WATCH: South Coast canoeists shoot dreaded ‘Keith’s’

SOUTH Africa is blessed with several world famous, iconic canoe races and Cradock’s ‘The Fish’ is right up there on every self-respecting paddler’s bucket list.

In particular, they all want to earn the highly sort-after ‘I Shot Keith’s’ sticker.

Keith’s is a long, fast-flowing, treacherous rapid with ‘stoppers’ (waves) so big that they make the bravest canoeist tremble at the thought. The slightest hesitation and it’s a long, bumpy and painful swim to the bottom.

A team of South Coast canoeists did just that this past weekend.

Some are probably still celebrating shooting some of the most famous rapids in the country while others, who fell out mid-stream in some of them are nursing multiple bruises.

However, the South Coast teams – Jean Geyer and Warren Fairbrother, Jarrod van Wyk and Donovan Currie, Ayrton Barron and Luke Brauteseth, Clive and Kurt Brauteseth and Sven Brauteseth (paddling with a friend from Cape Town) – all finished the two-day, 80km race and ‘survived’, relatively unscathed.

The fast flowing Fish River with its tricky rapids – Keith’s, Double Trouble, Soutpans, Marlow Shute, Toastrack and Cradock Weir to name a few – normally chalk up casualties galore – broken boats, legs, arms and even near drownings.

In fact, lifesavers stand guard in the water below Cradock Weir with ropes attached so they can dive into the ‘washing machine’ to save canoeists who have been sucked in after falling out their boats. Hectic stuff!

An enthusiastic team of seconders – Sam and Hayley Anderson, Elsabe Smit, Kellen Smook, Kaeller Biggs (who couldn’t paddle because of an injury) and Debbie Brauteseth travelled on the banks from rapid to rapid to whoop their support and video the boys shooting the rapids.

Now they are all psyched up and… Dusi, here they come!

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