Often, and incorrectly, called the Mouille Point lighthouse, Green Point is the oldest operational lighthouse in South Africa.
Built by Herman Schutte, a German immigrant, it was first lit on the 12th April 1824.
The tower itself is still in use in its original form but the original lights, two fixed white lights, have been replaced by a single revolving beam.
The new, single lantern, replaced in 1865, is still in use today.
A most controversial issue, especially for the residents of Green Point ,was the placing of the infamous foghorn,that was installed in 1925.
The diaphone emitted a deep note, 3 seconds long, every 30 seconds, which I remember very clearly, having lived for a few months, during the late 1970’s about half a kilometre away from the lighthouse itself.
I recall, lying snug and warm in bed, the apartments along Beach Road surrounded by the silent eerie fog, lit by the orange streetlamps, and counting the seconds until the next booming noise.
I often wondered about the ships out there, on that dark, mist shrouded sea, that were warned by this loud bellowing booming noise. This noisy, much spoken about, air operated old foghorn was eventually replaced by an electrically operated unit, situated on the sea wall along the walkway a few metres north of the Lighthouse, and seems to bother residents much less than in the previous days.
During the winter Northwester storms, this part of the coastline takes an incredible battering from wind and waves and many ship wrecks lie sunken under these shallow waters leading into Table Bay.
The most famous shipwreck that many older Capetonians will remember is that of the South African ‘Seafarer’, during a heavy Winter storm on the 1st July 1966, carrying a cargo of highly poisonous Tetra-ethyl lead, whilst en route from Glasgow to Beira.
She was advised to stay outside but decided to enter Cape Town Harbour in rough weather and ran aground off Green Point.
Several unsuccessful attempts were made with a rocket life saving apparatus, but in the end all had to be airlifted by helicopter.
The lighthouse beam was stopped and directed at the ship on the storm tossed rocks below in order to aid the helicopters that were used to winch the 12 passengers and crew to safety.
The ship eventually broke in two and had to be demolished using explosives.
There was concern for the foundations of 142 year old tower as well as for the rotating lens table and the mercury bath on which the great optic rested. However, Schutte, in 1824, had done his work well and all held together with no damage to either the structure or the lantern and its housing.
Today Green Point lighthouse is utilised as the Head Office of the Lighthouse Services which owns, operates and maintains 45 lighthouses, along with other beacons and aids to Navigation along the approximately 3 700 kilometres of South African coastline, stretching from Port Nolloth on the West Coast to Jesser Point (Sodwana) on the East Coast.
Due to modern technology and automation, only 15 of the 45 lighthouses are still manned. This means that a number of residences that were formerly occupied by lightkeepers are underutilised to their full potential.
SA Lighthouse Adventure Tour Operations (SALATO) was formed to offer visitors and tourists a “Lighthouse experience” where one can go on tours of those specific lighthouses, as well as stay in these old but comfortably refurbished buildings, and relive the magic, the romance and the mystery that these great beacons of hope along the desolate coastlines represent.
Bruce Wade
August 11, 2010
@ 7:23 pm
Makes me want to get my sailor outfit on and go back to sea. Thanks for the memories.