River Rafting with Adrenaline Junkies
Discover the thrill of conquering the Great Fish River with Adrenaline Junkies River Rafting Adventures.
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The Great Fish River runs past Cradock and through the South African province of the Eastern Cape in an area called the Little Karoo. The river is 644 km long and flows into the Indian Ocean. The Great Fish River generally runs all year round, although its headwaters rise in an arid region, and the flow could well be sluggish beyond the ebb and flow of the tidal reaches; Water from the Orange River system is also used to keep up its flow in dry periods. The river is tidal for approximately 20 km.
The Fish River Canoe Marathon takes place annually over two days. This two day canoeing marathon over 81.1 kilometres starts at Grassridge Dam and ends at the Sport Complex in Cradock.
From it's position as one of the biggest canoeing races in
the country, and one of the most popular river marathons
worldwide, the Fish has grown phenomenally from it's humble
beginnings in 1982.
It all started in the seventies, when the Orange River Project
started pumping irrigation water towards the eastern seaboard,
and bringing lots of distinctively milo-coloured water to the
Fish, Little Fish and Sundays River Valleys.
Cape paddler Dave Alexander was one of the first to see the
potential of the river for canoeing. He was contacted by KO
Bang, who was the Circle Engineer at the Dept of Water Affairs
in Cradock, and they put an article into the Midlands News in
1979, looking for paddlers keen to try out the rejuvenated
river. There was no response.
But the word got out. A few months later, a few PE paddlers made
the trip to Cradock, and gradually the reputation of the river
spread. Thanks to their involvement, the Karoo Canoe Club was
founded in 1982, and driven by the likes of Stanford Slabbert,
Fox Ledeboer, John Harington and Giles Hobson, the first ever
Fish River Canoe Marathon was cautiously included in the
national race calendar that year.
The first race attracted 77 paddlers in 52 boats. 37 boats
finished the race, as the thick willows and many fences on the
upper stretches of the river took their toll. It was won by
Sunley Uys from Chris Greeff (the first person to shoot Cradock
weir in the race), Graham Holm, Stanford Slabbert and Mynhardt
Marais.
Read more on the Fish River Marathon web site.
