Cape wreck

Lying just off the beach at Bloubergstrand in Cape Town for the last year or so is the wreck of the Turkish ship Seli 1. The Seli 1 apparently dropped anchor in Table Bay when the anchor broke off in large swells. The ship drifted towards shore and landed on a sandbank before being pushed onto rocks which punctured a hole in the side of the boat. Fortunately it didn't cause any pollution along the coastline.

Authorities have been unable to refloat the boat due to the damage caused. The cargo and oil has been removed and the ship will now be cut up as scrap metal. So for now it has become part of the Cape landscape and photographers' subject.

Caterpillars

Time for a "Random ..." theme post again. Today's post is on Random Caterpillars (or worms. Whatever you want to call the first two)

We have had a bunch of these hairy spiky critters around the office building lately. They turn into the Garden Acraea Butterfly later on in their lives.

This little dude looks like he needs a haircut. I have no idea what he is, but I found him at Cape Point on my last visit there.

A Caterpillar with a difference. This is the Caterpillar engine of the shipwreck at Cannon Rocks on South Africa's Sunshine Coast.

Sunset wreck

Sunset at Cannon Rocks with the shipwreck in the forground

If you want to see more magnificent pictures featuring skies from all over the globe, visit Skywatch

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GPS: 33°44'39.94"S, 26°33'42.35"E

Rusty wreck

Following on yesterday's post on (what's left of) the wreck at Cannon Rocks, I decided to show off some closeup shots of the wreck today.

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GPS: 33°44'41.59"S, 26°33'39.99"E

Cannon Rocks' wreck

During December we spent a week at Cannon Rocks on the Sunshine Coast in the Eastern Cape (about 120km east of my home town of Port Elizabeth). We stayed there the previous year as well and I just loved photographing the wreck of a fishing boat rusting away on the beach close to the resort where we stayed.

Last year the wreck looked like this (photo above) and some of the photos I took then can be seen here and here. As soon as we set up camp I jumped into the car and headed over to the wreck to go and say hi. I could barely believe my eyes. Below is what's left of it. The ocean and the elements are truly taking its toll.

Just about all of the deck and upper deck area is gone. It also looks like the rough seas had moved the wreck slightly as it's in water all the time now where it was on dry sand during low tide last time round. Because of this its now covered in moss and sea weed.

But although it looked very different from my last visit I still took quite a few pics of the wreck and will show them to you in the time to come.

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GPS: 33°44'41.59"S, 26°33'39.99"E

Blue moon rising

The blue moon (second full moon of the calender month) rising over the ship wreck at Cannon Rocks in the Eastern Cape on New Years Eve.

For more fabulous pictures featuring the sky, visit Skywatch.

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GPS: 33°44'41.59"S, 26°33'39.99"E

Cape St Francis Wreck

We went to camp at Cape St Francis over the Easter weekend. On Sunday morning I decided to take the trail westward along the coast as indicated on the resort's info sheet to see if I could find the wreck (apparently what is left of The Osprey which ran aground in 1855) and the blow hole marked on it. Unfortunately the tide was too low to find the blow hole and, well, there wasn't much left of the wreck to say the least. But no worries, it still made for a great photo opportunity.

Rust

After the other day's Random Roundness post I got a thinking. Well, a couple of random ideas flew around my head at least. The possibilities of "Random ..." posts are endless. So today I'm doing a "Random ..." post on "rust".

The fence in front of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Central, Port Elizabeth

A hole in the rusty shipwreck at Cannon Rocks

Part of a rusty fence at the St Peter's Church ruins

Wreck at sunset

Today's post continues on yesterday's post on the shipwreck at Cannon Rocks on the Sunshine Coast. It rained three out of the seven days we were at Cannon Rocks and I was a bit worried that I may not get a sunset to photograph. Seeing that the evening had good prospects, I headed down the beach to the shipwreck to wait for sunset.

When I got there I thought this scene with the kelp gulls in the foreground and the fisherman in the background made for a nice picture. The gulls stayed just long enough for me to line it up and get the shot.

I tried to get a sunset photo with the shipwreck in the foreground and some reflexion on the wet sand. Most of the pics I took had sunspots on it, but this one came out fairly close to what I wanted. What do you think?

Cannon Rocks shipwreck

Cannon Rocks is a little holiday resort town on the Sunshine Coast about 120 km east of Port Elizabeth. The town (if you can call it a town) consists mostly of holiday homes and retired people and reminded me of Paradise Beach. This was were my grandparents retired and we spent every school holiday there, playing amongst the dunes, building forts in the bush, exploring between the rocks and off cause swimming. But I digress. Cannon Rocks, and neighboring Boknes, have miles of sandy beaches ideal for swimming, kite surfing, fishing or just walking hand in hand... or running after the Rugrats, whichever you prefer.

The landmark that stands out for me at Cannon Rocks is the wreck, or what's left of it, of the Hallelujah-20. The Hallelujay-20 was a fishing boat that ran aground on the beach in the mid 1990's for whatever reason. I didn't ask around why.

I was immediately drawn to the wreck. Infinite interesting angles to photograph, holes to frame with, colours to play with and not to mention the promise of a sunset photo with the wreck in the foreground. That post will follow tomorrow. Watch this space.

My favorite pic of my time spent at the wreck was this one.