Page 177 - KBHA Bulletin 10

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one end of this long saw cutting pine and myrtle logs into rounds which were split for
firewood.

Another involved the Clan Monroe at Kommetjie. Abraham usually took the family to

Kommetjie for their vacation. A tent camp was set up. In those days the main way to

reach Kommetjie was by ox wagon. The little bay is fringed by a treacherous reef.
During a north-westerly wind a heavy surf runs across the bay. It was on this reef that

the steamer Clan Monroe came to grief. Abraham and his family saw the Lascar crew
along the handrails on deck waiting to be rescued. As a huge wave broke against the

stranded ship, the crew fell as one man to their knees pleading for mercy from the terror.
Time and again the stevedoring basket, loaded with survivors being hauled along the

cable that had been shot across the boat, would be dumped into the surging sea as the

land anchorage gave way. Abraham watched as once again the land anchorage gave
way. On his way to fish further along the coast, he advised the rescue team how to

provide a secure anchorage. They insulted him, rejecting his advice, and continued

unsuccessfully as before. Finally, the land anchorage held and the rescue operation was
carried on without a hitch.

When Abraham returned with his bag of fish, he saw the basket being hauled across the

surf without letup. One of the workmen came up to him and said: “They finally had to
take your advice and from then on things ran smoothly.”

.

Muizenberg Pavilion

One morning as Abraham walked along the beach he came across men surveying and

placing pegs along the beach. He enquired what they were doing. They were pegging

out the site for the new pavilion. He kindly told the surveyor that they were making a
big mistake – the whole building had to be sited at least 27 yards further back from the

beach. He told them that if the building was built where they had pegged it that it would
ruin the beach. His advice was dismissed and the Pavilion was built and it was not long

before swimming became dangerous at times due to the heavy backwash. (Fig. 5.11).