The Andromeda

South Africa has a fairly long coastline of 2798km, so isn’t it astounding that about 20% of our coastal areas have been declared MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) – stretches of cost where commercial fishing has been banned?

One day, but not right now, I’ll go to the effort of tracing all the areas on a proper map, but for now, here’s a link to a page on our government’s Marine and Coastal Management website – it contains a terribly-formatted list of all areas marked as MPAs. Sorry.

Jet Ski

Do you perhaps know more about this? Please leave a comment if you do!

The sun sets on summer

If you missed the previous 5 photos in this series, click here to jump to the beginning.

The sun sets on summer

And there Cape Town surprises us all with a beautifully warm weekend filled with plenty of sun and warmth ideal for visiting the beach. Don’t worry though, next week will see winter returning with all her chilly force. Brace yourself Cape Town – and remember to think of this weekend when you’re freezing your toes blue towards the end of the coming week.

Sun sets on summer (and a pirate boat)

Wouldn’t it be awesome to hire the boat for an adult pirate party – at around this time of day?

In case you missed my previous post, I’m publishing a few photos of the sun setting on what could have been the last warm day until summer arrives at the end of the year. See the previous photo in the series here.

Life Guards at Big Bay

While visiting their website I came across an interesting article on rip currents, how they work, how to identify them, and (more importantly) how to escape them. I’ve always heard that in the event of being caught in a rip current that you shouldn’t try to fight against it, but rather swim along the shore until you escape it. Read the article, take a look at the pictures, and familiarise yourself with the technique – it could save your life.

Dismantling a shipwreck

I’m sure you can see that progress has been made in taking her apart, but still there’s an awful amount of metal that’s yet to be removed. Isn’t it weird how easy it’s for a ship to sail across the water and how difficult it is to remove it once run aground? I’m sure if it were possible that the ship would have been towed to Table Bay harbour for dismantling. :-/

Boats at the pier

If I’m not mistaken, this boat is very similar to the Gubert Tide, a vessel that I was once asked to take photos of while passing by Table Bay. Perhaps it’s obvious from the design of it’s stern, but this type of boat is often used to carry supplies between harbours and oil rigs. I guess in some way they’re the bakkies (pronounced buck-keys) of the ocean.

Queen Mary 2

I debated with myself about whether or not to post this photo – it’s not the most appealing side of Table Bay harbour, and I do have other prettier photos of the beautiful Queen Mary 2, that you may prefer to see.

Unfortunately, due to the size of the Queen Mary 2, this is one of the few places that she’s able to dock. The pier at the Table Bay hotel is in a far nicer area, but the world’s largest ocean liner is simply too big and is thus forced to dock at this unsightly commercial pier.

Rumour has it that Cape Town’s preparing to extend the harbour and build a proper terminal specifically for passenger ships. I’m not sure where they’re going to build this alleged terminal, but I’d imagine that it would be closer to the V&A Waterfront than this pier which is way over in the unsightly commercial section.

Click here to see my small album of Queen Mary 2 photos.

Fishing boats at the V&A Waterfront

The water that you see in the bottom half of this photo is that of the Victoria Basin – the basin that stretches out alongside the V&A Waterfront shopping mall. The Collier Jetty, on the far end of the basin, is (as you can see) currently used as a spot to moor colourful fishing boats.

According to an industrial heritage white paper that I found, Cape Town harbour’s elevator complex (the metal structure extending the length of the jetty) had been used by the Farmer’s Co-operative since 1987 to load grain for export. I’m not sure whether or not it’s till in use by the FC since the article mentions that due to the increased length and draught of ships they were no longer able to use it (for exports).

Don’t you just love how the fishing boats are painted in similar fashion to the colourful houses of Bo-Kaap?

Crossing the waters

Perhaps we’re too used to the comforts of large cruise liners or huge jet airplanes. Perhaps we’ve all (although, perhaps not all) become too accustomed to modern living. Do you think we’ve become too soft; too breakable?

A very fast boat

I’m not sure if this boat is quite as maneuverable the one in Sydney, but from the photos on their site, it sure looks like a hell of a lot of fun. I also noticed that they offer a combo trip that consists of a boat ride and helicopter flip! If you’re into adrenaline-releasing experiences then I think this experience could be just for you.

Clifton 4th Beach

There was no wind to speak of; the air was cool, but the sun was warm. Bobbing around on a boat just of the beach was an amazing feeling. Even though we weren’t on a luxury yacht, I guess that’s the best way to describe the feeling. Imagine yourself in this very spot on the deck of a luxury yacht, enjoying the sun, drinking cocktails and snacking on delightful treats. Grand hey?

This was such great fun – and if you’re okay with being out on a boat, I’d suggest this to be of the things you have to do when visiting Cape Town. It was simply beautiful.

Remember to take motion sickness tablets before jumping on board. As a particular colleague of mine discovered , feeling ill on the water really does ruin the experience.

Pirate-ship attacks

Although I may have exaggerated a little calling it “fierce”, I’m not pulling your leg – Jolly Roger is a pirate boat with a pirate crew and is generally seen sailing young land lubbers out into Table Bay for adventurous birthday parties or similarly celebratory occasions. The little trip costs anywhere between R50 and R200 per person, depending on the time of day, the package that you purchase, and the size of your shoe. (Hint: People wearing kids shoes pay a whole lot less than those wearing adult-size shoes.)

Between the plundering of defenseless ships in Table Bay you’ll find the murderously cruel crew with the moored Jolly Roger at the V&A Waterfront’s quay 5 – close to Sevruga and just outside of the V&A Shopping mall. Visit this pirate map to find the gap where the Jolly Roger should be moored. (I guess it was out plundering when the satellite made it’s turn over the Waterfront!)

