There’s a thin line …

Click to enlarge

People often say there’s a thin line between one situation and a diametrically opposed position. In today's instance, the thin line separates bravery and insanity. Lean marginally one way or another and you no longer straddle the line. You fall over. You take home fish for supper or you take a very scary swim in the harbour.

False Bay is known by mariners as a bay of storms for good reason. One day, the becalmed Fish Hoek at one end to Gordon’s Bay at the other offer family beaches, safe for even toddlers to swing and paddle safely. On another, gale force winds and sheeting rain make sailing, boating, surfing, swimming or fishing treacherous. Unless you're an adrenaline junkie or just plalin crazy. To make things worse, False Bay weather is also unpredictable.

On the plus side, high seas and a strong north wester provide excellent opportunities for rough weather images in and around the picturesque Kalk Bay harbour. Local photographers like Stanwell Slater (African Roots Photography on Facebook) and Lee Slabber (https://leeslabber.com/explore/) have spectacular award winning harbour images taken at the peak of a storm.

Then again, you get people like the two fishermen in this picture. It wasn't adrenaline flowing through their veins, of that I'm certain. One of my images has the seas breaking over the top of the beacon, rendering the two fishermen invisible behind a cloud of water and spray, only to emerge a few moments later, completely unscathed. It would have been almost impossible to land a fish under those conditions and I could only wonder at the false bravado. Or insanity.

Oh, and it was only while working on the image that I saw the seagujll - totally unperturbed b y the weather.

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