The five core Coast 2 Coast 4 CANSA jet ski pilots successfully completed the fourth and final KZN leg of their 2800km four week fundraising and awareness expedition today (25 April). Although the crew once again had to deal with some serious ocean conditions, they made good time on the leg from Durban to Port Edward, completing the 176km leg in just under six hours.
The entire team enjoyed a warm welcome at Port Edward’s Marlin Ski Boat Club, where the local CANSA office hosted the C2C4C team at Silver Beach. At the function, Mariaan Hendriks (CANSA KZN Regional Manager) said that “we really appreciate the hard work that Russel (Symcox) and his C2C4C team are putting in to this campaign, they are all doing an amazing job and are worthy ambassadors for CANSA”. Hendriks also said that “our new CANSA branch in Port Shepstone opened a month ago, and we are so pleased to be able to offer the CANSA services on the South Coast”.
Also at the function, Commodore Morne Lindeque handed over a donation to the C2C4C campaign on behalf of the Marlin Ski Boat Club. Expedition leader Symcox thanked the club for their assistance with the fundraising component of the campaign, and also stressed the awareness aspect of the 1511 nautical mile journey, saying that “part of our aim is to increase awareness about cancer, and to encourage everyone to make healthy lifestyle choices. We hope to draw attention to CANSA and the fantastic work that they do, and we are proud to be able to make a contribution”.
The team only left Durban at 8am, due to the fact that the Durban Ski Boat Club was heavily congested with the 400 fishing boats who were taking part in a fishing event. The few extra hours of sleep that the team managed to sneak in seemed to do the trick, as the guys make great time on their Yamaha WaveRunners to the refuel point at Rocky Bay, just South of Scottburgh. Whilst refuelling, a strong East wind picked up which meant that the second half of their journey was with the wind, albeit on a choppy sea.
The pilots, SA surfski paddler Barry Lewin (Umhlanga), SA surfer Jason Ribbink (Durban North), ex-Protea cricketer Lance Klusener (Mount Edgecombe), Russel Symcox (ex Dolphins cricketer) and marine conservationist Mark Addison (Widenham), as well as the ground crew, spent the evening at the Estuary Hotel in Port Edward.
At sunrise tomorrow, the crew will depart from Port Edward, and make their way towards Coffee Bay, which is the first of six Eastern Cape stopovers.
For regular updates, or to donate, check out the official C2C4C website, www.coast2coast4cansa.co.za, as well as the C2C4C Facebook group and Twitter pages. As part of theC2C4C fundraising drive, a SMS line has been opened, and by SMSing C2C4C or DONATE to the number 38501, you can make a donation of R10 to the Coast 2 Coast 4 CANSA campaign. The SMS donation line will also have a unique tracking application whereby people will be able to SMS “TRACK” to 38501, and a map and co-ordinates will be sent to the user which will show where exactly the jet ski crew are.
Coast 2 Coast 4 CANSA would not be possible without SPAR and IT partner Acer. Yamaha has provided the FX WaveRunners with RMR providing trailers and Thekwini Toyota sponsored a Quantum bus and Hilux vehicles for the back-up crew. RE/MAX has also contributed financially to assist with fuel expenses.