Dusi Day 3

Distance completed: 35.4km
Total Time: 3 hours 39 min
Distance done on flat water: 4.1km
Portages done: 7
Rapids and weir's conquered: Side Shute, umzinyati, mango rapid, dogs 
Rapids portaged instead of shooting: Top's needle, little John, 5 Fingers, Island
Number of swims: 2
Weather: HOT! Like, my sweat is sweating kind of heat

High light: Crossing the finish line!

My take on Day 3:
I felt that Day 3 was more of a mental  challenge than anything else. The excitement  finishing, the comparative uneventful last 10km and the satisfaction of completing Day 1 and 2 made it difficult to stay focused.

The plebs with their medals

Dusi Day 2

Distance completed: 42km

Total Time: Approximately 5 hours

Distance done on flat water: 10km

Portages done: 8. Four of which were compulsory, the other 4 was me saying "I choose life"

Rapids and weirs conquered: Gauging weir, Marian Foley

Number of swims: 0

Rapids portaged instead of shooting: Washing Machine, Gumtree, Tombi, Hippo

Weather: 36 degrees. Three climates in one race - small cloud burst in the beginning, Cape-like wind on the dam, and Natal's scorching heat sprinkled in between.

Highlight: Rescue mission just before Hippo rapid. Somewhere between the take out and the rapid I found myself being hauled up a rock to safety by two lifeguards. 

My take on Day 2:

Comparing day 1 to day 2 is like comparing night and day. The simple act of changing from a high seat to a low seat and adding a bum pad made the world of difference! The race went well - I was feeling strong until we hit 22km, thereafter much energy was spent concentrating on keeping in time with my partner. That being said, the race went well :) 

The plebs and their partners in the pound at the start of day 2

Day One Done and Dusted

Wow, what a day! After 5 hours of paddling, portages and one too many swims we finished day 1 of the Dusi Canoe Marathon.

 

Our 42km adventure started at 8am at Camps Drift. It took approximately 10km for the race jitters and adrenaline to wear off. The boat drama started after the Hole in the Wall put in where we saw our first swim.  From that point all the way through to the end Graeme and I found ourselves "sitting skew" thus fighting one another in our attempt to keep the boat up. More often than not Graeme and I ended up losing to the water and the man-eating rocks. 

 

In summary the day was testing both emotonally and physically. Physically, it was ridiculously hot, the portages were difficult and the swims kill you as you have to perform a number of squat presses to empty the boat. The frustrations and challenges made it character building experience (though I admit there were periods where I lost my personality completely). All that being said the day was good :) Though I feel fragile, tired and bruised, I'm stoked for day 2. 

Presenting the Pro’s

After searching far and wide and a few failed matches both Chandelle and I have pro partners to paddle with us. These are the 2 legends who will save us from/prevent multiple near death experiences and safely take us from Pietermaritzburg to Durban (I mean why drive from Pietermaritzburg to Durban when you could paddle?)

Pro #1: Graeme

Graeme is my partner; he is father of 3, a husband to a delightful dietician and works as a manager at Rainbow Chicken. Graeme was born and raised in Johannesburg and moved to Pietermaritzburg in 1990.

Other Interests: Mountain biking and other adventure sports

Paddling Since: 1999

Number of Dusi’s done and dusted: 11

If he had a super power it would be…..”to read minds”

Pro #1: Graeme and his wife Grainne

Pro #2: Gordon

Gordon is Chandelle’s partner; he grew up in Baynesfield (PMB) and now lives on a small holding on the outskirts of Mooiriver with his wife and 2 kids. Gordon is self-employed at Bovasol, he produces and sells animal supplements and feeds.

Other Interests: Cycling, fishing, dirt biking and anything that gets your adrenaline pumping

Paddling Since:1992 – he attempted to complete the Dusi; however this endeavour proved to be unsuccessful. He picked the sport up again in 2003

Number of Dusi’s done and dusted: 7

If he had a super power it would be…..”to fly around the universe like Peter Pan and Tinkerbell”

Pro #2: Gordon

Inanda Dam to Durban-My First Unofficial Triathlon

Sunday was the last qualifying race for Dusi. Paddlers completed day 3 of the Dusi Canoe Marathon by paddling from Inanda Dam to Blue Lagoon in Durban. When signing up for this race I had no idea that I was inadvertently signing up for a triathlon consisting of paddling, portaging and swimming.

