HARBOUR MEMORIES
A significant family link to East London Harbour on the Buffalo River can be found under the family story of Alexander Watson, my paternal grandfather. He had bought the hulk of a cargo ship using it to transport coal from Natal to East London.
My maternal grandparents Nana and Da did a trip by mail boat. Possibly just to Durban to see the Wells family. Later Nana did some trips to Europe with her friend Madeleine whose daughter had married a Dutchman. Some of our possessions date from this time.
Travel to and from England was always by ship. South Africa was well served by the Union Castle mail ships which combined some cargo with passengers. I do not know the ocassion, (it may have been a local trip up the coast), but my mother and I have come to see them off. And of course my nanny came too. She was known as Tiny. I spent much of my early youth tied in a blanket to her back.
The Union Castle Line ships were considered passenger ships, but as the name suggests were also cargo ships, a role which included the mail. These were to be supplemented by Safmarine in partnership with them. These were not actually cruise ships as they did not primarily serve the holiday market. We used to see Nana off each time and wander onboard to do this with minimal security. And in about 1969 my parents and I did a trip to Cape Town (My brother P was involved elsewhere). The trip down was on the Pendennis and the return on the SAS Vaal. On the trip down I was put in an inside cabin with an intoxicated man, but we had dinner with the captain. Evening entertainment was a film running in the corner of the lounge area.
We would often visit the docks and simply drove in. Security back then was minimal and customs or harbour police usually only came on duty if particular ships were loading or unloading. I have a memory of watching the maize bags being hoisted overhead on large nets. My brother P caught my eye. He was also peering above while walking close to the quayside edge not watching where he was heading, but I stopped calamity in time. Public health and safety was hardly considered then. Alls sorts of products were lifted above us in nets or on pallets by cranes that were prone to move with just a brief cautionary hooter blast. Long before RO-RO and containerisation.
An interesting feature to visit was the grain elevator, a very tall cluster of linked concrete towers. Great views from the top. Many, many stairs up. That is now defunct.
Beyond that the main breakwater curved out into the sea to protect the harbour mouth. This worked very well, but a sandbar formed out from its extremities and that makes for an awkward approach by ships of all sizes, particularly in rough weather - the treacherous on “bar”.
A popular spectacle was to watch the ships leave port. It has caught many a ship, as has the swell outside of the wall. The remnants of a dredger remain there. Anyway it makes watching the pilots jump from pilot boat to the ladder and back something rather exciting. My Watson predecessors had done so before me from their house on Seaview Terrace. And Granny, Maud Watson, had not only used the early hoisted basket for passengers between ship and tender, but had crossed the river mouth on sand at low tide before it was properly dredged. The dredging became necessary as larger ships could not come in.
The smaller breakwater or pier on the leeside was built more a s public facility complete with lookout points and seating. Gun emplacements were installed during WWII and the bases can stilll be seen. It is popular with anglers and those waving to ships entering and leaving. This pier created the Orient Beach as sand accumulated. It has had its own share of shipwrecks, but is a popular beach.
My parents knew the Blackler family from church. They had come down from Rhodesia and had bought the pleasure boat the Lady Eileen. They lived on board and made a living taking people on short sea trips. Then they bought a house, but it burnt down.
As the harbour grew in importance and use, it needed to be dramatically widened and a turning basin was formed. We were taken out of primary school that day to witness the remaining rock being blasted from the basin. The dockside facilities have subsequently been dramatically added to by Mercedes – Benz's facilities for export.
East London vies with other coastal cities a The Windy City. It also has this river based port. In spite of the turning basin adding to the facilities greatly in width, it still provided problems in high winds. I remember a ship being caught by a cross wind and side swiping the small tug being used in conjunction with the pilot boat. That little boat made it back to its dock, but then sank. Fortunately it was shallower there and the superstructure remained sticking our of the water. It was refloated by installed and inflating a large airbag inside it.
I was on a chamber of commerce committee and attended several events. One was a "pub crawl". Well, being a non drinker that was hardly me. But this one was different. It was around the harbour. Drink stops were located in a customs room, the West bank Lighthouse and on board a tug which took us out to sea. My wife came too,
That takes me up to 1999 when we emigrated and had to start afresh. Our belongings took ages intransit within a container on a ship. And then when our SA house was eventually sold, we did that again.
