To Lunch, over the water!

There are many beautiful boats and lots of activities to admire in the harbour of Saldanha. Part of a visit along the West Coast is finding a super place to have lunch. While I fidgeted, my husband's "dining experience antennae" discovered The Slipway Restaurant. Inside the restaurant it is light and wide and pleasantly open to the views. Nothing could beat the front corner table we were shown to and soon we had cool wine, and calamari and mussels fresh from the ocean served simply with flavored rice and lots of lemon.

I was fascinated by the small boats arriving from the sailing yachts, which fastened right there on a jetty leading into the restaurant. To break away from the symmetry of two boats and two people, I imagined a little girl showing off her skills in walking off the jetty and over the little plank bridge. Stylistically, of course, she leads the eye in the right direction and shows the way.

Buoy! Oh Buoy!

Saldanha lies on the West Coast Peninsula on what is claimed to be the largest natural bay in Africa. The steelworks, the fishing industry and water sport enthusiasts benefit from this natural deep harbour. Saldanha, of course played a prominent role in history.

During the rule of Napoleon the English feared that the French would befriend the Dutch, and get hold of Table Bay and then own the rich route to the East. Therefore the British Army anchored here at Saldanha and soldiers were dispatched overland to take the Cape. There was a lot of hardship for the British soldiers who had to walk through the thick fynbos wearing down their shoes. Still, the burghers and farmers under Genl Janssens were not fighters and in 1806 England won the Battle of Blouberg and became rulers of the Cape once more! (They had annexed it before, then gave it back to the Dutch)

Every corner of this bay is beautiful and a worthy subject for a painting. Here I have found a colourful bunch of ropes and buoys belonging to a fishing vessel. With the sun shining, it makes a perfect "marine still life"!

Quayside Vignette

Saldanha Bay is beautiful, it floods the senses! Hundreds of fishing vessels and sailing yachts vied for my attention, but I decided not to overlook the small things! For this composition I experimented quite a bit. I chose a large bollard, miles of rope and one of the ever-present seagulls to paint. The canvas is square and was primed with Napels Yellow. Where I usually fall into illustration mode, this time I ignored the intricate ropes and decided not to "count coils" and paint every little detail! And lastly, I have made generous use of black acrylic paint, which I do not normally use.

I am often surprised that so few people in our area make time to visit Saldanha Bay. When I asked around, I received an answer: "Saldanha is much too industrial with all those factories"! Now, nobody will blame the reader if he starts thinking Birmingham or Detroit! But in truth there is a small steelworks and a fish processing factory, both very picturesque. As the seagull and I glance over the shimmering bay towards the misty steelworks on the horison, we both think: Now, that is not bad at all, is it?

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.

The Berg River

The lovely unpolluted Berg River is one of the very important rivers of the Western Cape. It starts in the mountains at Stellenbosch and meets the Atlantic Ocean at Velddrif. Besides being the main water source for many wine farms, it's marshlands are alive with wading birds. Anglers, small fishing boats, yachts and crayfish trawlers are seen on its banks.

During the winter rainy season canoeists from all over the world take part in the Berg River Canoe Marathon. In 2010 the 4-day race will take place from the 14th to the 17th of July. If the day is clear, you may want to join me here at the water's edge in Velddrif? We can have a picnic on the river bank and watch the festive and colourful finish to the race! This rickety ol' jetty may act as a lookout podium to find the front runners. But really, by the looks of it I think we should only allow one spectator on it at a time!

I could not resist painting this tranquil scene. The greenish water near the jetty shows grass almost breaking through the surface, and gave me the opportunity to paint marshy waters as a practice run for the wading birds that I must do for a later post. From here I am adding to this post as Sheila asked me about the colours I have used for the water: I start with a lot of Windsor and Newton Titanium White. Then add Ceruleum, Cobalt and Prussian Blue. That is my basic mix for the water throughout. For the marshy colours I used Prussian Blue, Green Oxide and Flesh. The brush strokes are horisontal because of the very calm river. I hope this helps! Do yourselves a favour and also visit Jill Berry's Ambient Landscape. I also want to remind you that Liz Pearson painted the Berg River at Velddrif a few weeks ago! And while we are Internet hopping, there is the aerial lay-out of the river on Google Earth of course!