With Our Own Ship To Africa

The Nolloth – formerly the Reality

"When I was 14, I sailed – with my parents on my father's ship – to Cape Town from where my father exercised a year-long charter supplying the diamond mines in the Namibian desert for De Beers Consolidated Mines.

"But I'm getting ahead of myself. I come from a seafaring family. My grandfather owned two tugs and a restaurant in Delfzijl. My father served as a captain for a shipping company, Dudok de Wit of Amsterdam. His first command was the 'Martha', which had survived the war. His first new ship was the 'Maria Theresia', built at Sander Delfezijl. He ran a regular service shipping china clay from Delfzijl to Stettin. He quickly moved on to new ships built by Groot and Van Vliet Slikkerveer, carrying wood from Cork to Hamina, Finland. The 'Marvelettes', 'Martin', 'Marathon' and other ships followed. By 1952, my father had had enough and bought his own ship, the 'Leuvehaven', formerly 'Alpha'. He bought it ship as a wreck from the Sanders shipyard, which restored it. There are nice pictures on your site of the 'Reality', as the ship was renamed.

"It was in this boat that the family set sail for South Africa. the entire household packed into a container in the hold. Being 14, it was quite an experience for me and I missed a lot of school, leaving a month before the holidays started. The 'Reality', a sweet little ship, was a good, solid vessel able to deal with rough seas. She was capable of eight knots, but slowed to two when running into the headwinds and high Atlantic swells. She did extremely well during her years rounding the Cape of Good Hope and sailing up to Lorenzo Marques in Mozambique, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Port Nolloth, and Walvis Bay in Namibia.

"We sailed mostly to Port Nolloth, supplying the mines in the desert. The ship was chosen for the job because she was apparently of a suitable length and draft. To enter the port and overcome a shifting shoal or sandbar, we'd have to wait for high tide and – to avoid running aground – we'd run in at full speed on a following swell, before cutting the engine and sailing in. We'd tie up at the jetty where we filled and unloaded barrels of petrol and general cargo for the diamond mines, before visiting the town. Side on to the ocean, the ship lurched against the jetty. The Dutch coaster 'FREAN', which could not be salvaged, lay stranded by bad weather on the Port Nolloth shore.

"With the charter renewed annually for eight years, we lived and worked with great pleaure in a beautiful country with incredible natural variation.

The 1965 wreck of the 'Nolloth' – her bow gone ...

"Unfortunately, you also have pictures on your site of our shipwreck.

"In 1963 (sic), we left Cape Town for Durban in terribly bad, stormy weather. We sailed painfully slowly. At 01:00 or 02:00 that night we started shipping water and after about an hour the bilge pump gave up. Within two hours, we had taken on two meters of water. The vessel was very sluggish and we all went to the wheelhouse where, miraculously and with the engine still running, my father was fortunately able to steer the vessel clear of the coast. All we could do was pray that the engine would not stall. There were other ships in the vicinity but, given the severity of the weather, they could do nothing to assist. Our luck gave out. I will never forget the sound of the ship smacking the beach. It's not something you want to experience. We were afraid that the foremast had snapped but, fortunately, it had not. Daylight brought a South African Navy helicopter that skillfully lifted us off in a strengthening gale and set us ashore.

"Yes – we had to say goodbye to the 'Nolloth'. Do you know what it's like hearing of such a ship after all these years – a ship with which you shared joys and sorrows to last a lifetime? Two days later, we left for the Netherlands. I am now 64-years old and it's been good. My parents are long deceased and I have not returned. This was my story in short – otherwise you would have too much. I wish you great success with your wonderful photos and information."

The 'Nolloth' today – still with a story to tell ...

J.K.van der Luit tells the story of the 1963 Olifantsbospunt wreck of the 347-ton coaster, the 'Nolloth' to shipping site Uit Vervlogen Tijden's Bob van Raad. [Translation by Google and bing]