Langebaan, Sth Africa

[janeK]

I am thinking of going down to Sth Africa to sail in the Langebaan and Cape Town areas.
There is bound to be someone on here who has been and has some useful tips/advice

Will probably be in Feb 2016 for about 3-4 weeks (am fed up with this winter grey weather... I need some sun)

Any advice gratefully received

janeK

 

[Malo37]

Used to live there - don't trust anything anyone tells you, especially if there is cash involved.

 

[janeK]

"Used to live there - don't trust anything anyone tells you, especially if there is cash involved."

Oh dear, that sounds ominous when I have to pay up front for eveything.
Any tips on sailing areas, or cruising manual to read prior to getting there? Where are the best places to see in Capetown as well???
Thanks
janeK

 

[rogerthebodger]

"Used to live there - don't trust anything anyone tells you, especially if there is cash involved."

Oh dear, that sounds ominous when I have to pay up front for eveything.
Any tips on sailing areas, or cruising manual to read prior to getting there? Where are the best places to see in Capetown as well???
Thanks
janeK

Not all who live in South Africa are like that but I live up country and sail on the East coast.

https://www.google.co.za/#q=cape+town+tourism

This may help in what to see in Cape Town.

Don't know too much about sailing in the western cape but day sailing is better than East coast as there are several harbours within day sailing of each other .

A friend of mine who lives and sails in Cape Town also posts here under the name Adamaster will give unbiased help if he sees this post.

Problem with Cape Town is weather is IMHO s**t and the water is too cold to swim.

Max temp today in CT is 24 C in JHB 32 C durban 28 C

In by biased view lots more to see in South Africa than just Cape Town.

 

[EU_Cruiser]

Cruise to Clifton, Sandy Bay, Hout Bay. But keep an eye on wind conditions - the South Easter can blow like the clappers in summer. Cape Town is lovely but Langebaan and surrounds (West Coast) is a bit on the bleak side. Take a day trip by car from Langebaan to the Cedarberg. Lots of things to do and the Royal Cape YC used to be a very festive place.

 

[janeK]

Thank you for the replies will try and investigate further prior to going but the charts seem to be rather old and in black & white that I have found,
Hopefully will buy the Navionics package and they will be more up to date as not able to view prior to purchase!!
Thank you
JaneK

 

[rogerthebodger]

Is this screen shot any help

 

[Adamastor]

Navionics package is spot-on. Autumn is the best time to be in the Cape- March/April is the secret season when the summer madness is over!
Stay in Langebaan by all means but it is in the desert, so there's precious little to do there in terms of cultural stuff. It's also a 60nm sail to CT and a good drive by car, so think carefully about making it your base... I'd say spend a week there and see the surrounds, but try and organise a car.
You'll have plenty of opportunity to pop north to Britania Bay and the surrounds too, with Port Owen and the Berg River in the area. But make your way to CT and spoil yourself. You won't be sorry, and there is pretty much everything you could want reasonably close to hand. Other places to look at basing yourself are Hout Bay and Simonstown, with Simonstown my preferred locale.
Hit me up with a PM nearer the time- as the OP said, you might need some local guidance, because the boating industry here is populated with parties who think that boats lay golden eggs. I recently saved some rally-folks from a scalping at the hands of some unscrupulous hydraulics experts, and sat and watched as the "teccie" tried to demand a consultancy fee WAY above his paygrade! Cautionary tale: ask for advice before engaging just anybody...
Aside from the risk of professional shark-attacks, there's nothing to fear; our money's worth fokol (technical term for nothing) and the chance of missing out on anything, or of having to rush, is also fokol! We're a laid-back bunch of fishing folk down here, and as long as you know the difference between "now", "just now", "now-now", "later" and "soon", you'll be just fine!

 

[Duster]

You'll find, as mentioned above, that Saldanha/Langebaan is desert, scrub and unlovely. There are sharks, lots of them ( small white and white tipped ), in the lagoon - so not the best place to learn to capsize a Hobiecat. Similarly, there are lots of sharks in Falsebaai ( great white 'cos of the seal population - and the scuba/surfers ) especially around Boulder Beach.

You'll really like Hout Baai, but I'd suggest you give Sandy Bay a miss. It's not for gentlefolk and their ladies....

 

[EU_Cruiser]

...but I'd suggest you give Sandy Bay a miss. It's not for gentlefolk and their ladies....

Or prudes.

 

[rogerthebodger]

We're a laid-back bunch of fishing folk down here, and as long as you know the difference between "now", "just now", "now-now", "later" and "soon", you'll be just fine!

That's why we up country call Cape Town the mother city as it takes 9 months to get anything done.

 

[Babylon]

I once rode a motorbike up to Langebaan from Cape Town. Not a long journey, but one characterised by an unbelievable - interior - sense of desolation. When I got there, I had a cup of tea in an old Cape Dutch homestead turned tearoom and rode back. The next day I rode the other way into the winelands, and what a contrast!

Park your boat in Cape Town or go right around the corner (ie the other side of Cape Point), rent a car and explore a lovely and diverse piece of the earth.