The Rocket
House
This
is a small square structure at the end of Mitchell’s Road
(also incorrectly known as Rocket Rd) which contours along the
lower slopes of Suther Peak (north of Hout Bay) from Sandy Bay Nek
to a point above Oude Schip, a rocky point jutting into the
sea.
The
walk offers superb views of the stunning coastal and mountain
scenery throughout. The Rocket House is situated above ‘the
remotest & most inaccessible coastline on the west coast of the
Cape Peninsula where the cliffs run sheer to the
sea’.
Information about the Rocket House is
hard to come by. It was constructed in 1913 a few years after the
tragic shipwreck of the Maori, 5,317 ton, 175m
British cargo steamer on 5 August 1909 which struck the huge
boulders in the bay just below the Rocket House in heavy seas, fog
& driving rain. The ship was carrying a cargo of railway lines,
explosives, water piping and crockery from London to New Zealand
when it had been ‘set-in by an abnormally strong current
(which had) retarded her speed and the strong NW seas had driven
her upon the rocks’.
In
the later stages of the dramatic attempts to rescue the 12
remaining crew on the ship, rockets were used initially to fire
biscuits & brandy over to them and subsequently to fire a line
which was used to rescue them over 40 hours after the ship struck
the rocks. Of the crew of 55 only 23 survived. A detailed account
of the wreck is given in the fascinating book Hard
Aground: Memorable Western Cape Shipwrecks by Kalk Bay author
Michael Walker ISBN 979-0-620-40841-7
(2008).
The
wreck, about 75m off the shore and about 25m deep, is now a dive
site and is apparently well preserved for its age, lying in a
(normally!) sheltered bay. However over the years it has been
extensively plundered by divers as described in the article
The Sad Case of the SS Maori
(see
http://www.international.icomos.org/risk/2006/14gribble2006an.pdf).
See http://www.bubbleblowers.co.za/Ga110055/g.php/13
for some interesting underwater
photos of the wreck.
It is
assumed that the Rocket House (also referred to as Rocket Station)
was used as a store for rocket equipment in case it was needed for
use in future rescues. Further information would be well
received!
Two
other wrecks are visible from the Rocket House area, the Harvest Capella 720m to the WNW down on the north side of
the Oude Schip rocks which was wrecked in 1986 and the Boss 400, a huge floating crane wrecked in 1994 some 1.23km
SW on the rocks of Duiker Point.
To
reach the cache:
Park
at the Hout Bay dunes parking area at the top of Eustegia Rd
S34 01.637 E18
20.516 making sure to secure your car properly and
remove any visible items.
Walk
up to the top of the road and past the boom to Sandy Bay Nek @
S34 01.510 E18
20.321.
Turn
SW here and follow the jeep track to the cache
location.
The
cache, a small screw-topped camo-container is hidden in the
wall.
And
then . . . ?
From
the Rocket House, you may:
a)
return the way you came
b)
take the steep and eroded track down to Oude Schip rocks - location
of Peter Scholtz’s Blood, Sweat & Sandy Bay cache
(GC1BBA). If you fancy an extended walk you can carry on from here
NE along the coast past Sandy Bay Nudist Beach to the path junction
@ S34 01.370 E18
19.954 (if you wish to visit the beach) or @
S34 01.441 E18
19.997 (above the beach) where you can then turn
right and follow the path back up to Sandy Bay
Nek
c)
take the adventurous trail SW above and along the rocky coast to
Duiker Point - location of Discombob’s The Boss cache
(GCZMGW) passing Zambesiboy’s The Boss’s Rest cache
along the way
Enjoy
this amazing part of the Peninsula!