NSRI Sea Rescue Winter 2015

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CONTENTS

WIN AN AEE

ACTION CAMERA!

WINTER 2015

SEE PAGE 5 TO FIND OUT HOW.

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IN TROUBLE IN A RIP A group of surfers is caught in big swells

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CEO’S LETTER AND READERS’ COMMENTS REMARKABLE MEN A supporter applauds NSRI’s fire-fighting efforts

‘WE WOULD NOT STOP’ Gordon’s Bay crew save the life of a fellow volunteer

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NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE We find out what drives

Chris Bertish to ever-bigger challenges

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TAKING THE LEAD Teamwork and trust lie at the heart of being a coxswain

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WATERWISE COMIC STRIP

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IN THE NEWS Fundraising drives, events, competitions and station news

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WATERWISE REACHING OUT WaterWise educators visit Coffee Bay to spread the water-safety message

TOO COLD TO SWIM NSRI crew help save baby loggerhead turtles

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FOREST RETREATS A few cosy options for your weekend away this winter

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ARMOURED WARRIORS Up close and personal with crabs

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STATION DIRECTORY

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A BUSY, FUN TIME News from the Life boat Circle

‘SAVED BY MY BROTHER’ Quick-thinking actions after a shark bite save a young man’s life SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

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FROM THE HELM

THE CREW

W

THE PUBLISHING PARTNERSHIP PHOTOGRAPH: ANDREW INGRAM

inter… The sea is growling, swimming pools are closed, and we go to work and come back in the dark (maybe that’s just load shedding)! Time flies when you’re busy and we’ve had an eventful time, full of challenging rescues both human and animal! The season included three shark bites and us assisting the Two Oceans Aquarium in rescuing juvenile turtles washed up on Southern Cape beaches. The range of activities we respond to is wide (from fires to fish), and I’m aways impressed at how willing and resourceful our volunteers are in assisting people in all corners of South Africa.

We ended the financial year on about 600 completed rescue missions and 700 people rescued, with WaterWise teaching almost 240 000 children. A record! Our donor community grows year on year – and with it, the funding. Training of volunteers We ended the financial year is steaming along, and feedback on on about 600 completed rescue courses has been fantastic, indicating that we’re hitting the right spot. New missions and 700 people rescued, boat builds have been completed to with WaterWise teaching almost schedule and our build quality, with 240 000 children. A record! diverse inputs from stations, improves every year. New bases are complete at Yzerfontein and Sedgefield, and, finally, after 15 years, we’ve appointed a contractor at Kommetjie and turned the first sod in creating a home for them. It’s been a busy year for everyone!

Engaging our stakeholders in this busy schedule is a continuous and important process, and we value every input, suggestion, comment or complaint. The old saying ‘the customer is aways right’ rings true with us, and so listening to the needs of our service population is a strategic activity. Conversations aren’t aways easy and we remain conscious of the fact that now and again a call slips through the cracks and we disappoint people. That’s life, but the point is that we should learn from it, take responsibility, be accountable and fix whatever the issue is. If we disappoint you, don’t be shy: let us know. It may be a minor or major issue but it will help us iron out our systems. Apart from that, we enjoy hearing from you because it indicates that you’re keeping an eye on us, keeping us on our toes!

Remember the ‘S’es: Safe, SafeTRX, Cellphone and ‘So have you got your life jacket on, Sir?’ Stay warm this winter!

MANAGING EDITOR Wendy Maritz ART DIRECTOR Ryan Manning PUBLISHER Susan Newham-Blake ADVERTISING Chantal Rodriques EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS Mark Beare, John Morkel EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Susan Newham-Blake ADDRESS PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018 TEL +27 21 ­424 3517 FAX +27 21 424 3612 EMAIL wmaritz@tppsa.co.za

SEA RESCUE OFFICE +27 21 434 4011 WEB www.searescue.org.za EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: ORGANISATIONAL SUPPORT Meriel Bartlett CELL 082 994 7555 EMAIL merielb@searescue.org.za COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Andrew Ingram CELL 082 990 5977 EMAIL andrewi@searescue.org.za NSRI SPOKESMAN Craig Lambinon CELL 082 380 3800 EMAIL lambinon@mweb.co.za PRODUCED FOR THE NSRI BY The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018.

Copyright: The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd 2015. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without the prior permission of the editor. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not the NSRI. Offers are available while stocks last.

DR CLEEVE ROBERTSON, CEO REPRODUCTION Hirt & Carter PRINTING ABC Press ISBN 1812-0644

Contact us

CAPE TOWN: NSRI, 1 Glengariff Road, Three Anchor Bay 8001; PO Box 154, Green Point 8051 Tel: +27 21 434 4011 Fax: +27 21 434 1661 Visit our website at www.searescue.org.za or email us at info@searescue.org.za www.facebook.com/SeaRescue

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LETTERS WINNING LETTER

Thank you, Colette, for sharing your experience with us. Your hamper of Slaley wines will be on its way to you shortly.

W

e live on an estate in Hout Bay, one of the areas that was dangerously close to the recent fires in the Peninsula.

On one long, extremely hot day that we fought the fires, a fully equipped, very professional-looking team from the NSRI arrived to help us. We were totally bowled over. Having always assumed that NSRI was just a ‘sea-based’ rescue organisation, we were both impressed and incredibly grateful to the team who joined an exhausted group in beating out the flames that were threatening our estate.

Later on in the week another team of firefighters received a delivery of chicken curry and rice from NSRI – a most welcome change from the sandwiches and energy drinks that are usually on offer.

The NSRI team really did show us what an incredible sea- and land-based rescue organisation it is. Please pass on our most grateful thanks and appreciation to the team.

COLETTE TAYLOR

Write to us and WIN!

The writer of the winning letter published in the Summer 2015 issue of Sea Rescue will win a sumptuous hamper of Slaley wines valued at R750. This hamper can also be ordered from Slaley as a promotional gift or for a special occasion. For more information, call (021) 865 2123, visit www.slaley.co.za or pop by and see us on the corner of the R44 and Kromme Rhee Road outside Stellenbosch.

Send your letters to Sea Rescue magazine, PO Box 15054, Vlaeberg 8018.

(The winning letter is chosen at the editor’s discretion.)

NSRI DIRECTORS CEO: Dr Cleeve Robertson EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS: Meriel Bartlett (Organisational Support), Mark Hughes (Operations), Mark Koning (Finance).

GOVERNANCE BOARD: Ronnie Stein (Chairman) MEMBERS: Deon Cloete, Viola Manuel, Chris Nissen, Dave Robins, Rob Stirrat, Nontsindiso Tshazi.

