Safety

Having had one or two close scrapes in my time I've had opportunity to reflect on them (with relief) and learn something (like not repeating said stints again), but my most recent (repeat act) has bothered me sufficiently to feel the need to share it with you. Who knows, it might help prevent someone from being as complacent (stupid) as I was recently...

We have more details of the incident and some photos of the Fenn Millennium surfski that was chomped by a Great White Shark in Mossel Bay on 28th June.

 

 

In the last ten years there have been a number of interactions between paddlers and sharks off the South African coast.  This article describes the incidents and debunks some of the myths about the animals.  Paddling is a much safer sport than most – in spite of the emotion and fear associated with sharks.

Sunday 3^rd December, 18h00, 4km west of Steenbras Point, False Bay, South Africa

The big Oryx helicopter hovered over Casper Kruger as he lay semi-conscious on his surf ski.  "It was flying only about two ski-lengths above the water, about twelve metres." he said, "It flew past about 200 metres.  Then I saw it turn and I knew I had another chance at life."

By the time he was found, Casper had been in the water for nearly seven hours.

 

A while ago we were sent the “Great White Following Sea Kayak” photo by someone who asked where it was taken and whether it was indeed genuine. Surfski.info published it and a lively debate resulted with the consensus of opinion being that the photo was a fake.

 

It’s not a fake. After unsuccessfully trying to find the photo on the Internet, I resorted to sending emails to shark tourism companies and one of them finally pointed me at the photographer who took the shot...

 

by Rob Mousley - 10 October 2004

I had a minor adventure this morning involving wind, waves & flares.

A friend and I went out in Hout Bay for a paddle on our surf skis.  The Northwester was blowing, and usually in such conditions I wouldn’t have gone downwind across the bay – especially as my paddling companion is not very paddling fit at the moment.  However…  we went along the western edge of the bay towards The Sentinel and then (and the wind really didn’t seem all that bad) we cut across the bay downwind.  The waves got bigger and we had some small runs, and then my paddling companion said that he wanted to turn back.

And that’s where the fun started.