Back in Cape Town

I arrived back in Cape Town on Monday, June 13 2022. On all my previous visits I have stayed in the V&A Waterfront area, which I always enjoy, but this time I decided to try something new for a change. I booked an AirBnB up in the Bloubergstrand area north of Cape Town. This is a beach town which is very busy in Summer. Strong winds off the south Atlantic making it a prime place for kitesurfing, several championships kitesurfing competitions have been held here. It is Winter, though, so it’s a little dead right now. All of the restaurants cater to the beach crowd, so lots of fried seafood. I like fried seafood, perhaps a little too much, so I went to the grocery store and stocked up on fruit and veg, and cheeses. So far I’ve only eaten out once, but there is a highly rated sushi place within walking distance that I may treat myself to Sunday evening before I relocate to Sea Point area on Monday.

Blouweberg is part of the area called “Table View.” This is the best location from which to take spectacular pictures of Table Mountain across Table Bay, so I felt obliged to take one of my own.

Table Mountain from Bloubergstrand at sunset.

Jet lagged but happy to be here, I visited the factory on Tuesday to meet with the project manager Peter Dean and his team. It was extremely productive, and we made a lot of decisions that needed making and changes that needed changing. I took lots of pictures of the boat both Tuesday and Wednesday. You can see all the latest on the updated build galleries page.

Thursday and Friday were a national holiday in South Africa. “Youth Day” is the annual remembrance of the Soweto uprising on June 16th 1976. While the USA was preparing to celebrate the bicentennial of the signing of our declaration of independence from the British, Black South Africans were struggling against Apartheid. It’s important that we Americans understand how fortunate we are. When I look out from the balcony of the AirBnB over the beach, I can see Robben Island in the distance, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, from 1963 to 1990.

Robben Island across Table Bay from The Rocks at Bloubergstrand.

With the factory closed, I took advantage of the break to take a long walk up the coast. There is a string of little beach towns, all in the off season, but some are very upscale, with nice houses just next to the beach like Malibu.

I also took the time to re-organize the build galleries page so the most recent is at the top, so checking for the latest is easier, and to write this blog post.

As I mentioned, on Monday I’ll move to Sea Point area. Once I get settled there I’ll have another blog entry. Cheers for now!