OPERATIONAL BOARD MEMBERS: Eddie Noyons (Chairman), Brad Geyser, Dave Roberts, Mike Elliot, Justin Erasmus. HONORARY LIFE GOVERNORS David Abromowitz, Peter Bacon, Allan Cramb, Howard Godfrey, Ian Hamilton, Chris Hudson, Brian Hustler, Ian Strachan, Hennie Taljaard.

Photograph: Andrew Ingram Gordon’s Bay rescue of crewman (See pg 10 for full story)

LOOKING BACK Thank you for the upgrade to my Gold Shore Membership, together with the certificate, which I display proudly for the benefit of my grandchildren.

In the 1970s I took part in a Hobie Cat championship in Port Elizabeth.

The venue was the beach next to the Red Mill Roadhouse. There was plenty of lawn to park one’s motor car, trailer and hull in those days – my, how things have changed! The grass has long gone, replaced by tarmac, and if you can find a parking place at what is now Hobie Beach you can consider yourself lucky. To cut a long story short, the wind picked up in the afternoon and I pitch-poled… I was eventually dragged out of the ocean by the friendly NSRI rescue crew. On my return to my home in East London, I signed up with NSRI as a life member: a shore member but a member nevertheless.

Now in my 80s, I look back on those days with great pleasure.

ROBIN R PALMER THANK YOU, RESCUE SERVICES I’d like to thank all the men and women who risk their lives every day to save someone else’s. You jump into stormy seas. Gear up to go and search for someone in the mountains in temperatures below freezing point. To all of you, thank you – I appreciate your effort, time, blood and sweat. You are all my heroes.

May God bless and protect you.

CHRIS GERBER SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

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LETTERS TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE Just a word to thank Elaine Aquadro and Theresa Medicine for coming to our meeting. From chatting to members afterwards, I was pleased to hear that many of them were very impressed with your presentation. I hope you felt the response was worthwhile.

As I mentioned to you, the NSRI has long been my favourite charity. My grandfather was the son of a shipbuilder on the Clyde and when we were young he would relate tales of his experiences as a cabin boy during his school holidays, which were very exciting. His elder brother eventually died intestate in a shipwreck somewhere round the Peninsula, which led him to come to South Africa in the first place. As a youngster, my sole ambition was to become a captain of a ship and I must have been about 12 or 13 when somebody told me I’d have to

go to Russia to fulfil that dream! And my favourite hymn, which I sang with great gusto, was ‘For those in peril on the sea’.

Although a strong swimmer, I’ve always had great respect for the might of the sea and the brave men who volunteer so gallantly to save the lives of others.

Kind regards, and best wishes for the good work you are doing in promoting this admirable institution!

RUTH BUCKLAND DEDICATED SERVICE Thank you for a very interesting talk that was given to us at the Margate Retirement Village regarding the services of NSRI recently. It opened the eyes and ears of all who attended. Once again, thank you for your dedicated services toward humanity.

God bless you all.

GEORGE WRIDGWAY

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GOOD SPORT My Sea Rescue jersey attracted a lot of attention during the recent Cape Town Cycle Tour.

I had five punctures and my back tyre ruptured. Had it not been for fellow participants giving me tubes and CO2 bombs, I wouldn’t have been able to complete the race. The sportsmanship of the participants was just amazing!

HENK LOMBARD

Please post your form to NSRI, PO Box 154, Green Point 8051, or to your nearest regional office, or fax it to (021) 434 1661.

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Terms and conditions: 1. The draw is open to all Sea Rescue readers. 2. Entries for the giveaway close on 30 September 2015. 3. The winner will be selected by random draw and informed telephonically. 4. The winner’s names will be printed in the Summer 2015 issue of Sea Rescue magazine. 5. By entering this draw, entrants agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the competition. 6. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

GIVEAWAY

‘LIVE TWICE’

Congratulations to the winners of the competitions published in the Autumn 2015 issue. ›› South African Coasts: Pheb van Jansburg, George; Eileen Adams, Kokstad; Theo Smith, Cape Town. ›› American Tourister Travel Bag: Ebrahim Domingo, Cape Town.

We are giving away an AEE action camera. To stand a chance to win one, SMS Sea Rescue AEE, your name, daytime telephone number and address to 33282 by 30 September 2015 Terms and conditions: 1. The giveaway is open to all Sea Rescue readers. 2. Entries for the giveaway close on 30 September 2015.

3. Winners will be selected by random draw and informed telephonically. 4. The winners’ names will be printed in the Summer 2015 issue of Sea Rescue magazine. 5. By entering this competition, entrants agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the competition.

6. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Your P & I Solution in Africa We are commercial correspondents and surveyors for the Protection and Indemnity industry and we represent all the International Group of P&I Clubs.

We serve those interests throughout South Africa Claims and along the East and West coasts of Southern Africa. To ascertain how we can help you or to find out what we do, go to our website and select one of the several topics. If you have any comments or questions select contact Surveys us to contact one of our specialist team members or email us at: pidurban@pandi.co.za

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LETTERS WITH THANKS TO OFFSHORE TRAINING ACADEMY Each year Libby Bonnet hosts a number of Sea Rescue crew at the Offshore Training Academy in Durban, in memory of her beloved husband, Chris. This is a most appreciated gift and an opportunity that we treasure.

I am safe back home. Wow! What an intense time. I just wanted to take a moment to give you some feedback.

I believe that the sailing course was a great success. I am still trying to get the words together to describe just how much I learned and how much I enjoyed it. I was the youngest in the group, which also included Antonie from Station 17 (Hermanus), who I hear has been an NSRI member for 25 years. We ran a tight ship and built some great friendships in the process, with three of us living aboard the yacht Panjo and

spending plenty of time in each other’s company. I loved interacting with other yachties. At night, when it became a little quieter, you could hear the barnacles crackle all around the dock and I fell asleep feeling satisfied and blessed, listening to the song of those crackling barnacles.

Neither one of us had studied for exams or done anything this intense in a long time, so we were a bit stressed.

There was a lot of information to take in in such a short time. Our days consisted of theory classes in the morning and sailing in the afternoon till dark. We also did a night entrance into Durban harbour.

Every day was full of revelations and ‘aha’ moments, with some concepts making sense to me for the first time.

Our examiner was pleased with our practical sailing and seamanship. We rocked our man-overboard (MOB) drills,

and each one of us managed to pick up our MOB successfully on the first try.

Our examiner was very nice to us, and went through our exams after we wrote.

It was not just a matter of evaluating and giving an end result, but he was genuinely interested in helping us become better, and not only memorise but also understand the material.

I would like to thank NSRI for giving me this amazing opportunity. Offshore Training Academy and the Royal Natal Yacht Club were awesome to us, and I thanked Libby multiple times.

I believe that the course has done wonders for my general seamanship, and that this will also stand me in good stead as a proud member of the NSRI, so that I can be a more effective crew member and ultimately save lives on South African waters.

