Lighthouse porthole

The walls of the lighthouse at Seal Point are 2 metres (6 feet) thick at the base, and they taper down as you climb higher. This creates wonderful shaped windows with deep recesses. Damp is always an issue there, the thick old rock walls act as a wick, sucking moisture up from below, and painting and maintenance is an ongoing issue. We took this shot while the lighthouse was in the process of being repainted. The loose paint had been scraped off, but not replaced yet.

Seals....

Seal Point is one of the best surf spots along the coast. It is not as famous as the legendary Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay, just down the coast, and the locals like it that way, as they don't enjoy jostling for space on the waves. But, because of the shape of the point and the wind direction, whenever the surf is flat elsewhere, it will be cooking at Seals.

This particular spot is called Full Stop, because there is a submerged rock, only visible at very low tide, which has literally brought many surfers to a full stop if they don't avoid it!

We have a family tradition that, whenever we drive into Cape St Francis, we go straight to Full Stop and park there to watch the sea for a bit, before going wherever we are heading for. One day we were driving along, and couldn't believe our eyes. We commented to each other that it must be extremely low tide because full stop was so big, sticking out of the water. Then we did a double take and realised it was moving, and we were looking at a whale right alongside us.... it was a breathtaking experience.

Chokka Fishing #2

We featured the chokka industry recently. Here you see the Calamai being unloaded from one of the fishing boats that has just returned from a few days at sea. It is packaged and frozen on board, as it is caught.

Floods

Why is man so slow to learn? Mess with Nature, and she bites back. We have featured the fascinating sand river before, and mentioned that the road is frequently bulldozed to keep the dune from encroaching over it. When the road was built it was basically just put across the sand river, with small pipes to allow for the river to flow under it. Because, for much of the year, it is a subterranean river system, with minimal flow, this seemed like a good idea at the time.


However, dunes migrate, and rivers flood. And natural wetlands act as giant sponges which absorb much of the water which causes flooding, thus reducing the impact. And when you mess with any of these, you will cause problems. The vlei (wetland area) adjoining the sand river system has been turned into a golf course. And in recent years the sand river has come down in flood more frequently, dumping vast quantities of the dune sand on the lower lying properties across the road.


This is all that can be seen of the very large bulldozer which used to be kept on site for regular dune clearing on the road.... after the flood of August 2006. 2007 was an unusually wet year, and the river flooded again in March and December. At some point a plan will have to be made to channel it more effectively and re-make the road so that it does not cause so much damage, but that may be a while. Judging by the state of all the roads in the area (pothole dodging could become a popular local sport) fixing the infrastructure seems to be low on the list of priorities for the local council.

The Port Hole.

One of the buildings overlooking the working harbour houses a couple of good restaurants and pubs. Not surprisingly, they specialise in seafood. The design of the entrance to the building reflects its name, and the view across the harbour from the 'port hole' is great. We will take you inside the restaurant soon. (we recommend the 'catch of the day'!)