Cape Town to Luderitz, Namibia

We had our quickest haul-out ever (3 days) and Emily Grace enjoyed new bottom paint, zincs and some more Prop-Speed on the running gear.  Luckily, I had most of the zincs, since the special ones could not be found in Cape Town. I used my spares and the replacement zincs from the US were held by SA customs for 10 days and missed our haul-out by 2 days.  We did collect them just before leaving SA and will have to replace the used prop zinc with SCUBA gear.

Our journey up the west coast of Africa has so far been a downwind pleasure and a delight. After the trials and tribulations of dodging depressions and fronts while crossing powerful currents on the route from Madagascar to South Africa, the west coast was the reward. We experienced no squalls or lightning. North of Cape Town, the winds became lighter and more reliable, the skies were mostly clear and blue, and the current light and favorable if a little chilly; seals, dolphins, whales, cormorants and penguins abounded. We saw several Southern Royal Albatross which we had not seen before.  These birds are huge and graceful.  We finally had some luck fishing and landed a rainbow runner and a small Bluefin tuna that made tasty sushi for Emily and I.

The three night voyage north was complicated by one of the local nautical quirks, the ice cold north flowing Antarctic Benguela current causes chilly nights, condensation in previously dry areas near the water and fog patches. It was nice for once to be a motorboat since we closed up the cabin completely and enjoyed 70 degree temps while our sailing friends donned hats and mittens.  However, we arrived in Lüderitz, anchored safely and quickly completed the formalities with Immigration, Customs and Port Control. 

Namibia is largely a desert or semi desert particularly in the coastal regions. Lüderitz was an intriguing art deco style town originating from Colonial days when it was claimed by Germany. Post World War I, South Africa took over with a League of Nations mandate, which they effectively turned into ownership until 1990 when Independence was declared. On initial impressions, there seems to be no particularly good reason for building this town in the middle of sand dunes. However, inspection of the many peculiar looking fishing boats in the harbor gives a clue. They are indeed fishing boats - for diamonds. Instead of carrying nets, they have long hoses hanging off the back, vacuum cleaners for the diamonds washed down the Orange River further to the south. There were also some fishing boats, but they appeared to be in a minority. 

Tourism for the desert terrain is the other major industry, in which we were here to participate.   We strolled around the pretty town and grocery shopping was an easy walk.  There were pink flamingos, pelicans, seals and huge jellyfish.  The jellyfish were not a problem since no one had a desire to go in the ice cold water.

 

We caught up with Moonbeam and Muneera, two kid boats and we managed to rent a 12 seat van and driver to take all of us to tour an abandoned diamond town.  In 1908, the railway worker Zacharias Lewala found a sparkling stone amongst the sand he was shoveling away from the railway line, near Kolmanskop. His supervisor August Stauch, was convinced it was a diamond and when this was confirmed, the news spread like wildfire, sparking a huge, frantic diamond rush and causing fortune hunters to converge in droves on Kolmanskop.

The town soon developed, becoming a bustling little center and providing shelter for workers from the harsh environment of the Namib Desert. Large, elegant houses were built and it soon resembled a German town, complete with an impressive array of amenities including; a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, 4-lane bowling alley, theatre and sports hall, casino, ice factory and the first x-ray station in the southern hemisphere. Fresh meat could be purchased at the butchers; there was a bakery, furniture factory, a public playground and even a swimming pool! At the time, there was also a railway line to Luderitz.

 

The development of Kolmanskop reached its pinnacle in the 1920's, but the town declined after World War 1, when diamond prices crashed. At this time approximately 300 German adults, 40 children and 800 Owambo contract workers lived in the town. In spite of, or probably because of, the isolation and bleakness of the surrounding desert, Kolmanskop developed into a lively little haven of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation to suit the requirements of the affluent colonialists.
Unfortunately for Kolmanskop and its inhabitants, richer diamond deposits were discovered further south, and operations were moved to Oranjemund. Within a span of 40 years Kolmanskop lived, flourished and died.

We enjoyed a nice tour with an English guide and had some time to explore the buildings on our own.  It was amazing to see an entire town where the people just left and let the desert sand drift in.

 

 
After only 4 days, we decided to tag along with Moonbeam and Muneera and we all headed north for the two night passage to Walvis Bay.  Again, we had a calm trip and only the fog detracted from the nice passage.  We passed huge pods of fur seals miles out at sea.  They would pop up and look at us and then race after us as we passed.  We landed a King Mackerel along the way and it was nice to be catching fish again. 

 

We were looking forward to Walvis Bay because we were investigating another inland trip to go on a final safari and do some quad bike tours in the desert.  Stay with us Dear reader and see if we get eaten by a lion or lost in the Namib Desert!

Tom