The “triathlon” as I’ve come to call it, is a total of 36km starting with 4km on flat water followed by a short portage of 800 meters. The Top's Needle put in marks the remaining 32km on the river. Top's Needle put in was the first of 3 swims, our first swim was due to a faulty rudder; somewhere between portaging, the put in and all the races that the boat had survived in the past the rudder decided that this was the opportune time to get stuck in an upright position (rudders are usually vertically downwards, this time it was vertically upwards. A stuck up rudder is much like a cell phone without a battery…a piece of nothing). Swimming at Top's Needle rapids during the race had 2 consequences; firstly it caused the boat to fill with water quickly, secondly it meant that you have to act swiftly to grab hold of your boat and to empty it due to the great number of paddlers navigating through the rapid. Somewhere between hanging on the boat whilst diverting it from oncoming traffic and summoning my hulk like strength to help empty the boat I managed to tweak a muscle in my left shoulder – this twinge plagued me with each stroke for the rest of the race.

Our second swim which was particularly long, happened at  on a random section of river. My very first swim at Crash and Dash the previous weekend served as a good practice session to implement my paddling survival skills, the swim at Top's Needle was an opportunity to get comfortable with my newly acquired skills, which means that the art of swimming was starting to feel like a reflex by the time we had the second swim (you can read the swimming protocol in my previous post if you have no idea what I’m taking about). As I promptly popped out of the cockpit, rolled onto my back with my knees bent and clutched onto my paddle I braced my buttocks to take a beating. As I floated down the rapid at the speed of light with my behind acting as my personal speed bump I became aware of just how rocky the river bed is. If you had asked me to describe a river bed before I started paddling I would have painted a picture of smooth pretty pebbles, some fish, water and reeds. The only potential threats that I would have thought to include would be the odd menacing crab and maybe one or two sharp rocks. My last few swimming encounters since I started paddling has somewhat changed my perception of river beds to say the least.

Fig 1: Expectation-My perception of the river bed. Some fish and a sprinkling of menacing crabs and jagged rocks
Fig 2: Reality: A river bed-the real deal. Standard with man eating rocks

Me swimming down the river, feet up, buttocks braced and clinging onto my paddle

Our final swim came with the longest boat rescue mission. My partner and I swam just before Pumphouse Weir. I swam further downstream and found myself quite literally between a rock and a hard place. My inability to swim upstream over a small contributory meant that my partner had to put on his MacGyver pants to manoeuvre the boat out of harm’s way, empty it alone, get back into it from an awkward place and stabilise the boat as I climbed back in from my rock/reed perch. Once we shot Pumphouse Weir and completed the Pumphouse portage (approximately 1km) we took on the last leg of our journey which proved to be the most tedious 10km to Blue Lagoon.

In the space of 3hours 58min my partner and I successfully completed the race with 3 swims, a tweaked shoulder, a number of bruises and a mild case of Dusi guts.  

Crashing and Dashing from Dusi to Campbells

Over the past weekend I participated in 2 races-on Saturday I did Crash and Dash twice and Dusi to Campbells on Sunday. On waking on Monday morning I could feel the full effect of both races.

Dash and Crash

Dash and Crash was exactly that-dashing and crashing for 10km from Camps Drift to Low Level Bridge. The race course does the ¾ loop of Camps Drift, down Ernie Pierce Weir, under commercial bridge, through Musson's Weir, through high way rapids and ends just before low level bridge. The start can be best described as a mad rush with a side serving of complete carnage-I have never seen so many boats taking off at the same time at Camps Drift! The great traffic volume at the start gives rise to a massive wave that could either make or break you. If you manage to catch the wave, dodge your fellow canoeists and unfortunate swimmers consider yourself “made” as you dash to the queue to shoot Earnie Pierce Weir. Consider yourself “broken” by the wave if it causes you to lose your balance and go for a swim. I was “made” by the wave in both Crash and Dash attempts thanks to the mad skills of my competent partners who drove.

I learnt 2 fun facts during Crash and Dash:

Fun Fact #1: Swimming is not ayoba

I went for my first real swim during Crash and Dash after hitting a rock at the bottom of Highway Rapid (swimming is when a paddler falls out of their boat and…swims). 

