Cape Point Viewfinder

Looking through this viewfinder on the Cape of Good Hope on Africa’s southwesternmost point, you can find a nearly endless view of the ocean. But look through these lenses long enough and you might see into a haunting maritime past: the story of the ghostship the Flying Dutchman.

Rooted in a real event, the tale has been mythologized and sensationalized over time. We know that a Dutch man-of-war ship was lost off the cape. According to eighteenth-century legend from the Netherlands, it was captained by a man condemned to wander the seas eternally…by the devil. From there, tales diverge wildly, creating a tempest of interpretations. People enchanted by the myth have named everything from esteemed operas to valet services after this phantom of the sea.

Sailors’ lore claims that sight of the ship portends a grim journey, one that will necessitate battening down the hatches. Prince George and Prince Albert of Wales both claimed that at least a dozen men aboard their ship spotted the red light of the phantom ship, only to see it vanish before their eyes. A savvy—or perhaps desperate—captain finally delivered a science lecture to his crew, detailing how such mirages can occur, due to optical illusions caused by reflections in the atmosphere. Though they may have been pacified, the legend of the Flying Dutchman has lingered in Cape Hope’s surrounding ocean, forever unable to make it to port.

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