PAUL VAN JAARSVELD

REAL HEROES

Early April saw devastating fires threatening homes and lives in the Noordhoek area.

An NSRI supporter shares her gratitude.

REMARKABLE MEN T

rue bravery is not something one has the privilege of encountering often in life, and when one does, the immense selflessness and pure goodness of such an act despite the personal risk to life is completely overwhelming. I have always admired the incredible dedication and commitment that is so characteristic of NSRI volunteers. But it was during the recent raging fires in Noordhoek that I was fortunate to encounter first-hand such courage, getting an inkling of what it must take to face the relentless power of the elements head-on and not to give up until what needs to be done is done. This is our story, our tribute to the bravery of Station 26’s (Kommetjie) Ian Klopper, Brett Aylward and Ant Tulleken, and

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Mark Wiley, minister in provincial legislature for the DA, who worked like dogs to fight the raging fire on their own for more than two-and-a-half hours with a couple of garden hoses before being joined at dawn by their NSRI colleagues and the firefighting services. Through their pure ‘guts’, leadership and perseverance, these four remarkable men saved our three hand-built wooden cottages (two of them thatched) situated on the slopes of Chapman’s Peak from certain destruction, thus preserving the homes and livelihoods of our tenants and ourselves. To you and to your colleagues, we convey an enormous and deeply humbling ‘thank you!’

Being a veteran of Noordhoek and the great fire of 2000, I thought I knew something of the adrenalin and slog

required day and night to beat back the fire and its relentless flare-ups. But this year was different – the fire came upon us like a Valkyrie in the night with a speed and ferocity we had not experienced before. The first onslaught was around midnight of Sunday 1 March, when residents on the slopes of the surrounding mountains, ourselves included, were awoken in the early hours of Monday morning by dense smoke and billowing flames behind our houses. It raced towards Chapman’s Peak, driven by a strong southeasterly wind, and for two days and nights the fire services and Noordhoek residents, supported by scores of volunteers, doused roofs and gardens, dug fire breaks and fought the fires along the slopes. There were many moments when the thinly spread helicopters would arrive in the nick of time to drop their blessed load on us before being called away to other parts of the Peninsula also engulfed by

PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED, GALLO IMAGES/FOTO24/DEON RAATH

Left: Mark Wiley, minister in provincial legislature for the DA, with Ian Klopper, Ant Tulleken and Brett Aylward from Station 26 (Kommetjie).

PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED, GALLO IMAGES/FOTO24/DEON RAATH

flames. By Tuesday evening an eerie stillness had descended and the fire had abated – the calm before the storm.

At 23h30 that night we were awoken by the beginnings of a northwesterly wind, and my daughter and I ventured out to check what was happening. All was quiet and the mountainside was twinkling with glowing embers, but as we arrived at the Chapman’s Peak Drive boom we saw a small fire beginning again above the road. Just then, the wind increased strongly, the flames flared up and, in a matter of seconds, turned into a huge, raging fireball that was hurled across the road, through the pine trees and into the densely populated valley below. Knowing that this beast was beyond us, we raced down Beach Road, the only access to that part of Noordhoek, to wake up our tenants and friends, urging them to evacuate before the road clogged up. Fire trucks were already arriving to attend to a burning house when we retreated to the Noordhoek command centre to help where we could. Throughout the night the stories and shocked

Top left and above: Evidence of how close the fire came to the Smiths’s home and cottages. Right: Fire services worked tirelessly to fight the Noordhoek fires.

faces of returning firefighters told of the serious life-threatening nature of the inferno that was raging. So it was with no small amount of trepidation that, just before dawn, I walked down into the valley and saw a very large fire still burning in the direction of Monkey Valley. As huge flames flared up and sparks and embers burst like fireworks into the sky, it slowly dawned on me that I may be witnessing

The fire came upon us like a Valkyrie in the night with a speed and ferocity we had not experienced before. our cottages burning down. Yes, it was confirmed as I got closer – the fire was on our property. But, running up onto the deck of the nearby Red Herring Restaurant to get a better view, I turned around to witness a miracle: none of the buildings had been touched, although smoke, flames and sparks still rose around and between them, licking the walls in places, it seemed! As the sky lightened we watched as a fire truck finally doused the last of the flames.

Arriving at our driveway I was met by an exhausted, sooty, beaming band of NSRI volunteers. ‘These are the guys who saved your houses,’ someone said, and I listened to their story with incredulity and surging emotion.

Around 03h00 the fire that had

jumped the road reached our property and began to surround it with flames two to three storeys high. For a short time, with a small but powerful pump, the fire services fought alongside Ian, Ant and Brett, keeping the flames at bay. At some point they deemed it too dangerous to remain. But Ian and his crew stayed, despite being left with only a couple of short garden hoses yielding pathetic streams of water due to low pressure up on the mountainside. With a hose in one hand and a GoPro in the other, Ian fought on, making sure his crew was as safe as

possible, but not giving up despite huge odds against them. Fighting shoulder to shoulder with them for hours against the enormous flames, flying embers and strong winds was Mark Wiley, whose commitment and hands-on involvement throughout the fire belies the increasingly jaded view of South African politicians.

The video clips, incredibly dramatic as they are, don’t do justice to the enormity of the challenge. ‘It felt surreal,’ said Brett, who owns up to being scared of fire yet found himself up on the roof, dousing the thatch. At one point Ian had to run right through the fire to reach a hose, only to find the pipe had melted and there was no water. ‘We must have left about 20 times, thinking it was hopeless,’ Ian said. But each time they would turn back, not being able to leave the houses to burn. It was just before dawn, when the walls of the lower of the three cottages were starting to smoke, about to burst into flame, that Ian managed to locate a Unimog driver he knew and persuade him to come up the twisting drive despite the danger of being cut off.

With this help, and that of a second truck on the road above, the fire was finally put out and the houses were saved.

To Ian, Ant, Brett and Mark – you are all exemplars of what true service to your fellow human beings is about, not only in your bravery and perseverance against all odds but in the humble way you carried it out. ‘Don’t mention it; it was nothing,’ said Mark. It is truly heartwarming to experience such selflessness first-hand.

In particular I want to acknowledge Ian, not only for his incredible leadership, courage and determination (‘It was Ian who saved this place,’ said Brett) but also for the really warm, caring and positive way in which he interacted with us and his crew. Station 26 is in really good hands!

My husband, Kent, and I thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

Liz Smith, Noordhoek (6 April 2015) SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

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Left to right: Brian Rogers, Ivan and Elize Bauser, Ryan Holmes and Dave Houreld

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW INGRAM

‘WE WOULD NOT STOP‘ Knowing CPR saves lives. For one of our volunteers at Station 9 (Gordon’s Bay), the successful lifesaving efforts of fellow crewmen will never be forgotten. By Andrew Ingram His body slowly sank to the bottom of the swimming pool. There was no splashing.