In the event of swimming I have been told that the order of events is as follows:

1. Get yourself sorted! Lie on your back with your feet up (you lift your feet to prevent them from getting stuck between rocks-thus avoid drowning)
2. Get hold of your paddle: Paddles float/drift away in the blink of an eye. Trying to find a paddle among the reeds is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. A canoeist without a paddle is a lighter without gas…useless
3. Get hold of your boat
4. Get hold of your partner

I quickly came to find what you gain on the swing; you lose on the see-saw. You avoid drowning by chilling on your back at the expense of your buttocks and back. The bruises on my bum and back are a gentle reminder to avoid swimming at all costs.

Fun Fact #2: It’s possible to breathe through your eyes

Canoeing has opened the door to a host of new experiences and challenges, some of these experiences can best be described as exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. In stressful situations people will generally find an increase in their breathing and heart rate, an increase in blood flow to the muscles and pupil dilation; this reaction is called the “fight or fight response”. My body, on the other hand remixes the flight and fight response as it gets the pupil dilation right, but seems to think that cessation of breathing trumps increased breathing. I am convinced that my body has learnt to breathe through my eyes as I have come to find that I am able to paddle through fairly long rapids with minimal gaseous exchange at lung level. 

Picture of me with baited breath whilst shooting Musson's Rapid. Note the eyes the size of saucers-my body's attempt to increased surface area of my eyes to enable breathing. 

Campbell’s to Dusi Bridge

Campbell’s to Dusi Bridge served as a good curtain raiser for the “big race” to come in 2 weeks as it forms part of day 1 of the Dusi Canoe Marathon. Campbell’s to Dusi is a 28km race with 2 portages. The take out for first portage is at Guinea Fowl's , at Guinea Fowl's you are greeted with a steep steady incline followed by a short flat section before you reach “Devil’s Cauldron”. It has been dubbed Devil’s Cauldron as it’s a steep section that consists of many steps going up and down into a valley that tends to lock heat on the day of Dusi. Once you are out of the cauldron you shoot down a gravel road on Geoff’s road to the next point where you put in and get back on the river.  For someone who usually runs up hills with ease I felt humbled during this portage as I was forced to walk up the inclines whilst heaving and huffing (my laboured breathing was met with a few concerned looks from fellow paddlers as we passed them on the single track). other than a near death experience at Mission Rapid where my partner and I were dislodged from a rock by an oncoming boat that was next to be lodged; it was smooth sailing from Geoff’s put in to Finger Neck portage. With one silly swim and 2 character building portages my partner and I successfully finished Dusi to Campbell’s Bridge in 2 hours 40minutes.

Making a Difference One Cent at a Time

The prospect of canoeing 121km is rather daunting. If the Popes Allen Gardiener Memorial was anything to go by, I know I will need a worthy cause to set my mind on in order to cover the kilometers when times are tough. At EAP (the practice for which I work) we have taken it upon ourselves to sponsor a charity for 2014. As a practice we have chosen to sponsor Esther House and we have decided to make the Dusi Canoe Marathon one of the drives to raise funds for them.  

Esther House is a NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) based in Pietermaritzburg since 2001. They are a shelter for women who have been victims of abuse and trafficking, Esther House differs from other shelters as they aim to keep women together with their children. They assist distressed women and their children by giving them access to various services, teaching them skills and attending to their basic needs. Victims have access to services such as social workers, police assistance, therapy sessions and medical care. They also provide food, clothing, skills development and accommodation.

The Dusi Canoe Marathon takes place from 13-15 February 2014. Chandelle, our partners and I will canoe a total of 121km over the 3 day period. If anyone is keen to donate money towards our cause you are able to do so in 1 of 2 ways.

1. Sponsor us per kilometre covered: Individuals, small companies and big businesses could sponsor us R1, R10 or R100 per kilometre covered (Day 1: 42km, Day 2: 43km and Day 3: 36km). eg: If we only make day 1 and day 2 an individual who opted to sponsor R1 per kilometre would donate R85 as we canoed a total of 85km
2. Donate a lump sum of money: Donate as much as you want :) If you want to donate R20 or R2000000000000000 – every cent counts

ALL proceeds will be donated to Esther House to cover the costs to provide for the individuals who seek shelter.

If you are keen/know someone who wants to/work for a company that would like to donate please contact me, alternatively you could make a direct deposit using the account info below. If you require further information or a formal letter of request I could hook you up with that too.

Beneficiary: Esther House
Bank: Nedbank, Scottsville
Acc no: 1341045404
Branch: 134125
Reference: Dusi