Category: this is south africa

Rubber bale

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We’ve seen a few of these rubber bales along the coast here over the last 10 years, but never really knew what they were or where they came from. And then I did some research.

I walked past this one again today…

…and I was reminded that I was going to do a blog post about it at some point.

Seems like now might be that point.

These are likely to be part of the cargo of the SS Helmspey, which was sunk by a German U-boat off Cape St Francis in February 1943. Apparently, the rubber bales were part of its cargo being taken from Asia (specifically Ceylon – now Sri Lanka) back to Great Britain to assist in the war effort.

The Agulhas current would have done a lot of the hard work of moving the bales from the site of the attack down towards Agulhas, and the huge storm of September last year would have shifted a lot more stuff ashore. The one above is now a good 15m up from the high tide mark after the storm surge from that storm.

From Facebook:

It’s amazing how you can find some beautifully kept artefacts along our shores….

We also found some more of these incredibly old rubber bales in large clumps! These were in the cargo hold of the “Helmsley”, a British freighter, which was steaming from Colombo to the UK. It was torpedoed by the German Submarine U-516 on the 11th February 1943 off the coast of Cape St Francis. The wreck was possibly disturbed in the violent storms that we had on the weekend of the 23rd September 2023.

Apparently onboard there was:
– 2772 tons of tea,
– 2000 tons of manganese ore
– 1457 tons of rubber, and
– 464 tons of general cargo

And that does fit with this description. And also with this eyewitness account of a sailor onboard the vessel when it was hit:

On leaving East London South Africa, after taking on oil bunkers she was found too slow for coastal convoys and was independently routed to Cape town for inclusion in a slower U.K. bound convoy.

At the time of the sinking I was asleep in my cabin on the starboard side just abaft of the no. 2 cargo hold when the first torpedo struck on the port side of that hold. It is hard to believe now but I slept through that explosion and it was necessary for an able seaman running to his boat station to shake me awake through an open porthole, youth is a marvelous thing!

And – apparently – it could all have been so different:

In retrospect it is my considered opinion that this vessel should not have been lost. Being as we were so close to the coast I feel sure that if we had kept way on the ship and turned to starboard we would have avoided the second torpedo and run aground. Of course it’s so easy to surmise these things afterwards but a totally different situation at the time.

Either way, I know of three of these bales around Suiderstrand, and it’s quite cool to be able to put the pieces of a jigsaw together and link it in to some real, living history.

Arderne wander

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When I got those new tyres for the Yosh, they came with a complimentary Tyre Care/Insurance package.
Free balancing and rotation for life, big discounts on alignment. And the tyre place emailed me last week to tell me that I was due for my first appointment.

These things take about an hour, so I popped across the road for a wander around the Arderne Gardens. Given that I was almost first into the tyre place, I was also almost first into the Gardens, and I had the place pretty much to myself. I didn’t bring the camera along (maybe next time), but with some decent morning light and some pretty trees, flowers and ponds, I think that the phone did an OK job.

My next phone will have a much better camera, though. Believe.

As for the work on the car: obviously, it didn’t need doing, but it’s just good practice to get it done.
Except: when I got back in and headed off, it was like driving on thin air. Like a different car. Woo.

Great service, too: quick and friendly. Hi-Q Claremont get a big thumbs up from me.

Anyway, if you were looking for a sign to sort out your tyres out (possible) or to head to Arderne Gardens (less likely), then maybe this is it.

Boing!

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It does finally feel like Spring is beginning to… well… spring. The sun is out, the flowers are budding, the birds are singing. And – if ever there was a sign that the better weather is on its way – I have chosen today to varnish all the garden furniture, ready for the outdoor season ahead.

Well, all the wooden stuff, anyway.

This is the garden furniture equivalent of turning your central heating off in the UK or ordering braai wood instead of firewood down here in Cape Town.

It should be a day for optimism, happiness and positivity. Sadly though, it’s all up against a soundtrack provided by Edwin Knobhead and his Power Drill Orchestra, because the inept builder next door is now running over a month and a half over his already rather lax schedule.
We’re heading towards 6 months now. What joy.

I’m not saying that it’s loud out there, but even my fancy ANC headphones – that’s Active Noise Cancelling, not the dodgy political party – were being overwhelmed. And they are literally meant to actively cancel out noise.

Which is what there is outside.

And so, job done, and tables and chairs actually looking pretty good, I have legged it back inside. Not that the walls of our house are enough to find peace, but it’s more bearable when you try to overcome it with some loud Nemone on 6 Music while banging out a blog post.

In fact, buoyed by the stuff I have achieved in the garden over the past 24 hours, despite facing such aural adversity, I might even bang out tomorrow’s post while I’m at it.

You can read that tomorrow.

A rather decent afternoon out

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We were lucky enough to get box tickets to see the Boks play the All Blacks. And we had a really great afternoon out. And what a view the box had. This was during the warmups.

The atmosphere, the gees, the actual match second half of the actual match, the winning try scored right underneath us. The excellent service and free-flowing drinks. A very cool day, all in all.

And with that winning try, South Africa won the Freedom Cup, and all but sealed the The Rugby Championship 2024.

And a lovely touch as we left the well-planned, well-executed event at the Stadium – nice work, City of Cape Town – the biggest national flag I’ve ever seen. (It’s generally not something that I keep a record of, but I can’t think of a time I’ve seen a bigger one.)

It’s certainly reignited my appetite for live sport, and for going along to the stadium again. I was there for the first and second ever events they held there, and several – or more – since, but it’s been a while.

Not so long again.