To answer the question: Is the Cape Doctor going to blow in November? - emphatically YES. The familiar summer weather pattern seems to have settled in and we are being treated to a thorough cleansing of the smog and smoke of the winter months that hang like a blanket over the Cape Flats. On a clear day you can see the buildings on the seafront at the Strand on the opposite side of False Bay, and sometimes the clearly demarcated vineyards on the lower slopes of the Helderberg. With the wind comes a very choppy sea on the False Bay side, and keen photographers spend hours down at the harbour in Kalk Bay trying to capture the moment when the backwash on the sea side of the breakwater hits the wall and shoots tons of water high into the air in a spectacular display of raw natural power before giving the moored fishing boats a swabbing of the decks (although Maria Wagener's great photo reveals that savvy skippers moved the boats in time!). A spring high tide frequently smashes the windows and floods the restaurant on the rocks and I suspect forms part of the attraction for patrons at the window seats, as they nibble nervously with one eye on the foam-spattered glass, but can dine out for years on the story of how the wave burst through the glass and drenched their dinner.
The Atlantic coast is another story. The stronger the wind, the flatter the sea becomes, taking on a breathtakingly inviting bluey-green translucence that belies its icy temperature. Today was such a day, and must have been devastating for the participants in a surfing competition at Long Beach where the break was totally absent. It's really difficult to plan an outdoor even in Cape Town, no matter what time of year!
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