W
hat is it like for a desert
child to live next to
a flowing river? In the
mid-70s, when Karoo
farmer Roy Copeman
was in his early teens, the Great Fish River was
linked via the Orange-Fish Tunnel to what is
now the mighty Gariep Dam.
Suddenly, the water-starved Eastern Cape
Midlands became a lush, irrigation region.
It was like The Wind in the Willows had
descended on the Karoo. Who wouldn’t want
to take to a boat to that clucking, gurgling
river rush that the Great Fish had become?
Roy and his brother Louis were no
exceptions. When the river came down in its
new form in 1976, they hammered flat a piece
of corrugated iron, attached canvas to make itmore likely to float, andtriedouta coupleof
planks for paddles. And,ofcourse,theyended
up swimming, because thisnewriverwasas
boisterous as a puppy. Roylaterbecamean
irrigation farmer just outsideCradock,andis
currently chairman of theFishRiverCanoe
Marathon.
Ted and Norman Collettwerealsoformer
riverside farm boys. Theymaderaftsbytying
together inner tubes andthenfendingoff
hanging thorn brancheswithpitchforkhandles,
getting scratched to piecesin theprocess.They
later ended up farming Adamsfonteinand
Grassridge farms respectively,straddlingsome
of the river’s liveliest rapids.
By 1979, it had becomeclearthatthisriver
could be heaven for paddlers.TheFishRiver
Canoe Marathon’s websiterecordssomeofthe
history. ‘Cape paddler DaveAlexanderwasone
of the first to see the potentialoftheriverfor
canoeing. He was contactedbyKOBang,who
was the Circle Engineerat theDeptofWater
Affairs in Cradock, andtheyputanarticle
into the Midlands Newsin 1979,lookingfor
paddlers keen to try outtherejuvenatedriver.
There was no response.
‘But the word got out.A fewmonthslater,
a few PE paddlers madethetripto Cradock,
and gradually the reputationoftheriverspread.
Thanks to their involvement,theKarooCanoe
Club was founded in 1982,anddrivenbythe
likes of Stanford Slabbert,FoxLedeboer,John
Harington and Giles Hobson,thefirsteverFish
River Canoe Marathon wascautiouslyincludedin thenationalracecalendarthatyear.’
‘Cautiously’is abouttherightword.The
riverhadplentyofobstacles– trailingwillow
andthornbranches,weirs,straylogs,and
barbed-wirefencesdissectingtheflow.
Butbackto theMarathon’shistory.
Accordingto StanfordSlabbert,“Inthose
daysthepaddlershadto liftthefences,and
therivermats[fencesweigheddownbyreeds
andflotsamandjetsam]tookoutquitea few
paddlers.Gettingunder[orover]themwas
quiteanart.
“I recallonedoublecrew,”saysStanford.
“Thefrontpaddlerbentforwardto getunder
thefenceandflickedthefencehopingto getit
overhispartner’sheadaswell.Hedidn’t.The
fencecaughthishairandpulledhimrightout
oftheboat,andtheyswam.”
Theracethrivedandgrewfromitsinitial
77 paddlersin 52boats(only 37 boatsfinished)
to itspresentlevelofaround1 000paddlersplus
theirsecondsandsupportersdescendingonthe
riverforseveraldaysat theendofSeptember.
DuringTheFish,thereisn’ta placeinthe
plattelandassportyorsexyasthelittleriver
townofCradock.It seesaninjectionofhigh
spirits,nervousenergy,loadsoflycraand
morebrokencanoesthanyoucanshake
a paddleat.Theshoppingcentrecarparks
aresuddenlyplacesoflargecanoe-topped
SUVsandtonedathletes.
OnthemorningofDayOne,thereis
a LeMans-stylestartat GrassridgeDam,
presidedoverbyimpressivelybeardedABOVE LEFT: Roy Copeman, chairman of the Fish River Canoe Marathon.
LEFT: Ready? Go! The competitors leave in batches, sprinting to their canoes
that lie bobbing in the dam’s shallows. BELOW: And they’re off, a batch at a time,
heading for the wall of Grassridge Dam. Once they’ve portaged around that, the
paddlers face Double Trouble, the Toast Rack and the feared Keith’s Flyover.FISH RIVER CANOEING