Tag Archives: harbour
Aboard the Tigresse at the V&A Waterfront
Cape Town’s fishing boats
Dragon boats in action
Hazy oil rig
A flag in the wind
Clear skies and Table Bay harbour
I love the clear skies, windless days, and warm sun rays at this time of the year - the only thing that I really don't like about sunny winter days like this is that it gets intensely cold really early in the evening.
This is Africa and I'm not made for the cold. :-/
The sleeping tugboats
Fishing boats at night
Napping boats at night
Harbours aren't necessarily the safest areas, but even at night the V&A Waterfront is pretty safe. CCTV cameras are abundant and there are plenty of security guards roaming the walkways.
The British Navy in Table Bay harbour
For some reason ships have such beautiful lines in photos - which I'd argue is why in English we refer to them in the feminine. ;)
Oil rig rising
Yesterday's photo showed the city center, with a large low-lying cloud bank crawling in from Table Bay. I walked along the edge of Signal Hill from the spot where I took that photo until I could see more of the harbour. Well, "see" is a stretch - all I could see was the top of that oil rig (looking a little like an alien space ship) rising up from beneath the cloud.
There are a few great places to walk along the slopes of Signal Hill, but do be careful and hike in groups - I imagine remote spots like these could be perfect for muggings.
Along the harbour pier
Last Sunday I spotted a small group of dolphins splashing about in the water outside of the V&A Waterfront, near the entrance to the Granger Bay harbour. A little while after I spotted a whale (perhaps a hundred meters further into the bay) splashing about, having a whale of a time (go figure, right?).
After reading an article by David Hurwitz (who, last month, captured photos of orcas hunting dolphins in False Bay) it stuck me that it's possible that the whale I'd seen was in fact an orca (aka killer whale), and that the dolphins may not have had as much of a fun time as I'd previously imagined they were!
Harbour lighthouse
Marine Protected Areas
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. :)
The Radisson and Granger Bay
While visiting, be sure to take a walk along the breakwater (to the left of the photo) - and, when you're tempted to step out onto them, be extra careful not to slip and fall down between the dolose. I did so once - it sure was painful - I shall not repeat the incident.
Cranes in the mist
Silly, this thought, isn't it? :)
Old Cape Town
Isn't it crazy how much Cape Town has changed over the years? This view of Cape Town (from the harbour) shows Table Mountain on the left and Lion's Head on the right. The road that you see stretching across the water, into the city, is Adderley Street - our cities main road.
Take a look at these two photos that I grabbed from Google Earth - they show a modern version of the same view as the main photo. You'll notice that although Adderley Street still leads to the harbour area, it no longer allows direct access to the harbour, and the bridge that use to extend over the water has long since disappeared.
The Nautica
I've heard from friends who've traveled on similar liners that once aboard it's a party atmosphere practically 24x7 - so I guess the tag line, "Every day is like Saturday on Nautica" is pretty appropriate.
Assuming that you don't work on Saturdays, imagine it being Saturday every day for 14 or 20 days. Imagine, all your food and all the shows and activities that you'd like to be entertained by are included in your ticket price - so besides for drinks, once on board it must feel like everything is free. Wouldn't that be just amazing?
Please leave a comment if you've traveled aboard a similar ship. I'm interested to know how you found the experience.
Breakwater at Table Bay harbour
The mountain in the background, along with Lion's Head and Signal Hill to the right unmistakably identifies this breakwater to be part of Table Bay harbour (which is the big harbour where your cruise liner would normally drop you off).
I heard recently, on the radio, that plans are afoot to build a proper arrivals and departures terminal that will cater for tourists arriving on large liners. Currently, visitors normally disembark alongside a commercial (and not very pretty) pier very close to the beautiful Table Bay Hotel - which I have to say is hugely convenient if you plan on bunking in one of the hotel's 5-star rooms!
We must take a boat ride!
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?
Gone fishing
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.
Morning harbour
Click here for a map to where I took this photo.
Bumper boats!
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.
A flag of convenience
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.
The Argo Sea|mester training vessel
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.
Inkunzi floating crane
According to isizulu.net the translation for the Zulu word "inkunzi" is "bull" or "male animal". In this case I suspect that because of its size and its ability to carry heavy loads, the Inkunzi floating crane was named with the word "bull" in mind.
I first became aware of the Inkunzi when my dad made mention of it about, I guess, 20 or 25 years ago. A that time he was working at the Cape Town harbour, inspecting cranes for mechanical problems. The Inkunzi was (and perhaps is) Cape Town harbour's largest floating crane, with its heaviest load capacity set at around 200 metric tons. (I took this close-up photo of a sign posted on the front of the Inkunzi, indicating the maximum weight that the crane is able to lift to a given height.)
We'll still post a couple more photos taken on my trip to the harbour, but if you're curious to see what I shot, I've already uploaded the photos to an album over here.
The Atlantic Adventures speedboat
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?
An empty Robinson Drydock
I posted a close-up photo of the Robinson Drydock filled with boats once. So, when I passed by and saw that she was empty, and since the ambient light was so exquisite, there was no question, I had to take a moment to capture this photo.
This photo was taken from the other side. The Pumphouse, mentioned in this post, is also on the other side, but off to the left of this shot.
This is really a beautiful time of the year to be in Cape Town, wouldn't you agree?