The Coast 2 Coast 4 CANSA crew were able to successfully wrap up the first leg of their epic 2800km jet ski journey as they safely navigated their Yamaha WaveRunners from Ponto Do Oura in Mozambique to Port Edward in KZN. Despite Mother Nature doing her best to deter the riders, serving up 4 metre ocean swells and 40 knot winds during the first few days, the crew remain on scehulde in their campaign, supported by SPAR and Acer, which aims to rasie funds and awareness for cancer and CANSA.

Mark Addison’s marine census was also afftected by the poor weather, and he said that “an untimely cold front put the team on the backfoot. Although disappointing from a marine animal perspective, 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”.

According to Addison the highlights of the KZN leg, in terms of marine animal sightings were “the 7m whale Shark Barry Lewin spotted just north of Ballito and about 200m offshore, and the pods of dolphins around Sodwana Bay”. Addison was excited about continuing his census in fairer weather, saying that “the Eastern Cape beckons and with a much more favourable weather forecast the team hope to document more animals on this extremely rich part of South Africa’s coast”.

After enyoing welcoming functions at Sodwana Bay, Richards Bay and Durban, the crew were once agin greeted by an enthusaitic crowd at Silver Beach in Port Edward. Here, Mariaan Hendriks (CANSA KZN Regional Manager), with the help of Port Edward’s Marlin Ski Boat Club, hosted the C2C4C team at a function where Commodore Morne Lindeque handed over a donation to the campaign on behalf of the Marlin Ski Boat Club.

Expedition leader Symcox said that “we are relieved to have reached this milestone on our epic journey, and we could not have done it without the input and effort of everyone at CANSA, as well as our family and friends. So many people along the way have gone the extra mile to make our lives easier, so I would also like to thank them for their contribution to the C2C4C campaign”.

Looking ahead to the Eastern Cape leg, the team will be stopping over at Coffee Bay, East London, Port Alfred and Port Elizabeth as part of their 1511 nautical mile journey. At these locations, the C2C4C team will be able to attend or take part in numerous events, including a SARLA (SA Rugby Legends Association) sports clinic (27 April – East London), the launch of the Oakley Pro Junior surfing event (29 April - Port Alfred), the CANSA Shavathon (30 April – Port Elizabeth), among others.

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).

For more information, to donate or simply just to track the progress of the crew throughout the C2C4C campaign, log on to the official website at www.coast2coast4cansa.co.za. For the official C2C4C blog, log on to http://www.getaway.co.za/page/coast-2-coast-4-cansa, and for daily updates follow or join the Twitter and Facebook feeds which are updated many times each day.

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.