"You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat"

-Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), Jaws (1975)

            For all I knew it could have been midnight, but the clock was telling me it was 5:15. Peter and I had decided that we would get a very early start on his last full day in Cape Town, by waking up at 5:15 to do a morning Cage Dive with Great White Sharks. My friend from Lawrenceville, Brocq Maxey, son of Chris Maxey, who founded the Island School, lives down in Cape Town, and as I have mentioned in previous blogs, runs a dive boat out of Simon's Town. I have seen him a handful of times since he arrived back in Cape Town, but he lives about a half an hour from me and is a working man 6 days a week on the boat. So, we decided we would go out with Brocq's company for a dive with some Great Whites and be back in time for brunch with Sarah and Sally. 

In the cage admiring the shakes up close

        For whatever reason, Sally and Sarah had no interest in this activity but Peter and I were determined to do it. So we drove in the dark down the peninsula until we arrived in Simon's Town around 6:00. We watched the sun rise over the harbor and before long Brocq arrived on the boat with the cage and diving gear. Although we were in False Bay the water was still quite cold, and seeing as we were going out off shore to where it is deeper, the water is considerably colder. We headed out on the boat with a few others aboard to Seal Island. An island that was home to 70,000 seals, making it deserving of the name, and a natural attraction to Great White Sharks. So we had about a 25 minute boat ride out to Seal Island as the sun slowly climbed higher in the sky and we woke up a little bit more with the wind in our face. Peter and Brocq caught up on life, the last time they'd talked at any length was in the Fall of 2003 when Peter was at Island School and Brocq was a middle schooler at Deep Creek Middle School in Eleuthera, Bahamas.

Shark nearly capturing the fish's head

          Soon enough we dropped anchor at Seal Island and we watched as the crew of the boat prepared bait and chum to attract sharks to the cage. The main attraction for the sharks was a fish's head that was attached to a buoy and dragged near our cage so that we could see the sharks come right toward us in pursuit of a fish's head. We waited to spot some sharks before lowering the cage and entering the water, and in the beginning it was very slow. The sharks were no where to be found, perhaps still sleeping, for whatever reason they were not out chomping and thus we had nothing to view. After about 45 minutes of waiting and adding bait to the waters, Peter and I began to worry we were not going to see any sharks. Finally, a shark was sighted and the cage was lowered into the water and Peter and I were told we were first up.

Pedro approves

        There was only one shark and it was keeping its distance from the cage. We could see it but not up close, it was probably 2 meters or so away from us. While it wasn't close enough to make our heart skip a beat we could admire the size of the sharks and the grin it seemed to have on its face as it swam past the cage. After we had seen the same shark circle around the boat a number of times, we got out and gave the next crew of people to get a chance to see the shark. We were not impressed with what we'd seen yet, and were worried that would be the extent of it. Luckily, just as it hit about 9:15 the sharks began to come out to play. The other group in the water began to see several and they were taking the bait. Sharks were in hot pursuit of breakfast and swam within inches of the cage to attempt to have a bite out of the fish's head. Soon it was our turn to go back in and see the more aggressive sharks up close, hungry for breakfast.

Shark gets the fish head

      The second time around we got the experience we were hoping Great White Cage Diving would bring us. Sharks swimming toward us, teeth gleaming, terrifying glares, it seemed like we were about to be eaten and then they would pull the bait out of the water and the shark would lose interest. Even with the cage around us, there were a few moments where we both jumped back as if there were no protection. Peter nearly was struck by the fin of one of the sharks after it got too close to the cage and then abruptly turned. It was an adrenaline rush and incredible to see these creatures just inches away. When Brocq was not paying attention a shark soared up out of the water, and grabbed the fish's ehad clean off of the buoy. With only a few fish's heads on board, the goal was to lure the sharks with the fish heads but not to lose the fish heads as they were expensive. We both left the water, discussing what we'd seen and excited we had the experience we hoped we would. 

             We headed back into shore and were back on land by 11:30. We thanked Brocq for taking us out and left him as he prepared to take another group for an early afternoon cage dive. We then jumped in the car and headed for the Old Biscuit Mill where we planned to meet Sarah and Sally for brunch. They had spent an hour or two in the morning searching for some souvenirs to bring back to Sarah's boyfriend, and Sally's children and Grandchildren. We met them at the mill and showed Peter around, Sally and Sarah were old pros at the Old Biscuit Mill at this point. We enjoyed various food from the local vendors, ranging from an omelette to an ostrich burger to a pizza and everything in between. With all the excitement and activity of the last few days, we decided it would be best to stop by our favorite, Mt. Nelson and make a dinner reservation there for our final night, before heading back to the pool for some afternoon sun and true summertime relaxation.

Island School Fall '06, Full-Time Resident & Fall '03 reuniting in Cape Town

          It was nice for them to spend some time just enjoying the weather and sun, knowing that in 24 hours they'd be cooped up on a plane back to the Northeast of the US where snow had apparently just fallen. So we enjoyed some cold drinks, hot sun and conversation by the pool for a few hours, talking about all we'd seen and done. Peter and I even managed to doze off for "40 wink naps," as Sally's dad used to say, to make up for the early wake up we'd had that morning. The hotel told us to come whenever we wanted and they would accomodate us, which was nice since it allowed us to act at our leisure and not be met with a time frame. It was a truly relaxing last afternoon evening that resulted with us in our favorite spot, the Mt. Nelson. A great last night of the vacation and we arrived at the Mt. Nelson around 8 o'clock. 

One last sundown at the Mt. Nelson

           We sat out on the back terrace and enjoyed various different cocktails and wines, ranging from Old Fashioned's and Mint Juleps to Mt. Nelson Signature Red Wine. We sat out back enjoying the stars above us and company around us imagining how we'd even begin to tell people back home about all the we'd done and seen.  I could tell Sally really enjoyed the hotel, which she said was in some ways reminiscent of the Breakers in Palm Beach, but everything about the hotel was just perfect. From the informative, helpful concierge to the delicious food and waiters, incredible Chef's table, beautiful rooms, gardens and pool setting, it was all just perfect. It had been a great vacation, and with only a few hours left we enjoyed extra dessert and basked in the memories that had been made. Before heading back to the hotel, Sally and Sarah decided that they would make a reservation for Mt. Nelson Sunday Brunch to enjoy the facilities one last time before leaving Cape Town. So we headed back to the villa with one final meal the next morning to be enjoyed together. No one stayed up for very long at the villa, we were all exhausted and Peter, Sarah and Sally would soon be battling time zones over the Atlantic attempting to get their clocks right, so for now they enjoyed the peaceful night's sleep with the sound of waves crashing.

"You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat"