Hi Ed
Again thanks for the information. I have taken the liberty of posting your comment on the Sonstraal Dam website under "Special mention."
If you do find any photos from those days, please post it. I will surely give you credit as contributor.
Hi Ed
Again thanks for the information. I have taken the liberty of posting your comment on the Sonstraal Dam website under "Special mention."
If you do find any photos from those days, please post it. I will surely give you credit as contributor.
Rudy
EdW, thanks for sharing that bit of history. When we developed the website for Sonstraal Dam, we had no history. I tried to find old images when it was constructed but Google only goes back to 1986 and then it was already in the same state as it is now. Tygerberg Model Boat Club is a name I haven t heard in decades.
I grew up in the area (If you know where Ster 700 was).
EdW, thanks for sharing that bit of history. When we developed the website for Sonstraal Dam, we had no history. I tried to find old images when it was constructed but Google only goes back to 1986 and then it was already in the same state as it is now. Tygerberg Model Boat Club is a name I haven t heard in decades.
I grew up in the area (If you know where Ster 700 was).
Rudy
I have lived in the UK for the past 26 years but grew up in Durbanville. I used Sonstraal Dam for model boats in the 1960s. Tethered, free running and RC. Most of our boats were power and ran with little or no silencers but the only road at that time was what is now called Bethanie Street. Was surrounded by farmland and no houses nearby. My late father used the dam for his model yacht up until about 10 years ago when he passed away. My late father was key in getting access for the Tygerberg Model Boat Club, an offshoot of the aircraft club, access to the dam on Brinks farm off the Fisantekraal road. Regular endurance races where held there in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Sadly what was left of my fathers boats disappeared after he died but I have a few pictures. If I can dig them out, I will post them on this site.
I have lived in the UK for the past 26 years but grew up in Durbanville. I used Sonstraal Dam for model boats in the 1960s. Tethered, free running and RC. Most of our boats were power and ran with little or no silencers but the only road at that time was what is now called Bethanie Street. Was surrounded by farmland and no houses nearby. My late father used the dam for his model yacht up until about 10 years ago when he passed away. My late father was key in getting access for the Tygerberg Model Boat Club, an offshoot of the aircraft club, access to the dam on Brinks farm off the Fisantekraal road. Regular endurance races where held there in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Sadly what was left of my fathers boats disappeared after he died but I have a few pictures. If I can dig them out, I will post them on this site.
Sonstraal Dam is the only pond in the Western Cape of South Africa officially demarcated for electric RC Model Boating by the City of Cape Town thanks to the dedication and commitment of the Cape Town Scale Model Boat Club.
"Sonstraal" is the Afrikaans word for sunbeam (or sun ray), and it was aptly chosen because standing on the dam wall, gives you a direct view of the sunrise over the mountain range some 50km to the East.
It is open from sunrise to sunset and anyone can come and enjoy the water. For more information visit their website https://www.sonstraaldam.fyi.africa
Sonstraal Dam is the only pond in the Western Cape of South Africa officially demarcated for electric RC Model Boating by the City of Cape Town thanks to the dedication and commitment of the Cape Town Scale Model Boat Club.
"Sonstraal" is the Afrikaans word for sunbeam (or sun ray), and it was aptly chosen because standing on the dam wall, gives you a direct view of the sunrise over the mountain range some 50km to the East.
It is open from sunrise to sunset and anyone can come and enjoy the water. For more information visit their website https://www.sonstraaldam.fyi.africa
