The first three legs of the Eastern Cape section of the epic 2800km Coast 2 Coast 4 CANSA (C2C4C) jet ski journey have been a rewarding experience for the 5 jet ski and 4 ground expedition members. After dealing with massive winds and swell when they began their mission in KZN on 21 April, the team have been treated to amazing weather and experiences since entering the Eastern Cape four days ago.
The team, who left Port Alfred this morning (30 April) for Port Elizabeth, have also visited Coffee Bay and East London, where they spent time in the oncology ward at XXXXX hospital. Mark Addison said that “most of the patients in this ward were old ladies who had never seen the sea. I showed them our trip promotional DVD and some marine footage and they were so worried for us! Given the situation that they were in it was hard to understand when these woman offered to pray for our safety!!”
Addison said that “we couldn’t have left it there. Zulu (Lance Klusener) overheard me speaking to the lady and immediately offered to speak to a mutual friend about clubbing together for a television and CD player, to get them delivered and fitted. He agreed, Guy Jennings you legend!”
The campaign, which is supported by SPAR and IT partner Acer, is aimed at raising funds and awareness for cancer and CANSA. Another aspect of the campaign is the marine census which is being carried out by marine conservationist Mark Addison, which will make history by being the first ever mega-transect of the entire South African coast from a personal water craft.
Addison says that the marine census “is a contribution the project can make for marine science which will not detract from the main goal of raising awareness for cancer”. He will be entering any animal sightings or marine events of interest onto the Lowrance sponsored GPS, as well as taking water samples every 50km (he has 17 samples so far). This data will then serve as a statement in time, and will also contribute to SAEON’s (South African Environmental Observation Network) ongoing monitoring of our coastal and in-shore ecosystems.

The highlights of the journey so far, in terms of marine sightings, have been a pair of rare
Humpback dolphin at Hole-in-the-Wall, a massive 4m manta ray, an 8m Brydes whale feeding near the surface, as well as a few sharks and hundreds of bottlenose dolphins, almost all of which have been in the Eastern Cape. Addison said that “in KZN the weather played a big role in moving the animals from the inshore waters to more comfortable conditions offshore – a well documented phenomenon with regard to marine animal movements in adverse weather conditions”.

The pilots taking part in the mission include SA surfski paddler Barry Lewin (Umhlanga), SA surfer Jason Ribbink (Durban North), ex-Protea cricketer Lance Klusener (Mount Edgecombe), marine conservationist Mark Addison (Widenham) and former Dolphins cricketer Russel Symcox (Scottburgh).