WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT

WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT

In between experimenting with Kelp while in Struisbaai we caught up our good friends Theo and Amanda who live in Suiderstrand, the reserve area in L’Aghulas.

He is a very keen and accomplished fisherman and whenever we visit them, the two Theo’s always head off to the rocks and come back with, at the very least, one nice sized catch. Over the last few years, our friend Theo has expanded his options of catching fish from the rocks to getting himself a kayak and paddling out to sea where the fish are even more plentiful.  My Theo decided to give it a go.

They wheeled the kayaks down to the beachfront on Theo’s odd looking, yet practical homemade contraption made from old bicycle rims and a frame.   My Theo squeezed himself into a wetsuit and balanced his now vey lean looking body over the floating kayak as it gently rocked in the surf.  Armed with instructions about how to drop anchor, use his oars effectively and set up his rod without falling overboard, they set off across the flat ocean.    Amanda and I relaxed on her stoep, lulled by rolling waves while we watched Bulbuls catching insects in the Bitou bushes and we caught up on news.  

The guys returned later that morning, Theo grinning from ear to ear.    The Kabeljou (Cob) had been biting since his first cast and he’d managed to catch a whole bunch but brought one sized fish back in the storage holder on the kayak.  Buddy Theo brought back 3.

Looking down while baiting his hook had made him a bit queazy and he admitted to meeting Ralph Kotze out on the seas but at least he hadn’t toppled over, not even when a harmless big cow shark came for a close inspection, flashing rows of serrated teeth.   Rather him than me.       

Later that day we braaied Kabeljou, enjoyed a glass or 2 or 3 of red while I babbled on about seaweed. By the time the wine was finished we had covered all the uses of slippery kelp, from culinary to using it as a fertilizer, to its health purposes from beauty wraps to detox.  And that’s when the snot hit the fan.  Did you know that the gel is even extracted to be used in, among other things, sexual lubrications?  Now that surprised you I bet.  Well it sure got our imagination going that afternoon. 

I’ve been very experimental with all kinds of seaweed but that’s one use I haven’t tried yet.  Never say never.  Perhaps I’ll keep a 12 cm tube of Kelp in the fridge for a rainy day. 

Sexual lubricants floating in the ocean