Page 12 - KBHA BULLETIN 1

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THE EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF KALK BAY HARBOUR

Barrie Gasson and Bert Stafford

Introduction

The story of Kalk Bay harbour can be divided into three eras: the first is the era of simplicity
running from the mists of the deep past up to May 1883 when the railway arrived at the

corner of the Bay; the second is a thirty-year period of uncertainty between 1883 and 6 March

1913 when the first shovel of sand was turned in the construction of the Breakwater; the third
is the long period of security which saw the Breakwater completed in 1919, the North Mole

and Jetty No.1 built in 1939, and the Breakwater repaired and Jetty No.1 reconstructed and

repositioned in 1994.

Era of Simplicity up to 1883

Kalk Bay entered recorded history in November 1687 when it was visited by Simon van der

Stel as part of an expedition to the False Bay area. He established a base camp there from

which the surrounding countryside and False Bay were explored. He described the little bay
as having a flat sandy floor for more than a kilometre from the shore, and a depth of eight to

nine fathoms. (Tredgold, 1985.) The surroundings were evidently quite wild for a lion was

said to have “carried off a sheep from the camp and devoured it in the bush nearby.” (Furlong,
1919 quoted in Tredgold.)

However, Kalk Bay had been discovered long before this by indigenous Khoi-San people
attracted by the same characteristics that have always made the area a favourite place: the

small inlet and beach, the varied sea-foods along the shoreline, the source of water from the
stream, the relative wind shelter, and the warm north-facing slopes. The archaeological

evidence in caves, shell middens, and fish traps suggests that Kalk Bay area has been

inhabited for tens of thousands of years. (Poggenpoel, pers. comm.)