Page 79 - KBHA Bulletin 14

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Weather conditions were not always favourable at Muijsenburg and Kalk Bay. Low wave heights
were required to allow the boats to approach and depart at the former, while flat water was

required for loading at Kalk Bay. If bad weather later overtook them en route to Simon’s Bay
they had to be beached at Elsjesbaai (Glencairn) and drawn as high as possible up the beach until

the storm had passed. In 1786 an additional landing-boat (a 20 m long, single-masted, sailing

boat with a huge boom capable of use as a crane) and a smaller sailing boat were placed in
readiness in Simon’s Bay to assist with goods transport from Kalk Bay.

The road south of Kalk Bay remained in a deplorable condition during these five decades before

the British Occupation in 1795. But all types of lighter materials such as baggage and foodstuffs,
valuable consignments of gold and silver with armed escort, gunpowder, and personnel were still

transported to and from Simon’s Bay by wagon. It was DEIC policy that their wagons should not

travel empty so there was usually a return flow northward of casks, barrels, firewood, sick sailors,
and so on. There were very few private users other than burghers, who had licences to sell wine

in Simon’s Town, and the few farmers in the area. Free burghers attempted to improve the most

difficult part of the road immediately south of Kalk Bay but with limited success. The steadily
rising importance of Simon’s Bay led to an increase in pedestrian, horse and wagon traffic. In

1792, a licence was allocated to J. Eksteen to open a tavern at Muijsenburg. This diversified its
role and added to its status and contributed to the need for road improvements southwards. These

were carried out in 1792, and a tollhouse was placed at Muijsenburg to collect monies for road
maintenance.

Eventually, in 1814, under the governorship of Lord Charles Somerset, and once the Royal Navy
had decided to make Simon’s Bay their permanent naval arsenal, further improvements made the

coast road passable all the way to Simon’s Bay.

To sum up: for the DEIC, a profit-driven company in financial straits by the 1740s, “economy”
was the watchword. An expensive undertaking, like the construction and maintenance of a main

road over the Steenbergen and Brakkloof, was out of the question and was never implemented. A

passable road existed as far as Muijsenberg and Kalk Bay, from which ferrying by sea was