Bob Harman loved Skipskop when it was still an active fishing community. The abandoned village now falls within the area of the OTB missile test facility, but Bob again visited his beloved fishing grounds during an OTB “open day” trip in September last year.
On what turned out to be Bob’s last visit to Skipskop (main photo) he recounted how he used to go there every Saturday night after closing his restaurant in Arniston and would fish the whole weekend. He did that for many years, supplying the best fresh fish to his customers in Arniston.
Jack Robert Harman was born in Johannesburg in 1927 and finished matric at Parktown Boy's High School, where he was the champion long-distance runner. This talent proved most useful as the years went on – Bob had many a younger fisherman pleading for help as they walked to and from fishing spots.
After school he and his younger brother Basil went to Zimbabwe where Bob was awarded National Colours for running.
Bob also loved travelling, and travelled extensively in Europe and England. As he watched the locals preparing the food and serving the guests he became interested in cooking – a love affair that lasted until the end. On his return to South Africa in 1960 he opened the Three Cellars Restaurant which in time became the foremost seafood restaurant in Cape Town. In 1965 he opened the Groot Paardevlei Restaurant in Somerset West, but soon after when his marriage failed, he sold it and went to live at Skipskop. It was to Skipskop that he took his young child Roanne when visitations allowed him to. Roanne’s memories of these visits were so strong that when Bob’s brother Basil died and her father’s health deteriorated, she gave up a promising career in England and returned to Arniston.
When the land along the coast between Arniston/ Waenhuiskrans and Cape Infanta was bought out to establish the test range, the inhabitants of Skipskop were relocated and the area was closed to the public. Bob had to move, so he acquired the Arniston Centre, then a tatty old place, little more than a cowshed. Bob converted the cowshed into the now famous Waenhuis Restaurant and retained the general store that soon became the meeting place for all fishermen. Although Bob later owned several properties, he lived in a caravan behind the Centre. He became the unofficial mayor of Arniston and Kassiesbaai, the fishermen’s village. During periods when the fishing boats returned empty, Bob would allow the wives to purchase food on credit and not once did he refuse a client, not even if the account remained unpaid and the fishing was good!
Bob loved people, children and dogs. His ambition was to establish a community centre in Arniston where people could get together. Another dream was to turn the old school that he had bought in Napier into a training camp for disadvantaged athletes.
In 2003 when Roanne returned from London where she was running the Sugar Club at Quaglino’s, Bob had a new zest for life and together they were planning their new kitchen, new menus and the restaurant. And then tragically on 31 October last year Roanne fell off a staircase and suffered severe head injuries. She is still at the UCT rehabilitation centre, but has started to walk and talk again. The prognosis is that with intensive therapy she will fully recover.
Roanne’s accident affected Bob greatly, and on 23 January he died while walking his dogs on his favourite beach at Arniston. His motto on his advertisement used to read, “Your host: Bob Harman (fishing since 1933; cooking since 1960)”. He stayed close to the things he loved until the end. Roanne says, “My father’s life was more about people than about things.” Testimonies to him have been written on the walls of his restaurant by people from all over the world.
Bob had a devoted staff, most of whom stayed for 15 years, some for 20 years. The business is continuing, managed by Bob’s able staff and stalwart Jane Dyers, whilst they await Roanne’s return.
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