Harvey takes on dry Dusi and comes through
The race took place in extreme heat and humid, overcast conditions.
A number of members of the Ekurhuleni Kayak Club (ERK) based at Homestead Dam in Benoni successfully finished the FNB Dusi 2018 marathon.
Although the water levels were still low and there was quite a bit of getting stuck on rocks in certain sections, increasing the portaging requirement (carrying boat and walking/running), they all finished.
The race of some 120km took place between Pietermaritzburg and Durban on February 15, 16 and 17, in extreme heat and humid, overcast conditions which is common in the area at this time of the year.
While the river is frequently in flood between December and March, the last few years of drought has had a huge impact on the river water levels, making it tougher than it had been before.
Many of the portages are based on the original Dusi of 1965 where the participants had wooden/canvas boats and no dams, no water releases and no choice other than to carry and walk with boats for kilometres around rocky tricky rapids.
Leon Marais, who partnered up with Kempton Park’s Bob Harvey, finished in a time of 16 hours 22 minutes over the three days.
