Sailors bound for Oz event take a special souvenir down under
Members of the society Freres De La Cote will deliver a picture of the Bonds of Friendship sculpture in Old Portsmouth to an international meeting in Sydney.
The sculpture was unveiled 30 years ago in honour of the first fleet, which sailed from Spithead in 1787 carrying the pioneer settlers to Australia.
An equivalent statue has pride of place in Sydney to mark the settlers' arrival, and the society members will visit that during the social event.
The meeting is called a Zafarrancho - slang in Spanish for a riot or firefight - and reflects the light-hearted use of piracy language in the association.
The Freres have several thousand members across the world who are travelling to New South Wales.
It is not a charity organisation, though money is given locally to the RNLI, but is made up of people who love the sea and offer help to other members in need in foreign ports.
On Saturday they met at The Wellington pub by the sculpture which was given to Portsmouth by the people of Sydney.
Mike Arnold, a member of the society and former head of department at the University of Portsmouth, said: 'We decided to take a picture of the sculpture with our members around it to show the links between Portsmouth and Australia.
'The very first white settlers left from here and a small number of us are following in their footsteps.
'We held an international conference here in Portsmouth in 2002 and we thought it would show the links by taking the picture as a present to Australia.'
The Freres carry a special flag on their boats which marks them out to other members.
They are not a secret group like the masons, but new members have to wait several years to gain acceptance.
Malcolm Hill, 62, the former national captain of the Freres and an environmental campaigner from Southsea, said: 'We are simply there to offer a helping hand to our members when they need, wherever they have come from.
'We are united by a love of the sea and that means that wherever you are, you can be guaranteed help.
'For instance, we've had members turn up in marinas as far away as Chile and be offered a room for the night and a meal.
'With the Australia monument we want to show that the bond of friendship does stretch around the globe.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
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Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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