No shouting. Those swimming in the lanes on either side of him were unaware that he had passed out under the water. His swimming costume blended in with the colour of the swimming pool and his arms and legs rested limply on the bottom.

I

t was Friday night and the Gordon’s Bay NSRI crew decided to have an early-evening braai, as they sometimes do. It is a time when their families can get together socially. The children happily run around the garden and the crew members stand around the fire.

For trainee coxswain Ryan Holmes, 41, it was a happy-sad evening. He had

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swapped crews and this was his last duty week with his ‘old’ crew.

Richard Adendorff, 24, a promising young crewman, had been moved into his team. As often happens at these socials, the talk was about rescue scenarios and techniques. ‘I remember the talk around the fire turned to emergency care,’ says Ryan. ‘We talked about dry drowning and shallow-water blackouts.’

The Sea Rescue crew ran through scenarios and how to deal with different situations. They were all qualified first-aiders and passionate about doing things properly.

After supper the families drifted off.

It was a quiet Friday night. Thankfully no call-out, as the crew had an early start on Saturday. This duty weekend would start off with their fitness assessment.

‘We started at 7am with bloodpressure baseline tests and then went for our run,’ says Ivan Bauser, a coxswain at the station. ‘Eventually we went to the pool to do our swim, treading water, and lastly the underwater swim.’

‘I took my time before the underwater swim,’ Ivan recalls. ‘Richard went and surfaced at about three-quarters of a length. As he surfaced he slapped the

CREW STORIES water. He’d wanted to swim the whole length.’

Brian Rogers, 51, was off next.

Swimming steadily, he made the distance and climbed out of the pool. Starting to dry himself off, Brian chatted to Ivan’s wife, Elize, before turning back to look at the pool.

The other crew members were reacting fast. As Brian got Richard to the surface, Ivan was there to pull him out. Ryan went straight for the pulse in his neck. Nothing. Then the pulse at his wrist. Also nothing.

Ivan had kicked off and was stroking powerfully under water.

Brian also watched Richard, who was on his second attempt, in the third lane, one lane away from the others.

Ivan completed his swim and he, too, climbed out of the pool.

As Brian started to walk towards Richard, he noticed that Richard had reached the end of the pool but had not surfaced.

As so often happens when something seems out of place but not obvious, Brian remembers playing back what he saw. ‘Richard was there, but I had not seen the water swirl as he turned,’ he explains. ‘He wasn’t moving.’

Brian, senses now fully alert, moved towards the end of Lane 3. ‘Guys…’ he called.

Hearing the tone of Brian’s voice, Ivan started running towards him.

‘Guys! I need help. Now.’ Brian had realised that Richard was in big trouble. He was at the bottom of the pool and clearly not moving. In a few strides Brian was there. In the water, duck-diving, he grabbed his buddy, battling to pull his limp body to the surface.

‘It’s not like when you do these things during an exercise,’ Brian says. ‘He was

Looking at Richard’s face between rescue breaths, through gritted teeth, Ivan said, ‘Breathe, you bastard. Breathe.’

All swimming in the pool had stopped. A wide circle had formed around the men who were desperately trying to resuscitate their friend.

Dave Houreld, the fourth crew member, was there, next to his buddies, waiting to be called in to take over the chest compressions.

‘It was Richard’s first day on our crew,’ Dave says. ‘We would not stop. We were going to get him back.’

‘I kept checking for a pulse,’ Ryan says. ‘But there was nothing except when the guys compressed. I could feel that strongly.’

‘I was praying in my head.

This is one of our guys. It passed through my mind: how would we tell his mother?’

Brian went back onto the rescue breaths and Dave took over the compressions next. Tilting Richard’s head back, Brian gave one big breath.

Suddenly Richard gasped and started convulsing.

‘It was total relief when I heard that first gasp,’ Ryan says, staring into the distance.

They had got him back.

At first, wild-eyed, Richard had no idea what had happened. Gasping for breath, he struggled against his crew.

‘It was very calm at the side of the pool,’ recalls Brian. ‘Nobody was jostling… And then the group of old ladies who’d been doing a water aerobics class started clapping.’

Richard Adendorff, whose life was saved by his quick-thinking fellow crew members.

very difficult to hold onto. A dead weight.’

The other crew members were reacting fast. As Brian got Richard to the surface, Ivan was there to pull him out. Ryan went straight for the pulse in his neck. Nothing. Then the pulse at his wrist. Also nothing.

‘Nobody over-reacted. Nobody lost their cool,’ Brian recalls. ‘There was no questioning… We knew exactly what to do.’

‘His face was blue,’ Ivan adds. ‘I started CPR. I remember singing “Staying Alive” in my head to keep the rhythm of the compressions.’

Ivan switched over to rescue breaths while Brian took the compressions.

CAN YOU DO CPR? According to NSRI CEO Dr Cleeve Robertson who has more than 30 years at the coalface of emergency medicine in South Africa, people who need CPR are most often in the company of their family members or friends. Drowning also does not present the way Hollywood movies portray it. There is seldom splashing or thrashing, or calling for help. It is nearly always silent. We all need to be alert and learn how to do CPR. If someone gets into trouble, you can’t just stand around waiting for an ambulance – you have to do something. It could save the life of someone closest to you.

SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

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INSPIRATION

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

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based on the openocean rowing boats, and will be a smaller version of (adventurer and trans-Atlantic rower) Riaan Manser’s boat.

It will have a watertight console, satellite navigation and a water maker, and I will follow the trade winds from continent to continent, starting from Morocco, across to the Canary Islands, the Caribbean and then Miami. The stop-off points will be used for logistics, any major repairs, and picking up food supplies and dropping off video footage.’

He is paddling the Atlantic to raise funds for the NGO Operation Smile, which does corrective surgery on children born with cleft palates and lips, and he also does mentoring/development work for the Nine Miles Project, a surf project in Strandfontein that works with kids from difficult backgrounds.

Chris does motivational/inspirational speaking all over the world, runs workshops and has just launched Ocean Driven, a film about his life story, in America. (It will be launched in South Africa later this year.) His website www.chrisbertish.com is peppered with phrases that sum up his approach to life: ‘Nothing is impossible, unless you believe it to be. Impossible isn’t a word…

‘I use my experience as a big-wave surfer at Mavericks and elsewhere to give inspirational talks and workshops – all the lessons I have learnt in life, I have mostly learnt from the ocean.’

