St Francis to Sardinia Bay

The afternoon before, we’d gone for drinks with Ralph Teulings and his family. Ralph had just finished the Cape Point Challenge and was officially on holiday – until I twisted his arm into joining me. With company along, I suggested we cross the bay in one go rather than break it into a short hop, meaning at some point we’d be 15km from land.

So on Christmas morning – merry Christmas everyone – while the children were still dreaming of their presents, we paddled out of the Krom River and into the bay. The wind blew from the West and built through the day, a great downwind if a little tricky at times, wind-swell running against the current and throwing up steep waves. Ralph and I have paddled together for twelve years and know how to watch out for each other.

Coming into Sardinia Bay I was apprehensive, remembering huge surf from a previous visit, but rounding the reef it was clear the surf wasn’t going to be an issue. We carried our boats up and over a large sand dune to reach the Land Rover – I counted it as Dusi training.

We got back to our hosts around 2pm to find they’d waited for us before starting Christmas lunch. We’d been thoroughly spoilt all week – a place at the table for every meal, fishing trips, a trip up the river, even Christmas gifts – then Christmas dinner with Ralph’s family, fun games, and I was asleep on my feet by the time we got home. Two days later, on the 27th, our planned rest day turned out not to be one at all – we took part in the Rezco Investec St Francis Surfski 14km Challenge, paddling doubles with our host’s son Danie Buys. We took the lead at the first mark and held it all the way. At prize giving I was handed a cash donation, and a few of the other winners gave me their prize money too – our medals presented by Joan Anderson, my cousin, whom I met for the first time that day.