Portuguese seafarers encountered and then overcame at the ‘Cape of Storms’ to find a sea route to India.

Since 2002 displays depicting the history of the town, can be seen on the upper level of the Maritime Museum.

A replica of the 1488 Bartolomeu Dias Caravel is currently the centrepiece of the Maritime Museum exhibitions. It was built for the 1988 500-year commemoration of Dias’s voyage around the southern tip of Africa.

At the time Portuguese caravels were two- or three-mast, shallow-draught ships that played an important role in Portuguese maritime history. They were the first deep-sea ships, characterised by the Christian cross appearing on their sails, used by Portuguese seafarers on trade voyages.

The Portuguese Sail & Training Association (APORVELA) was tasked to build a ‘caravel-type’ for the planned commemoration. The historical appearance of the caravel was maintained in the design of the topsides, deck arrangement, steering gear, masting, rigging and sails. However, below deck, the design was adapted to allow for modern sleeping arrangements and a motorised engine. The historical 15th-century design did not make provision for sleeping arrangements.

The replica caravel was built in the shipyard of Samuel & Filho’s in Vila do Condo, near Oporto in Portugal. The hull was made of pine and oak and equals the width of a modern tug. It had a displacement of about 130 tons, which included 37 tons of ballast, made up of concrete and granite blocks from Lisbon. The ship has two masts and two lateen sails.

The 1988 voyage took three months from Portugal to Mossel Bay. An engine was installed to make sure the caravel arrived on time for the festival that took place on 3rd February 1988.

During the restoration of the building in 1987, an opening was left in the back wall. After the caravel was partially disassembled in 1988, she was hauled on greased sleepers and lifted inside the museum with hydraulic machinery.

A National Festival Committee Dias was established in 1987 to arrange the commemoration of the voyage of Bartolomeu Dias 500 years earlier.

King João II wanted Portugal to have a major stake in the lucrative spice trade. He, therefore, appointed Bartolomeu Dias to search for a sea route to India as an alternative to the dangerous overland route. Portugal’s aim in the Indian Ocean was to ensure the control of the spice trade.  Dias left Lisbon in August 1487 with three caravels and found a navigable passage from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. This paved the way for trade between Europe, Africa, and India.

Dias named Mossel Bay Aguada de São Brás. This was in honour of Saint Blaise, an Armenian healer and bishop, whose feast day is celebrated on 3 February; the day Dias landed at Mossel Bay.

In 1988 Captain Emilio Carlos de Sousa and his crew sailed from Portugal aboard the newly reconstructed caravel, named Bartolomeu Dias, with the aim to arrive at Mossel Bay on 3 February 1988 – exactly 500 years after Dias’s arrival. The 17 crew members were Portuguese and South African volunteers.