The bay is part of False Bay - named by early seafarers who had none of the lighthouses I described in my exhaustive (!) series to guide them, and very often mistook it for Table Bay at the more established end of the Cape Peninsula.
Table Bay, though, had a reputation for shipwrecks in winter, when fierce north winds drove sailing ships onto the shore. Simon's Bay, by contrast, was sheltered and could offer a calm winter anchorage. From the days of a tiny garrison, a carpenter and a smithy, the anchorage grew into a thriving town and the permanent home of the Royal Navy's South Atlantic Squadron, a relationship that lasted some 150 years.
Today, that maritime history can still be seen in the monuments scattered around town and in the excellent museums that tell of the local history. With its position guarding the sea route around Africa, Simon's Town naval base played a crucial role in World War 2. Its dockyard repaired over 200 vessels and replenished many more. In the 1950s, the town and the naval base were transferred to South Africa, and today is home to the SA Navy's fleet of modern corvettes and submarines.
For Louise, heroine of the novel, the navy will come to hold a special place in her heart. She will be employed as a nurse in its hospital, she will fall in love with one of its officers. But as a child, she was mostly entranced by its ships. Unlike the local fishing boats in bad weather - for Simon's Bay can be battered by south easterly gales -
The navy's warships managed to stay upright. They didn't flounder or sink, or casually fling men off their decks. They cut through the waves with dash, immune as arrows...
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