Care and Repair at the Berg River mouth

We are looking at a tranquil tree-lined patch at the mouth of the Berg River at Velddrif! Out there on the Atlantic Ocean the sun, strong wind, damp, slimy-seaweed and clingy sea-creatures do a lot of damage to boats. This fishing vessel has been taken out of the water and sits exposed like a duck out of water, on a "cradle" for a thorough cleaning of the sides and keel. Seaweed (fondly referred to as the "beard") and barnacles must be removed as it also slows down the vessel, before it is smoothed down and new layers of anti-fouling painted on. That is the terracotta color that can be seen on the outside hull of boats.

When our children were still at home we had a yacht which we sailed in the Caribbean, Portugal, Cape Town and Durban. Every two or three years our boat needed a good service. What a sound it made when we scraped off the barnacles with paint scrapers! I have placed a photo of a barnacle encrusted hull to give you an idea. Can I say that scraping them down sounds something like 10 dentists doing a drilling competition as workers sweat it out getting the barnacles to release their tenacious hold on the hull.

Soon this blue, yellow and white boat will be shipshape again and we can look forward to ordering our "catch of the day" in the restaurants.