Con el apoyo de
- Cultural Heritage
- The Navarretes
- GSM's HORIZON
- GSM's OBJECTIVES
- Suncho The Pulpero
- The Man in the water
- The Navarretes
- Chichita
- Blue Bay National Celebration
- Bay Fisherman
- Blue Bay Pulpero
- Local Editors
- Gulf Flavuors
The Navarretes
Fernando Navarrete: A synonym of strength and the sea
Don Fernando was the founder of the fishing “nobility” that lasts even today. Tough and bad-tempered he conquered the heart of “Ensanche Sur” and bought up a family with fighting, used to struggling against sea-storms and poverty. “When dad said throw the line you did what he said even, when it was 5 degrees below”, remembers one of his sons, all of them fishermen. Those outings in rowing boat were adventures for his smallest sons and bread on the table for Fernando.
Near to the coast, but deep enough for abundant catches the Navarretes rowed all along the northern part of the San Matías Bay. As they grew, the boys left the boats for the fishing ships. One of them died tragically alongside Valentín Galdo in the “San Cayetano”. “This tragedy became a living cavalry for my father”, remembers his son, Pitino.A year ago, Hugo “Kayaca” Navarrete another of his fishing prodigys, went for a walk along the coast as he frequently did. He walked towards the “Amarra” where his father always left his boat. Aware of warnings in the recent months, this was the spot where his heart chose to surrender.“Pitino” fights a few aches and pains, while Juan Domingo stands strong on board the boats. Another brother is a fishing captain in Chubut and the third generation of Navarretes are nearly all fishermen…
It’s as if salt water runs through their veins.The sea is their life and is probably better fitting to them than firm land. “El Chelo”, Hugo “Kayaca’s” son recently participated in an unforgettable event. During the rescue attempt of the ice-breaker “Almirante Irizar”, Marcelo Navarrete participated in the rescue from on board the fishing ship “Magritte” and saved the life of one of the officers from the “Irizar” by jumping into the freezing water to help the victim, when he didn’t have the strength to climb onto the “Magritte” from the life-raft.It was just a second…an instinctive reaction. Maybe the image of his father in the “Amarra”, his grandfather season after season in his boat or his uncle watching the “San Cayetano” sink without warning, motivated him to act without thinking and save one more life from the beautiful but “not to be trusted” sea.
