From an artistic point of view I have always found shipwrecks fascinating. I know it sounds somewhat ironic, but there is just something so beautiful about their rapid decay. Relentless, non-submissive waves pound day and night upon their skeletons reminding all of their plunder. Over on the seaward side of the Sentinel in Hout Bay lie the remains of the Harvest Capella which ran aground in a fierce storm in 1984. Her carcass lays abreast a rocky outcrop at Oude Schip Point and is visually interesting, but somewhat out of character when compared with the immense beauty of the shoreline and surrounds.
The wreck is quite large and the top of the crane can easily be seen from the road between Camps bay and Llundudno. In March this year I decided to try and photograph the wreck before the sun moved too far rth. At that time we were experiencing high winds and inclement weather on the peninsula making it difficult to plan a shoot at sunset, so patiently I waited for a break in the conditions. After three weeks a front had passed through and my chance finally came. At three thirty on a Tuesday afternoon I phoned my assistant to say that we will be shooting that evening. With the help of Google Earth, the night before, I found an overgrown hiking trail that snaked down the steep embankments to the wreck. The weather looked fine, plus there were quite a few clouds about. The table seemed set; we just needed to join the party on time.
Just before leaving home that afternoon as if one could put in an order, I said to my wife that I would love some sort of guarantee that there will be a scattering of cloud about at sunset. This will help portray the subject correctly as opposed to a clear sky which would feel out of context. For those who know Hout Bay, this sort of guarantee is none existent. A valley that is influenced by two oceans does not easily play her hand upfront.
I had somewhat under estimated the severity of the slopes and the difficulty of the overgrown terrain, plus as luck would have it, the closer we got to the ship the further the clouds moved towards the horizon. We made it down alongside the wreck with twenty minutes to spare. With such little time to setup I scrambled amidst the large boulders to find my composition. By now the wind had also picked up making it quite difficult to balance my tripod on the rocks and to make matters worse the clouds were now rapidly being blown away. “Damn”, I remember shouting to myself, all this effort and only a splattering of clouds on the horizon, I even had those desperate, “suicidal” photography thoughts of not taking the shot at all. As the sun drew closer to last light I shot one picture just to satisfy myself, hoping for some miracle.
Just when I felt we could we could pack up and head back to return another day, I looked up behind me and spotted the glimpse of a cloud perched up on the crest of the Sentinel. I thought, “what are the chances?” A minute or two later more and more clouds started to appear. My mood had swung from childish doom and gloom to complete over excitement. I thought to myself "just look what is happening!! ”The wind had changed slightly and now the clouds were rapidly descending down off the cliff face and into my composition. With no disrespect, it felt as if God had taken up a pipe and was blowing clouds one after the other. I got so excited, I dropped two of my Neutral density filters down into the crevice of the rocks.... anyway, who needs filters now!... "Just get the shot" I said to myself "before it’s all over!"
The last bit of sunlight dropped below the horizon with sufficient light to underpin the clouds and the shot was on. Five minutes later the light faded as the curtain call on a great show concluded. I felt like applauding, but was somewhat humiliated by my own apparent lack of faith.
After a tough climb back under moonlight assisted by one failing torch, I was grateful that I need not have to revisit Oude Schip Point anytime soon. I will most certainly go back, but only in a few years time to see how the ocean has transformed the Harvest Capella. Next time I will take two torches, three neutral density filters, less demands and a humble spirit.
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