Local boy fights to save ship and rescue crew

Readers of NTN know that Kelly and I think the world of Tristan.

On our recent trip to the west coast of Namibia (we spent a 4-day weekend--Namibia sure knows how to plan and arrange holidays to maximize 4-day weekends--in Henties Bay, north of Swapokmund), Tristan showed his bravery by attempting to save a ship from beaching on the Skeleton Coast. Alas, Tristan's efforts were in vain, but his bravery was undaunted.

When Tristan wasn't trying out for the Coast Guard, we had a great time exploring this odd coast line--mostly uninhabited and almost completely deserted (and desert-ed...). Kelly remarked that no other coast line, that we know of, has escaped the onslaught of coastal houses and traffic. Here, the absence of drinking water keeps the coast isolated from human development. Just a few small towns dot the coast. Besides groups of South African men who were on holiday fishing along the coast, we had it to ourselves. We are fairly certain we were the only people staying in the De Duine motel in Henties Bay.

The Skeleton Coast is named for the large number of ship wrecks which have occurred here over the years. As we found, there are also a large number of cape fur seal skeletons littering the coast--mortalities from a 200,000-strong colony at Cape Cross.

We'll post photos on Picasa momentarily (archived here), with a description of the trip.