By the Baai!

In my last rambling blog post, I mentioned that the coastline of our village follows 5 baais or bays, so I thought I would show you three of them. That's a bit Irish to begin with, especially as one of the baais isn't strictly speaking one of 'our' baais! And that's the only one that has sand instead of boulders! Still with me? The best way to see them is from the air, and I was lucky enough to find this 1993 photograph on Wikepedia. You can clearly see the baais, (I have written the names in for you), with the roads laid out ready for business!

I hope that you can read the names!

We live a stone's throw from Jacobsbaai, ( 'X' is where our house is, more or less!). Here is where the little boats tie up and from where others are launched. It is also the baai that gives our village it's name. In the middle of the baai is a small island that is home to many different varieties of bird life, so we call it.......guess what? Yes, Bird Island. It's also the main fishing baai, every evening we see the fishermen patiently sitting on the rocks or bobbing in their boats and waiting for a bite. A few evenings ago we watched one man haul his catch into the shallows, but instead of a stompneus (or whatever he was after), he had caught a sand shark, about 40 cms long. I was very pleased to see that he carefully removed the hook and sent it back into the water. So often we see dead ones that are caught and simply destroyed. Often along the edge of the water, we see blobs of dead jelly fish. Some are transparent and some are like strawberry jelly, but it seems to be a seasonal thing and then they wash up in their dozens. Occasionally we see a dead seal, usually after a storm, and then we have to disuade Alfie from rolling on it! Lovely!

Jacobsbaai with bobbing fishing boats.

Our next baai is called Bamboes Baai, or Bamboo Bay, presumably because there is a lot of kelp, the large thick stemmed type with a sort of head with thick fronds of hair!! It's proper name is 'Ecklonia Maxima' and is the brown kelp found in our West Coast waters. When we first got here I kept thinking that there were people in trouble in the sea, as they are rooted in the sea bed with their 'heads' above the water, and look very much like swimmers in trouble! This kelp is used in a wide variety of manufacturing, from ice-cream to fertilizer! Alfie loves to grab bits and shake it, but we have stopped him from actually eating it as he kept bringing it up again at the most inopportune times! (As if there is an opportune time!!)This baai has no sand whatsoever, it is rocks and boulders, so no glorious golden sand to lie on or to walk barefoot in the sunset!
Then we have Smal Baai, or Small Bay, because it is just that. Small. (As you can see from the photo). Also rocky, it does have a small strip of coarse sand, and also has the inlet pipes to the crayfish factory under the surface. Sadly for us locals, the crayfish factory only exports its contents, and every day the refrigerated trucks roll in, load up and head off to Cape Town. Apparently Smal Baai is quite a good place to poach various goodies from, and the Marine people are often around.
Next is the noisiest baai we have! It is called Kwaai Baai, or Cross Bay and the sea pounds continually onto the rocks. We are a fair distance from Kwaai Baai but we hear the sea and through the houses we see the spray flying high into the sky. A few brave souls actually surf there, but getting out is a problem as the waves hurl themselves onto the rocks. It is the best baai to just sit and watch the sea and let your soul relax!
Finally we have the baai that I mentioned last week, Moerie-se-Baai, (proper name Mauritz Baai) where the Terns live and love. Beyond that baai the coast twists and turns and meanders into Saldanha Bay territory. From Jacobsbaai to Moerie-se-Baai is approximately 4 kilometers, that gives you some idea of the size of our village!

Mauritz Baai, to give it the correct name!

And also why I called my blog 'by the Baai'.The baai that isn't really part of our village, (and not in the aerial photo anyway!)is a long sandy one with a strong current, and people need to be careful when swimming. It is called Hospitaal Baai, or Hospital Bay,and is over the dunes from Jacobsbaai and the hotel. Depending on who you ask, the reasons for the name differ! Some people say that it got its name because long ago the ships would offload their sick and wounded for transport to hospital. Others say that it comes from the time when the offshore islands were used for bombing practice and the injured seals would manage to swim as far as the beach where they either recovered, or they died.

Hospitaal Baai with it's golden sand! And strong current!

I like to think that it was the first explanation, don't you?