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November 22, 2004
A difficult entrance .....
The entrance to Port Alfred, a river harbour built in the 1880's, which operated until around 1910 when it became impractical and dangerous. As a harbour, it ate tugs, three being lost negotiating the entrance.
Breaking seas show the dangerous cross current over the sandbar at the entrance to Port Alfred.
A strong outgoing current over a tide and a combined surge over the bar backed by a strong south-westerly wind make the entrance to Port Alfred almost impassable for any but the most savvy seaman and the most powerful vessels - and even they battle. The remains of the last tug to serve this port now lie decaying on the mud above the road bridge that now spans the river. Photographs taken in its heyday as a harbour (it was built to serve the Albany District around Grahamstown) show large numbers of sailing vessels moored at the town quays. The problem for the Captains negotiating the entrance was that they could only do so at the top of the tide and then only with the help of either a tug or stevedores - and only in an almost flat calm.
The builders thought they could overcome the silting by making the entrance narrow enough to create a scouring effect as the tides ran out - it worked - but, it also made entering and leaving a very tricky operation! The harbour eventually became just too dangerous for larger vessels and settled back to being first a fishing harbour and now to being an upmarket marina. But the problems of entering and leaving remain!
Posted by The Gray Monk at November 22, 2004 08:47 AM