PHOTOGRAPH: SETH MIGDALL

C

hris Bertish is a man on a mission. That sounds silly and trite when you reflect on the fact that he’s already won the world’s most prestigeous Big Wave Surfing title, conquering the huge surf and winning the Mavericks event off California in some of the biggest and most treacherous conditions ever surfed. He was the first person to stand-up paddle (SUP) board Cape Town’s most famous big wave, Dungeons; he has SUPed Botswana’s Okavango Delta; has broken several world records; and holds a Guinness World Record for the longest open-ocean distance SUPed in 12 hours non-stop. And just continues to do outrageous stuff.

The funny thing is that Chris is such a nice guy. No pretensions, no nonsense – just normal. And yet he is preparing to go off and stand-up paddle a half-tonne craft across the Atlantic from Africa to America next year. Solo. Ja well no fine, as they say. You and I go to the office every day. Or perhaps we climb Table Mountain for fun. Chris Bertish wants to paddle the Atlantic. It will be a massive and epic four-month journey, paddling the equivalent of a marathon every day.

He’s fairly nonchalant about it: ‘Yes, it’s going to be epic, and it’s never been done before. The boat builders in the UK will start building the craft in November, and it will weigh about half a tonne. It’s

PHOTOGRAPH: GRANT SCHOLTZ

The ocean has been Chris Bertish’s biggest teacher, and he is more than happy to share the lessons he has learnt while taking on still bigger challenges. Tony Weaver chatted to him about beating the impossible.

PHOTOGRAPH: SETH MIGDALL

PHOTOGRAPH: GRANT SCHOLTZ

Main image: Chris on his first attempt of the 24-hour Open Ocean SUP World Record off Cape Point in January of this year.

Below: Chris competing in the 2009 Nelscott Classic Surf Contest in Lincoln City, Oregon.

SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

13

INSPIRATION South Africans, Grant Twiggy Baker and get refined. ‘Yes, it’s pretty amazing what Jason Ribbink, have ever been invited to the guys are riding now; its frightening, surf in the Eddie Aikau Invitational Big actually,’ says Chris. ‘What was considWave Classic in Oahu, Hawaii. Like the ered a big wave 20 years ago was maybe Mavericks Big Wave Invitational, only 24 10-to-15 feet; five years ago it was 20 of the world’s best big-wave gladiators feet; now it is 25-to-30 feet, which transget invited to surf ‘the Eddie’, as it is unilates into a 60-to-80-foot wave face, a versally known in the surfing world. The five-to-six-storey building. event honours the memory of Waimea ‘Big-wave surfing is a very complex Bay lifeguard and surfer Eddie Aikau, combination of things and a perfect who disappeared in March 1978 while blend of all the ocean elements that all paddling to get help for his crew-mates have to line up perfectly in one place, on a capsized traditional double-hulled which normally only happens for less canoe, in which they than six hours in a day, when the perfect were recreating a storms create the ideal conditions to Stand-up paddling down historic Polynesian create the monsters that come rising up the Okavango Delta. journey. from the deep and come crashing in to Sadly for Chris, our shores. Everything goes into slow the Eddie is only motion but also goes into hyper-drive, a surfed if the waves million miles an hour. Every millisecond are big enough – the you are making hundreds of micro-adwave face must justments. And when you are paddling be bigger than 40 into a big wave on an SUP, your surfing foot – and the year field of vision is much better than when he was invited, it you are lying down, and your ability to just didn’t happen: see what is coming is much improved.

‘It was a massive You can get into the right position and honour, just to be out of the wrong positions, easier and invited, it shows that quicker, I believe, and you can paddle you are not just a into the wave quicker (than when you’re great big-wave rider, lying down).’ own borders and boundaries of what’s but also that you are a great waterman.

It’s this heightened stance that made possible, and creating new adventures I had always dreamed of getting that paddling the crocodile- and hippo-filled and seeing them through – and while invite, I just wish I could have actually Okavango Delta safer. ‘We were up in doing so, I hopefully inspire others to surfed in it.’ an area of the Panhandle, called NG32, dream big and then have the courage to follow them. I use my experience as a big-wave surfer at Mavericks and As a surfer, it takes a long time to develop into a comfortaelsewhere to give inspirational talks ble and confident big-wave surfer – it takes a special kind and workshops – all the lessons I have of person, mind-set and psyche to throw yourself off the learnt in life I have mostly learnt from the ocean. It’s been a humbling and equivalent of a four-to-five-storey building that then stands amazing teacher. You can apply almost up behind you and tries to chase you down and kill you. all of these lessons to business, to sport, and to life: having vision, goal-setting, planning, preparation, dealing with obAs a surfer, it takes a long time to near Etsha. It is shallower than other stacles, change, being flexible, resilient, develop into a comfortable and confident parts, which limits the number of crocs never fighting the elements and never big-wave surfer – it takes a special kind and hippos, and I was with local guides giving up.’ of person, mind-set and psyche to throw who know the area meticulously, like It takes a special breed of surfer, a yourself off the equivalent of a four-tothe back of their hands. You’re not waterman, to take on the biggest waves five-storey building that then stands up sitting down like you are in a mokoro the ocean can throw at you, the Maverbehind you and tries to chase you down (dugout canoe), so your field of vision icks and Dungeons of this world. And it and kill you. And the waves that are beis phenomenal, and we saw stuff that was a tribute to Chris’s record as a biging conquered now are getting bigger and never would have been possible to see wave surfer that he and only two other bigger as the technology and techniques from a mokoro.

14 / SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015

VIDEO BY MATTE BOX MEDIA, PHOTOGRAPH: GUY BUB

it’s a challenge!’ and ‘What would you do in life, and what would you achieve, if you could take out the two words “Can’t” and “Impossible” from your vocabulary? Then anything is possible and everything can be achieved.’

I ask him about some of his more outrageous exploits, and he echoes this philosophy. ‘You know, with the right research, planning and preparation, nothing is impossible. I’ve never done it for the money, I just enjoy the sense of adventure, pushing myself, my

‘Stand-up paddle boarding is really unique and amazing. It’s the fastest-growing sport in the world – it is really easy to get into, anybody can learn how to do it in less than an hour, in the right conditions. I paddle all over the world when I travel, and I’ve seen some of the most amazing places, and seen wildlife both on land and in the ocean that other people never get to see. But it also has drawbacks and hazards, as it’s the ocean and you need to be very prepared, because things can go wrong very quickly and easily, with changing wind and weather conditions – you can get blown out to sea very easily if you’re not mindful, or not a very proficient paddler.

‘That’s the thing about the ocean: things can go from good to very bad in an instant. The ocean is beautiful, yet wild and volatile at the same time, so when you are going out to enjoy it, always plan for the worst, be prepared, be cautious, be bright, warm, communicate, and then enjoy it.’

Visit https://youtu.be/ HkoYXftpj1k to view the SUP safety video.

