Page 83 - Bulletin 18

80

Boats

Almost immediately after construction commenced beach-boat owners began modernising
and motorising. Furlong noted that by 1919 there were already 16 motor fishing boats

registered at Kalk Bay whereas before there had been none, new motorised boats were on
order from Table Bay boat-builders, and 6 traditional beach-boats were being converted to

motor craft powered by 3 hp Kelvin power-paraffin engines. By 1923 there were 23

registered motor boats. All of them carried a mast and sails in case of mechanical failure and
many still sailed home before favourable southerly winds. While photos until into the early

1920s show both old and new craft, as well as a few boats still on the beach, the beach had
been virtually vacated by the mid-1920s. (Figs. 2.34 & 2.35.) (A similar trend occurred at

Rogge Bay where the fleet motorised and moved progressively to a new fishing harbour built
in 1916 at the root of the South Arm of Victoria Basin.)

Many of the early cruising / fishing boats of the gentry resembled motor fishing boats eg. the

Hare brothers’ 34 ft. Voyager, Abe Bailey’s 40 ft. Clewer, and J B Taylor’s Lucky Jim.

Fishing

The seaside face of the breakwater was originally to have been a parapet wall 6 ft. high and 5

ft. wide to give additional protection to the boats in the harbour. This would have made
fishing possible only on the harbour side and sea-views would have been blocked off

completely. But the popularity of fishing from the breakwater during its construction caused
the observant Mr Furlong to re-design the coping blocks. He reduced the parapet’s height to 4

ft. and its width to 4½ ft. and notched it with a seat with a sloping back of 20°; the surface of

the parapet was notched with 5 parallel rows of "V"- shaped slots 4 inches apart and ½ inch
deep to prevent anglers from slipping. This transformed what would have been only an

engineering utility into a popular amenity. (Fig. 2.36 - 2.39.)