CAPE SWIMS

CAPE AGULHAS

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GENERAL INFORMATION

The Southernmost Tip of Africa lies at Cape Agulhas, and not at Cape Point like many people believe. The official position of the tip is 34°49'58" south and 20°00'12" east and is found approximately 1km west of the old Cape Agulhas Lighthouse (now a museum and National Monument.) It is also at this tip where the two mighty oceans - Indian and Atlantic - meet, as determined by the International Hydrographic Organisation.
The tip's exact location is marked by a simply yet dramatic cairn which was erected in 1986.

Portuguese seafarers named this area Cabo das Agulhas, meaning Needle Cape or Cape of Needles. There are two possible explanations for this: when they arrived 500 years ago their compass needle pointed directly north, showing no deviation between true and magnetic north. An alternative opinion says that the name stems from the ragged and pointed reefs offshore.

Cape Agulhas is an often windy and desolate place, and has also been called the Graveyard of Ships, as numerous shipwrecks have been caused by gale force winds, high swells and treacherous coastline.

THE CAPE AGULHAS SWIM

The first swimmer to conquer the treacherous waters round Cape Agulhas, was British swimmer Lewis Gordon Pugh, when on 7 May 1994 he swam from Oubaai to Struisbaai Harbour in 4h15. Ten years later on 27 April 2004 (South African Freedom Day), Carina Bruwer took 2h22 to swim the 11km distance from Spookdraai to Oubaai in a stormy sea. American Erica Moffet came to Agulhas on 23 April 2005, swimming from Oubaai to Spookdraai in a time of 2h16, also in very turbulent waters, breaking Carina's record by 6 minutes. Legendary Struisbaai fisherman Trail Wittun piloted all three these swims with his boat "Rusvic", negotiating very rough waters more often than not!


The ominous sign in front of Struisbaai Harbor