SUP safety tips

Chris Bertish has collaborated with the NSRI to bring you this SUP safety video to help you be prepared and ensure that everyone has fun but also comes back safely at the end of each and every day.

Here are Chris’s main points to keep you safe when you are paddling in the ocean: 1 Wear bright colours.

2 Be warm – wear a good neoprene wetsuit.

3 Communicate your plans. When are you going out? Where are you going? When are you coming back?

4 Carry a cellphone in a waterproof pouch.

5 Download RSA SafeTrx, the NSRI’s tracking app (www.nsri.org.za/safetrx/).

6 Be weather-wise, be mindful, and know before you go – plan for the worst and hope for the best.

7 Overplan and always dress warmer than you think you need to be.

8 Wear sun protection to prevent getting burnt.

9 On the open ocean, I carry flares, a whistle and reflectors like most smallcraft skippers.

10 When I paddle offshore, I also let the NSRI know my route using RSA SafeTrx, I carry a VHF radio, smoke flares, space blanket, extra hydration, food, a mini-PLB homing beacon and a proper, bright personal flotation device (PFD).

11 Make sure you have a leash attached to your board.

12 Have someone on land who knows your estimated time of arrival (ETA), the distance you expect to travel and your exit points, and always leave yourself a buffer.

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Taking the lead A coxswain is not just the skipper on a rescue base; they are our leaders.

By Andrew Ingram PHOTOGRAPHS BY PAULA LEACH AND ANDREW INGRAM

I

t was mid-afternoon on 1 May when the call came through to the Hermanus duty crew: rubber duck capsized at Buffeljags. Jean le Roux, Hermanus deputy station commander and Sea Rescue coxswain, got his crew together and raced to the scene, towing the small rescue boat Spirit of Le Jenmar II. Despite their haste, they were too late.

When they arrived at Buffeljags, they found that one man had managed to get out of the water but his friend, a 72-yearold man, had drowned in the incident.

Jean was one of the rescue swimmers who went into the water to bring the older man out and, tragically, the casualty was declared dead by paramedics.

Station 8 coxswains Kim Burrows and Carmen Long.

16 / SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015

The following week the man’s widow called, enquiring about what had happened. Jean bought a bunch of flowers, got into his car and, with his wife, drove the 80km to the widow’s house. He sat and chatted with the elderly lady for more than two hours, and when he left she thanked him for his kindness.

Through his caring, Jean had helped the lady find closure to the tragedy of losing her husband. Taking time out of a busy schedule because he cared deeply, he had helped her in her time of sadness.

Aside from excellent water- and boat-handling skills, it is this empathy, this caring – for both the rescue crew and those in need of assistance – that makes a good Sea Rescue coxswain.

Brett Ayres, an operational coxswain and the designer of Sea Rescue’s new Coxswain Leadership Course, leans back in his chair and repeats my question: ‘What makes a good coxswain?’

‘Well, it’s many things…’

‘Being a coxswain is not just about being a good helmsman. It’s also about leading a rescue crew. This doesn’t occur in the 10 minutes that it takes to do a rescue. It occurs in the months and years before that,’ he explains. ‘When there’s a call-out… It’s the years of accumulated effort that has been put into training that makes a successful rescue.’

‘Good coxswains need to be able to motivate their crew to push themselves

CREW STORIES

Above left: Carmen Long at the helm of the Station 8’s (Hout Bay) rescue vessel Albie Matthews.

Above: Hermanus deputy station commander and Sea Rescue coxswain Jean le Roux.

beyond the limits they think they’re capable of. He – or she – must understand how to get the best from each crew member and, very importantly, have the ability to remain calm while assessing a multitude of information,’ says Brett.

Coxswains must know how to be part of a team but also how to lead one.

They must earn the trust and respect of their crew – and to do this, they need to understand how the crew members are feeling. A rescue crew is made up of strong-willed individuals. To motivate the entire crew, the coxswain needs to know how to motivate each individual.

Hout Bay training officer Spencer Oldham has 27 years’ service under his belt, nine of them as a coxswain. At the Hout Bay rescue base a third of the crew are women – and a third of the active coxswains on the station are women.

Spencer is emphatic on this point: ‘The gender of the coxswain makes no difference.’

‘There is a standard physical test that we have for crews, not one for male and one for female coxswains. It is one level.

If you take swimming as an example, the strongest swimmers on our base are all women,’ he explains.

‘The responsibility is exactly the same,’ confirms Carmen Long, who has been a coxswain for the past year. ‘It does add a little more to the logistics in your personal life, though. We have to juggle more than the men when it comes to children. And sometimes you just have to bring the kids with you to the base.

‘It makes life easier when you have a partner who understands,’ Carmen adds.

‘It also depends on the type of job you do,’ says Kim Burrows, also a Hout Bay coxswain and a mother of two. ‘I’m a teacher. I am with my kids during the day and afternoon, so it’s easier for me.

But you do need a support system. My husband works and can’t help if there is a call-out in the week. So I rely on friends who live close to me, a neighbour whose door I can knock on and say, “Here are two kids, see you later!”’

Carmen agrees: ‘When I’m out on exercise in the afternoon I leave lunch and supper ready, and when I come home from a night call-out I then need to make lunch boxes – that’s quite different to what it’s like for most men.’

Sunday. The next day is Mother’s Day, and launching the Hout Bay rescue boat Albie Matthews, a 7,3m rigid inflatable boat, are two coxswains, both mothers.

At the helm is Carmen, and standing on a large wooden ladder in front of me is Kim. ‘Launch,’ shouts Carmen.

‘Launch,’ repeats Kim. As the rescue boat runs back into the water, with the accompanying metallic clanging and banging, Carmen and Kim are focused on a safe launch.

They’re trained to launch in any weather, and when other boats are running for home, the two women have the skill to navigate the rescue boat out to those in need of help.

On this day we are exercising in Hout Bay. After a while, Carmen brings the rescue boat up to the refuelling jetty in Hout Bay harbour. A volunteer jumps off the bow and loops the painter over a cleat. Carmen manoeuvres the stern of the rescue boat around as two men, obviously admiring the rescue boat, are walking down the floating jetty.

I am watching them as they walk past the helm position and I see the stunned expression on their faces when they realise that the person in charge of the rescue boat is a woman. Disbelief flashes across their faces, and then they laugh.

Carmen just smiles sweetly at them. She then turns to me: ‘It happens often. I don’t take any notice,’ she laughs.

A well trained crew will follow their coxswain’s commands quickly and efficiently. The gender of the coxswain is immaterial. The crew is a team. Each person is a link in the chain.

The stress and responsibility is always in the background for the coxswain on standby. ‘I’m on two crews,’ Carmen says. ‘I’m always ready to go for those two weeks. When I’m off duty, it’s nice to go to dinner and not have to put my phone on the table, waiting for a call-out.