Sunset at the docks

The V&A Waterfront is built directly alongside Table Bay harbour – Cape Town’s fully functional commercial harbour. I guess this is part of the attraction and what makes the Waterfront so darn attractive. In one basin you’ll see sleek yachts, in the next small run-down fishing vessels and in the next large cargo ships.

One often finds old ships in desperate need of attention in this particular dock yard. You’ll often see large scaffolding surrounding the vessels with workmen clambering all over with large sanders, grinders and welding machines. It’s actually quite interesting to watch them work as you make your way along the footpath to the Clock Tower and the rest of the V&A Waterfront.

Waterfront boats

I think we’ll soon have to take a clear winter-morning trip out into the bay and then, perhaps in February next year, enjoy a warm sunset trip over to Clifton 4th beach. Take another look at the photo – doesn’t that just sound perfect?

Table Bay

Alas, it’s not so, I don’t know of a single takeaway coffee shop in the area! Do you?

Fishing boat

Visit this page on southafrica.info for a list of South African fishing-related links. If you’re planning on being in the Cape Town area, take note of the links under the heading for our province, the Western Cape.

Table Bay harbour

Click here for a map to where I took this photo.

A beautiful boat

Of all the things that you could do in Cape Town, chartering a yacht must be one of the most luxurious experiences. I guess something even more luxurious would be to charter a yacht overnight and invite a few friends for a party while moored off Clifton 4th beach.

I’m not sure of the name of the vessel in this photo, but while trying to find out, I discovered that the large boat in the photo in this previous post appears to be the Princess Emma, one of the most luxurious charters available at the Cape Town Waterfront.

Given the overnight rate of approximately R40 000, I assume that it would most often be companies that would charter the vessel to either treat their employees (most likely the directors ), or to impress prospective clients. Nevertheless, if you have a mere R40 000 to spend on a night’s entertainment, and if you’d like to be super-popular with your friends, this sure is the way to go.

Tug boats in the Table Bay harbour

The Enseleni (at the back) was built in Durban in 2001 and has a bollard pull of 50 tons, while the Pinotage (just in front of the Enseleni) was built way back in 1980 and has a bollard pull of 43 tons. Bollard pull is basically an indication of how strong a tug is and how much force it can exert on another vessel (although my research tells me that it is a little more complicated than that).

So just remember, if you ever get invited to play bumper boats, make sure you get the boat with the greatest bollard pull.

Marshall Islands flag

Of course, being a girl, I’d probably just pick the flag that best matched my pretty ship’s colour scheme, and get the vessel registered in that country. Which is probably why Paul won’t let me have a sailing ship.

Silversea's Silver Wind

The ship pictured here is the Silver Wind, the second-oldest of the fleet belonging to Silversea Cruises. If you feel like escaping reality for a few minutes, you can create your own virtual voyage aboard the Silver Wind.

Argo, a training yacht belonging to Seamester Global

You can follow the activities of the students on board the Argo, by reading their regular blog posts and listening to their audio updates here.

Yachts and Boats

The Cape Grace Hotel (the brown building) must be one of the best-situated of all the Cape Town hotels. In the morning, people who stay on the other side of the building see the sun rising over the Waterfront and harbour while the group on this side have a view of Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill bathed in the wonderfully soft morning light. In the evening, while one group watches the lights of the shops and boats, and feels the vibrancy of the Waterfront, the group on this side of the hotel gets to watch these beautiful yachts bobbing in the basin, with the sky turning red as the sun sets behind the mountain. The Cape Grace must be a beautiful place to stay!

We’ve never been inside the hotel – and since we live not too far away and it’s fairly expensive I doubt we would stay at the hotel. So, please, if you’ve stayed there, leave a note and let us know how accurate my description above is.

One and Only Hotel ferry

Of course, you could walk (it’s at most a 10-minute walk to the best shops and restaurants), or take a taxi (probably 2 minutes by car), but this is far more genteel, don’t you think? And besides, if I were paying around R20,000 a night for my hotel suite, I wouldn’t be inclined to expend any more effort than absolutely necessary either.

Atlantic Adventures boat

I’m so curious as to whether the companies in Cape Town, like Atlantic Adventures, offer the same thrilling, adrenalin-filled experience as the ones in Sydney. Have any of you been on one of these boats at the V&A Waterfront, and if so, how was it?

Yacht basin an the V&A Waterfront

I’m not much of a jazz fan, but I have to admit that the AquaJazz show at the V&A Waterfront’s Aqua Festival was pretty good. I took this photo to the right of the stage, a little while before the show – as the light was fading. Isn’t the yacht basin just beautiful? It must be awesome to own an apartment that’s part of such a beautiful view… even more, it must be awesome to own that huge yacht in the middle of the photo!

The seals that you see on the jetty are interesting creatures. For each show that I’ve attended they’ve sat on the jetty talking to each other in their dog-like grunts and barks. The jetty connects to a landing that the performers use to walk to the stage, and often the stage security guys have to spray water on the seals to encourage them to move off the landing so that the performers can make their way to the stage without being pushed into the water by a huge lumbering seal.

It’s really entertaining to watch the little dance between the seals and the security people.

Edit: I’ve just published an album for the AquaJazz show here.

Explorer the yacht

Summer days are back. The sun is out, the wind is blowing (unfortunately), and people are heading for the beaches. The Explorer (the yacht in the photo) was anchored a little way off Sea Point, just bobbing in the waves. I thought that the vessel was a little too close to shore, but I assume that the skipper knew the waters and knew that he was safe.

One of the most awesome things to do in Cape Town is to take a trip out into the bay and view the city and mountains from a different perspective.  Find a charter company and do it – you won’t regret it. Unless of course you’re (like me) susceptible to motion sickness, in which case it’s probably best to first head to a pharmacy for a carton of  little white tablets.