Page 80 - KBHA BULLETIN 5

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The naval and civil inquiries reached almost identical conclusions, exonerating all from blame,
commending the rescue work, and attributing the tragedy to hazards of the sea.

A reconstruction of the cutter’s last hours indicates that on leaving Fish Hoek Bay a course was
laid towards Seal Island in the hope that more wind would be found. Off Kalk Bay the cox’n
decided to abandon the cruise, go about, and head back to Simonstown. The wind was so light
that oars had to be used to get her round, and on the new tack it fell so much that steerage-way
was lost; to get back to Simon’s Town it would be necessary to go further out into the Bay, away
from the lee of the Peninsula mountains. Accordingly sails were brailed up, oars shipped, and the
boat’s head brought round once more in the direction of Seal Island.

As this manoeuvre was being executed, and as the cox’n was about to give the order for resetting
sail, the sea suddenly started lumping up, and within seconds a large wave broke right over the
boat, pushing her over at an acute angle and spilling out most of her crew; the next sea capsized
the vessel. All the crew had passed a swimming test during training, and there was no panic. As
boat and crew drifted towards Kalk Bay sea-wall, large, steep waves began to break in quick
succession, pounding the men in the water and sweeping over the sea-wall to make rescue
operations extremely hazardous. The cox’n was thrown ashore by a large wave, one of the crew
caught a rope and was hauled to safety, and two others were rescued by a launch which also
saved a would-be rescuer who had been swept off the wall. The fatality list was seven ratings and
one elderly civilian.

Domestic Fires

After the gutting of the Olympia Hotel in 1906 it was not until 1913 a fire that a fire again
shocked the Kalk Bay residents. This was the destruction of Miss Gell’s Drapery Store on the

corner of Rouxville and the Main Road alongside Rouxville House. (Fig. 4.10.) Her drapery
business was established in Kalk Bay in 1902 after she had taken over Pearce’s Drapery Store. It

was a well-known business and her reputation for quality merchandise of all kinds (garments,

millinery, lace and smocking) was renowned throughout the Cape Colony. All items were
produced in her Kalk Bay shop and the destruction of her premises affected many of her friends

and a wide circle of clients. It took her many months to recover from this setback.

The most dramatic fire in Kalk Bay was, however, the destruction of Dalebrook Boarding House.
(Fig. 4.11.) On Friday 4 January 1918 the guests and boarders at this renowned boarding house

were sitting down to breakfast when the alarm was raised that the thatched roof was on fire.

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