‘And to switch your phone onto silent at night,’ she laughs.

It is Saturday afternoon on 9 May, and the Hout Bay crew has rescheduled its exercise from the traditional 9am on

A well-trained crew will follow their coxswain’s commands quickly and efficiently – their gender is immaterial.

The crew is a team. Each person is a link in the chain. To lead them into what is often a dangerous situation, and to bring them and those who they set out to rescue safely home, takes excellent seamanship, a nimble mind, fierce determination and good leadership Perhaps nobody knows this quite as well as a mother does.

SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

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IN THE NEWS

TWO MEN SERIOUSLY INJURED AT ROBBERG NATURE RESERVE On Sunday 17 May at around 14h00, two men from Vanderbijlpark, holidaying in Plett, were swept off rocks and into the sea in Robberg Nature Reserve.

One of the men, Andries Derksen, had been found by a group of hikers, but his friend Jacques Viljoen was still missing. Dr Herman Nel (a former NSRI crewman) was hiking with his wife, daughter, and his daughter’s friend Andre Barnard when they came across the scene.

Dr Nel began emergency treatment on the badly injured Andries, who had suffered multiple lacerations, severe bruising to his body, arms and legs, and had suspected fractures.

The men, both in their 30s, had been taking pictures of the sea. Andries walked up a section of Blaasgat when a wave swept him off the rocks. Jacques jumped into the water to try to help him but was swept into a gulley.

18 / SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015

Andries managed to get out of the water and, having lost sight of his friend, and fearing for his safety, crawled over the rocks towards the beach to try to find help. This was when the group of hikers found him.

Dr Nel and Andre went in search of Jacques, climbing to a higher area in order to make the call to the NSRI. The pair then found Jacques caught

NSRI crews arrived by road and by sea and were joined by paramedics from the Western Cape Emergency Services and Med-Life ambulance services. Jacques was secured to a trauma board and moved to higher ground due to the rising tide and rough sea conditions. He was placed in a specialised hoisting stretcher, and transported via the Skymed helicopter

The men, both in their 30s, had been taking pictures of the sea. Andries walked up a section of Blaasgat when a wave swept him off the rocks. Jacques jumped into the water to try to help him but was swept into a gulley. among the rocks in a gulley in the sea.

He was being battered by swells in the rising tide and had suffered multiple lacerations, bruising, a head injury and possibly a fractured spine. Together, Dr Nel and Andre managed to move Jacques to where he was out of danger.

to the Robberg Nature Reserve car park where paramedics continued with medical treatment.

Andries was also hoisted via static line to the car park, from where he was taken to hospital in Plettenberg Bay in a serious but stable condition.

NEWS

YOUNG HERO

Station 14 (Plettenberg Bay) invited Matthew Tindall (6) to their rescue base to commend him for his efforts in saving a friend from drowning while at a birthday party.

He showed a cool head and strong attributes as a leader when he swam underneath the little boy in the deep end of the pool and pushed him to the surface. Despite all the attention, he has stayed so humble. We would be honoured to have him join us as crew, and took him and his family out to sea to get a taste of what NSRI is all about.

OUR MAGAZINE has undergone a big change: we’ve gone smaller.

Postage on our mailing list of 72 000 is getting pricey, and we hate to waste money. By changing the format we’ve managed to save paper, postage and ink. It’s essential that we continue to show you how your generous support is keeping people safe, so we’ll continue to pack great stories into this magazine, which is published three times a year. You can also follow us on our website, Facebook and Twitter for live feeds about rescues and other news.

If you would prefer not to receive a paper copy of the magazine, you can read it online at no charge.

Please let us know by ticking the ‘Online only’ box on the address sheet that accompanies this magazine or email us at info@searescue.org.za.

We hope you continue to enjoy the read and we look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for making Sea Rescue part of your life.

FAMILY TIME

One of our Sea Rescue values is family, and spending time with our loved ones – away from volunteer duties and potential call-outs – is important. We have been blessed with a holiday home for our crew in the quaint town of McGregor, miles away from the sea. The owner, the late Brenda Wintgen, donated the house to us in 2004 with just one condition: she asked that Abraham Visser be kept on as the gardener. The cottage is nestled in a beautiful garden setting, has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and is fully equipped. We keep our rates very low for our crew, just enough to cover the basic running costs.

To book, call Krista at Head Office on 021 434 4011 or email Kristal@searescue.org.za.

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SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

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MARLENE PHOTOGRAPHY

CAPTAIN COURAGE

One of our favourite charities that we support regularly is Reach for a Dream. On Saturday 16 May, the East London crew spent the day with six young men as part of Reach for a Dream’s Captain Courage project. The highlight of their day was a ride on the rescue boat with our rescue crew.

OUR RESCUE CREW At age 12, Gal Chiles pestered his mother to arrange a trip on one of our rescue boats. Then, as soon as he was 16, he signed up as a volunteer and now catches two buses after school to get to the rescue base at the V&A Waterfront for training.

Many of our rescue crew tell a similar story. We are fortunate to have such dedicated men and women who are not only brave but show deep commitment.

20 / SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015

FAREWELL TO JOHN AND CATHY ROLT Every once in a while, people come into your life and they just shine.

John and Cathy Rolt of Shelly Beach are that sort of a couple. Nothing is ever too much trouble – they just get stuck in, and everything they do they do well. In the five years they were with us, they achieved more than many people achieve in a lifetime.

John and Cathy, we have thoroughly enjoyed all our interactions with you and we value everything you brought to the NSRI and to Station 20: your professionalism, your courage, your commitment and your friendship. Thank you for being solid and committed beyond any reasonable call of duty. You can retire with a huge sense of pride and you will long be remembered as the rock that stood firm in the storm and that provided a strong foundation for the crew to build on.

Bless you for being so kind and consistent. Take care and stay friends.

NEWS

MOSSEL BAY OPEN DAY We love hosting open days. It’s a chance to invite the community down to the boathouse and, if the weather is fine, give them a short ride on our rescue boats. Station 15 (Mossel Bay) is renowned for its warm hospitality and the crew really gave their visitors a treat recently. These memories will be treasured for a long time.

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NSRI VOLUNTEERS GET A STANDING OVATION AT FASHION2LIVE4 Sea Rescue volunteers got a standing ovation at the finale of the Fashion2Live4 event promoting the wearing of lifejackets at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday 4 July.

Leading South African fashion designers – including Hendrik Vermeulen and Jenny le Roux from Habits – created couture life jackets that were modelled on behalf of NSRI at South African Menswear Week (SAMW).

The Fashion2Live4 runway featured professional models as well as South African celebrities such as Riaan Manser, Siv Ngesi and Carl Wastie who showcased the designer life jackets. Indie rock band The Plastics performed live.

