SUSAN FARRELL: Sunken ski-boat, massive marlin and mile-long swim…

What does a sunken ski-boat, a mile-long ocean swim, an 180-lb marlin (82kg) and a ski-boat club all have in common? Sonny Evans! Sonny Evans had always felt the pull of the ocean currents on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. In 1955 he took the plunge and bought a house in Shelly Beach, relocating from Pietermaritzburg with his wife Del and their young family. The house had been been built ‘on the beach’, a few hundred metres north of where the Sonny Evans Small Craft Harbour lies today.

Although he knew little or nothing about ski-boating he made it his business to learn as much as possible in a very short space of time. He bought his first small, wooden ski-boat with an outboard motor and began to launch from a bay below the house. The north side of the bay was guarded by jagged rocks, whereas on the south side, a narrow passage out to sea offered a minuscule launch site with not an inch to spare on either side.
As soon as a lull appeared in the surf the boat was pushed out into the sea at breakneck speed, given full throttle and a quick prayer, with the hope that the ski-boat would reach the backline before the next set of waves came rolling in – for once one was committed to the launch, there was no turning back. Sonny must hold the record for rolling his boat? One banana style ski-boat still lies on the ocean floor after having been swamped by a huge wave on approach.

In the early 1960s, so the story goes, Sonny was heading home after a morning’s fishing. About a mile out and directly off base, the boat’s momentum abruptly stopped. On investigation, Sonny discovered that the split pin on the motor’s propeller had sheared off and the propeller had fallen into the sea.
These were the days before he owned a walkie-talkie. So, with no means of communication and with no sign of another ski-boat on the horizon, Sonny dropped anchor, climbed over the side of the craft and swam to shore.

Tales of this epic swim soon got around and became one of the most talked about feats among the local fishing fraternity. Once on land, he contacted his good ski-boating buddy, Aubrey Shooter. Aubrey, however refused to launch from Sonny’s launching pad. (Wise man!) The nearest alternative was the Metropole beach, named for the beloved grand dame, the Metropole Hotel.However, because of all the rocks treacherously hidden at high tide, it made very bad sense to try and attempt a launch from this spot. But, as luck would have it, it was low tide and Aubrey and Sonny managed to manually steer the boat clear of the immersed rocks and pretty soon were on their way towards the stricken ski-boat – replacement propeller in hand.

During a time of a tough economic climate, Sonny remained passionate about ski-boating, but to put bread on the table, he worked in his engineering business during the week, fishing over weekends. He was well known in the timber and sugar industry for his engineering excellence and during this time he developed a number of patents attached to heavy-duty equipment, such as cranes and trailers.

After the floods in 1959, the sugar industry took a beating and had to cut back on sugar production. Unfazed, Sonny began commercially fishing to make ends meet, eventually running three ski-boats from below his house. In time, Sonny took up engineering once more, but the sea faring tales never dried up, he still fished on holidays and at weekends.

One such epic tale was when, in the 1960s, Sonny and one of his crew launched early one morning. According to Sonny it was one of those idyllic days and he felt that he was in for a good day’s fishing. Little did he know, that he had a date with a 180lb marlin. The time for Sonny to return to base had come and gone and Del, his wife, was waiting on the beach, anxiously scanning the horizon, north and south, for a sign that Sonny was on his way back.

But, as midday faded into afternoon and there was still no sign of Sonny, Del began to feel anxious. The wind had picked up and so had the surf. Finally, towards late afternoon, and to the relief of those who were waiting on the beach, they saw the little boat in the far off distance to the south. The craft seemed to be labouring and progress was slow. As the boat neared the shore, taking up the position for the run in, the surf seemed to flatten out, and it was then that the onlookers caught a glimpse of something large lashed to the side of the boat. The ride in was heavy and slow, but by grace, the surf remained flat, as if a hand had stilled the water. Finally, as the boat reached the shore, the catch of a lifetime became fully visible – a 180-lb black marlin. Hooked off Shelly Beach, this magnificent giant of the sea fought for five hours and was finally landed off Ramsgate.

During the early 1970s a few ski boaters began launching from Metropole. However, because of the many difficulties mentioned previously, this was no easy task. Initially, Sonny was granted permission from the local town board to remove an area of rocks. Using a metal cage of his own design, he, together with Chris Merrick, began pulling the smaller rocks out of the surf by attaching the cage to the winch attached to his tractor.
Over a period of time, other methods were used, including a cargo net and a 4×4. Here, mention must be made of the invaluable assistance given by some of the locals, and especially, Desmond Gutzeit during this tricky process.
It soon became apparent, though, that the larger rocks need to be blasted into manageable pieces and in 1973/4, interested ski-boaters met with Sonny at his home for an informal meeting over the forming of a ski-boat club at Shelly Beach. The initial number of members was 12.

Next column, we follow Sonny’s progress as he carves out a ski-boat launch pad still in use today.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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