When Trent and Tynan flew to Cape Town in 2021 to do the handover of our Leopard 45 they didn't expect to end up spending 7 months there working on the yacht. One of the challenges of doing boat work in Cape Town is finding out where the high quality, reliable or well stocked suppliers, importers and contractors are.
Based on their experiences, here are 16 places Trent and Tynan managed to source yacht related supplies, tools and contractors from in Cape Town, South Africa.
1. Marcel Van Rooyen - Leopard Catamarans Cape Town Aftermarket
Solid stainless steel solar arch included an upgrade that provides a counter force to also support heavier tenders
Dinghy davit upgrades such as extra davit hooks
Various stainless steel "must have" cruiser customisations such as low profile midway steps for easy dock access
Additional Legrand universal power points
Custom factory coloured laminate cabinetry for projects such as shelving extensions and an access hatch to under seat storage from the hallway
Our recommendation for Leopard Aftermarket in Cape Town only applies to working with with Marcel Van Rooyen. He has excellent customer service and understands and cares about the quality of work being done on customers yachts.
Unfortunately, many of the contractors in Cape Town don't understand the challenging and remote environments these yachts can travel to. Marcel does. He is one of the few entities in South Africa that will provide support and peace of mind once you leave Cape Town.
2. Topfast
Fasteners including A4 (316) marine grade stainless steel
Stainless steel hardware including padeyes, eyebolts, ubolts & chain
Some power tools & hand tools
Certain consumables including disks, sand paper, Loctite & adhesives
Topfast are one of the main fastener suppliers in Cape Town. The least busy times to visit are around lunch or at the end of the day, and our advice is to build a relationship with the owner and ask to be able to go out the back so you can look through their full range of stock yourself.
3. Baltic Timber Co
Meranti
Decking
Some hardware but not necessarily marine grade
Marine plywood (cut to size)
They offer delivery to V&A Marine which was very reasonably priced when we were there and are good for carpentry supplies. You can see more on their website.
4. Power Tool Services
Decent range of power tools including Bosch and Makita
Hand tools
Tool consumables such as blades and driver bits
Can order tools in for you if they don't have stock
You can see some of the range on their national website which now supports online orders as well. We mostly used them to buy Bosch branded tools as that's what we decided to have aboard the yacht.
5. Tool Imports
Large variety of hand tools and specialty tools
Importer for Beta Tools and Teng Tools
Insulated tools for electrical work
Tool Imports was one of the first decent tool stores we found in Cape Town. We found their staff to be a great group of guys who were happy to offer assistance and advice whenever we asked.
6. Diving & Yachting Services
Boat detailing
Hull cleaning
Custom carbon fiber and fiberglass work
General repairs
Refits
We appreciate the advice given by the guys at Diving and Yachting Services while we were on the hardstand at the Royal Cape Yacht Club. For now they don't have a website available so here's their Facebook page.
7. Manex & Power Marine
Marine suppliers for international brands including Jabsco Pumps, Osculati, Seastar & Nautix
Authorised dealers for certain scuba and diving brands such as Apeks and Aqualung
One of the main yacht part and marine equipment importers in Cape Town, Manex will generally offer you a better deal on the products they supply other stores.
8. Viking Life-Saving Equipment
This is the importer for the ACR safety equipment in Cape Town so is the place to go if you want a good price on your EPIRB. Keep in mind that if your MMSI hasn't been issued it's best to wait until you have one before purchasing the EPIRB. Free programming can only be done at the place of purchase so you can't buy it from Viking and have it programmed at another ACR dealer free of charge.
9. Fowkes Bros
Fiberglass
Gas tape
Hardware supplies
Building tools and accessories
Adhesives and fixings
Fowkes Bros are a national industrial and engineering supplier with locations around South Africa. Here's their national website.
10. Sparcraft Masts
Masts, booms, bowsprits etc.
Mast fixings and hardware
Rigging and Furling systems
Custom fabrication
We found their customer service to be excellent and wish we'd had more work done by Sparcraft Cape Town while we were there. You can find more information about the services they offer on their South African website.
11. Southern Ropes
Internationally accredited ropes using a range of fibres
Factory shop also sells offcuts, soft shackles, dog leads, hardware, hot knives & have splicing services
Southern Ropes are the rope supplier for many of the yacht manufacturers in Cape Town, including Robertson & Caine / Leopard Catamarans (when we were there). You can learn more about the rope they produce on their website.
12. Harken
Hardware
Winches
Gloves, footware, clothing and accessories
Stock other brands including Spinlock & Marlow
They have a South African website but many of the pages just link to the international site so like most places it's best to pay them a visit to see what they have in stock. When we went the staff were quite knowledgeable.
13. Vetus Maxwell
Hoses
Exhaust systems
Mufflers
Water tank fittings
This is the Vetus supplier so if you need any hose for your boat projects this is the place to go. Here's their international website.
14. Maizey Plastics
Perspex yacht windows
Plastic sheets
Plastic boards that can be used for chopping boards
Our focus when visiting Maizey was just plastic boards as we wanted some huge custom chopping boards for fishing, but as you can see on their website they do offer more than that.
15. Builders Warehouse
Builders Warehouse is a big box style hardware store like Bunnings, Lowes or Bauhaus. Unfortunately it was undergoing renovations for most of the time that we were in Cape Town so it's not somewhere we personally were able to use, but it's somewhere we'd have looked to find general items if we couldn't find them at one of the specialty stores. Here's their chain website.
16. Blades & Triggers
Knives including high quality bench made knives & kitchen knives
Paintball and airsoft guns
Paintballs & pepper balls
Pellet & BB guns
Pepper spray
If you're looking for legal self defiance options then a visit to Blades and Triggers may be helpful. You can see some of their range on their website.
For more information on Cape Town marine supplies
Trent and Tynan spoke more about it in this video, which also touches on tax implications and what to bring with you.
Found other good suppliers in Cape Town? Had an issue with one we mentioned? Be sure to share your experience in the comments so other readers can get a better idea of where to go!
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