This lighthouse is located
at the Southern end of Dassen Island. The island and lighthouse are not open to
the public. It was thus necessary to request a favour of the lighthouse
authorities to be permitted to accompany their operational personnel on one of
their visits. As luck would have it, the lighthouse was undergoing maintenance
and a visit was necessary at the time I was in the Cape Town area.
The semi rigid rubber duck
is based in Cape Town, but was launched from the small harbour at Yzerfontein.
The jetty on Dassen IsIand
is located in natural harbour called House Bay and is ideal for landing in
South-easterly weather. Fishing boats also take temporary anchorage in this bay.
Cape Nature buildings are sited at the head of the jetty.
Although offered a ride, I
opted to walk the 2km from the jetty to the lighthouse while the lighthouse
staff and contractors travelled in an LDV based on the island. Fuel and
provisions were also being delivered to the team of contractors residing on the
island for the duration of the renovations to the lighthouse.
The purpose of walking was
to view the wildlife on the island. There are large numbers of rabbits,
tortoises and sea birds on the island. The rabbits were surprisingly skittish
and a photograph could not be taken. One of the contractors mentioned a
resident owl which might explain the skittish behaviour. Southern Blackbacked
Gulls saw me as a predator and swooped noisily by. Tortoises were slower to
move away! The tortoises are believed to be Angulate Tortoises, but I did not
pick up same to confirm the identification.
Pictures were taken as I approached the lighthouse.
The lighthouse is built on a granite outcrop and the attractive base is
constructed of granite blocks mined on the island. The tower is constructed of
individual cast iron plates bolted together as shown in the internal picture
below. It must have been an enormous task landing these plates on the island
and then lifting them during the construction in the early 1890’s.
The views from the top are
spectacular. The second (below) shows the sparse vegetation toward the jetty
and the Cape Nature’s buildings.
Barnie Germishuys, pictured
below, was my host for the day and sincere thanks are recorded for the
privilege granted to me. The renovations underway include the painting of the
lighthouse. Notice the worker at the base of the tower (right hand side)
suspended from the upper platform. He is chipping off the old paint with a
pneumatic or electric hammering device. Being a cast iron tower, the noise was
deafening when I ascended inside. The grey colour is an undercoat which will be
covered in white to produce the red and white bands which identify this
lighthouse.
There are some sad stories
related to this island though. Those are cormorants nesting on the remains of
the bow and rabbits scurried under for protection.
And then departure, after a
very interesting day, with Barnie skippering the rubber duck. Thank you.
