Fishermen setting out for the day early in the morning. They will probably catch Snoek, and maybe a little Yellow Tail or Cape Salmon.
Muizenberg has always had a very active fishing community, and one of the benefits of living in the Southern part of Cape Town is having a good supply of fresh fish.
You can often see the line fishermen fishing on the beach, especially early in the morning and in the late afternoon. Sometimes you see the boats coming in, the smaller boats often landing on the beach, offloading their cargo directly onto the back of bakki’s to go off for resale.
Driving to work on Strandfontein beach at about 8:00am, I spotted these fishermen taking their small rowing boat out. The boat reminded me of a bygone era of fishing, the days before motors, marine radios and GPS. The sepia effect takes it back in time.
You remind me of my childhood day. I grewup in Muizenberg, Our family home use to be on No. 1 Badenpower Drive. My dad Victor Collop worked for Cape City Council as an electrician. My three older brother were fihermen in Muizenberg. Then they had bigger boats four men rowing, on castting the net and the “skipper” Then a fishing crew would be 15 to 20 men. I still remember the owners of the boat the Van Der Pool family and the Skipper was Mr. Ross from Vrygrond. As a boy of 11 years I witness how the boat capsized and how Mr. Ross and two other fishermen drowned. On that day it shoud have been my brothers drowning. One of my brothers Stephen risked his life and saved two men. The following day in the Cape Argus the story appear with a photo of a white man as the hero. Friend, we were forcefully removed from Muizenberg in 1968 and dumped in Parkwood Estate. What a sad day it was.
Robert, that is a remarkable and very sad story. A little piece of history. Thank you for sharing it with me.