88
BARBARA E. WARD
those who have passed the examinations for local certificates of competency (masters and engineers) which that Department issues. In order to avoid confusion I have substituted the word "coxswain" for "master" in this technical sense here. In some cases the coxswain is indeed the si t'au as well, but on most Kau Sai boats in the 'fifties and 'sixties this was not so. As we have already seen, local certificates of competency were introduced in 1950 to meet the needs of small-scale fishing craft then newly being mechanised. It has been the usual practice for the si t'au to send a junior member of his family to study for and sit the necessary examinations. In due course, as the older si t'au retired or died, their places might well be taken by successors who were qualified coxswains. To the best of my knowledge this had occurred on only 2 Kau Sai boats - one purse-seiner and one small long-liner by 1970.
The ways in which a master's authority operated in practice and the manner in which it was articulated into the developmental cycle and structure of Kau Sai families are discussed in the next and later chapters. Here it is necessary to consider first who the masters were. The following table [Table 1] presents the data on the ages of boats' masters in Kau Sai in 1953. The tendency to clustering in third and fourth decades, with a fairly sharp falling off in the fifth, is clearly noticeable:
Table 1
Ages of boats' masters by type of craft. Kau Sai 1953
Under 20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 Over 60 Purse seiners (single boats) 0 2 17 10 7 1 Small long-liners 0 1 3 8 N 1 37 1 15 (+ not known 2) medium long-liners 0 0 0 0 1 0 hand liners and others 0 1 4 1 1 8 Totals 0 4 21 22 11 3 61i
88
BARBARA E. WARD
those who have passed the examinations for local certificates of competency (masters and engineers) which that Department issues. In order to avoid confusion I have substituted the word "coxswain" for "master" in this technical sense here. In some cases the coxswain is indeed the si t'au as well, but on most Kau Sai boats in the 'fifties and 'sixties this was not so. As we have already seen, local certificates of competancy were introduced in 1950 to meet the needs of small-scale fishing craft then newly being mechanised. It has been the usual practice for the si t'au to send a junior member of his family to study for and sit the necessary examinations. In due course, as the older si t'su retired or died, their places might well be taken by successors who were qualified coxswains. To the best of my knowledge this had occurred on only 2 Kau Sai boats one purse-seiner and one small long-liner by 1970.
The ways in which a master's authority operated in practice and the manner in which it was articulated into the developmen- tal cycle and structure of Kau Sai families are discussed in the next and later chapters. Here it is necessary to consider first who the masters were. The following table [Table 1] presents the data on the ages of boats' masters in Kau Sai in 1953. The tendency to clustering in third and fourth decades, with a fairly sharp falling off in the fifth, is clearly noticeable:-
Table 1
Ages of boats' masters by type of craft. Kau Sai 1953
Under 20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 Over 60
Purse seiners
(single boats)
0
2 17 10
7
1
Small
long-liners
0
1
3
8
N
37
1
15
(+ not known 2)
medium
long-liners
0
0 0 0 1 0
1
hand liners
and others
0
141
1
8
Totals
0
4 21 22 11
3
61
i
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