‘Through this initiative we hope to get people talking about life jackets and create more of an awareness around the fact that they can and do save lives,’ says Andrew Ingram, NSRI Marketing and Public Education Manager.

‘We liked the idea of the NSRI using fashion to promote an important cause. And our designers loved the idea of making something exciting,’ says Simon Deiner, SAMW co-founder and creative director.

Thank you to Ogilvy for the concept, to SAMW for hosting the event and to all those who donated their time to promote the wearing of life jackets on South African waters.

Left to right: NSRI volunteers Herbie Meth, Bevan Geyser, Ernesta Swanepoel, Dee Geyser, Bernard Schafer, Cullam Geyser, Marnette Meyer and Mariette de Jager took part in SA Menswear Week.

Models, celebs and NSRI crew hit the ramp to highlight the importance of wearing lifejackets.

A model wearing one of the designer life jackets is accompanied down the ramp

by Siv Ngesi during the show.

4X4 FAMILY ADVENTURE DAY Booking for the annual Station 18 Melkbosstrand 4×4 Family Adventure day at Koeberg Nature Reserve on the West Coast will open on 3 August 2015 from 06h30 on a first-come first-served basis. Bookings can be made by telephone on 021 550 4610.

No alcohol will be permitted on Eskom property.

22 / SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015

NEWS

AN INCREDIBLE FEAT

Against the odds, NSRI Strandfontein’s Robin Fortuin (pictured here with Dr Cleeve Robertson) swam in difficult conditions to rescue six people, one by one, from drowning in a rip current at Monwabisi Beach.

The Centrum Guardians project acknowledges emergency service personnel who have excelled during a rescue operation, and the winning rescue – voted for by the public – is recognised with a R35 000 donation to the rescue base as well as additional training for their crew.

Watch the emotional re-enactment of Robin’s rescue at www.centrumguardian.com/stories/rip-current-rescue/ and cast your vote.

LONG-SERVICE AWARDS Volunteering at Sea Rescue is a huge commitment. Our crew cannot sign up for just two hours each Thursday; they join knowing that they are committing to being called out any time of the day or night, throughout the year. We celebrate the following anniversaries of long service.

Thank you for your loyalty and dedication.

5 YEARS’ SERVICE • Ivan Bauser • Barney Bentley • Sam Botha • Cedric Brown • Ian Chamberlain • Adriaan Combrinck • Jacques de Bruyn • Rosalind de Muynk • Marc de Vos • Robin Fortuin • Joss Garrett • Ian Gerber • Henriette Grobbelaar • Michael Grobbelaar • Ruth Ham • Alex Ham • David Haysom • Warwick Hayward • Petrus Hendrikz • Estelle Hendrikz • Neville Henley • Werner Krause • Megan Laird • Jane Langenhoven • Francis Linstrom • Marlene Livingstone • Jacqueline McAllister • Jeremiah Meintjes • Darryl Moon • Robin-John Nel • Candice Norden • Chantel Patten • Brian Rogers • Stella Rogers • John Rolt • Nico Saayman • Klaus Schade • Avril Scholtz • Jenny Starke • Corne Wessels • Roy Wienand • Robert Wilson 10 YEARS’ SERVICE • Michael Banks • James Beaumont • Debra Biggs • Rodney Botha • Guy Clarke • Byron Daniels • Ryan Dermot • Mark Duckitt • Nico Geithrie • Robert Gibson • Jaco Kruger • Paul Leong • Jacobus Louw • Miya Mbongiseni • Irene McAlpine • Tracy Meintjes • Miranda Messina • Tony Messina • Bradley Peterson • David Rosenberg • Lorenzo Taverna-Turisan • Pierre Theart • Ken Tuck • Roland van Wezel • Daniel Viljoen 15 YEARS’ SERVICE • Christopher Camp • Peter Dagg • Giles Daubney • Jaco de Witt • Michael Hay • Marc May • Roy Pearson • Ashley St Clair-Laing • Francois Stevens • Johan Rosenstrauch 20 YEARS’ SERVICE

• Nazeem Abrahams • Laurent Eray • Gavin Fordham • Geoff Harris • Lynne Harris • Michael Saunders

25 YEARS’ SERVICE

• André Fraser • Marion Spencer

35 YEARS’ SERVICE

• Roger Clancy • Michael Clark

40 YEARS’ SERVICE

• Brad Geyser

45 YEARS’ SERVICE

• Ian Strachan

AGM & AWARDS CEREMONY Date: Monday 17 August / Time: 17h30 for 18h00 Venue: The Rotunda, Bay Hotel, Camps Bay RSVP: Kristal@searescue.org.za or 021 434 4011

SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

23

LIFE BOAT CIRCLE

A busy, fun time We love to get together to catch up with former crew and retired supporters.

Theresa Medicine introduced Georgina Harwood, who spoke to the residents of Woodridge Home.

Georgina skydived on her 100th birthday to raise funds for our new life jackets.

24 / SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015

In June the Life boat Circle team was inspired by Dominique Nass on the finer points of giving a captivating talk.

We have so much to tell our audiences about the wonderful work done by our volunteers, and we are eager to give talks to any clubs or societies who welcome guest speakers.

O

nce they retire, we encourage our supporters to stop actively giving and rather leave a little something for NSRI in their will. After you’ve lived a good life, your contribution will ensure that the crew of future generations have the funds to continue our work.

We are proud to report that we currently have 1 532 Life boat Circle members around the country. There are 800 members in the Western Cape (where we have four bequest officers), 491 in KZN (where Janet Burgess is run off her feet), 152 members in Gauteng, and the 84 members in the Eastern Cape fall into Kim Gresse’s area, which stretches from the Helderberg up to Port Elizabeth.

Not forgetting two members in the Northern Cape and three overseas.

Our functions in Johannesburg have been attended poorly this past year and we have battled to secure speaking engagements of late. It is sadly no longer viable for us to have a dedicated staff member running this club. We will, instead, fly in twice a year and host two large get-togethers.

Kim Gresse visited Mr and Mrs Zannoni (above) in Somerset West. Mrs Zannoni has generously decided to leave a bequest to Sea Rescue. Thank you so much!

THANK YOU FOR THE DONATIONS RECEIVED SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Richard Baker (40th birthday) Ian Drummond-Hay (70th birthday) Klaus Johannsen (50th birthday) Twinks Savage (90th birthday) Howard Godfrey (60th birthday) Georgina Harwood (100th birthday) Russell Galloway (50th birthday) Phoebe McGee (80th birthday) Gavin and Elizabeth Wilson (40th wedding anniversay)

Kathy Hamman, Sue Duvenhage, Chris Newton and Charmaine Pollock joined Janet Burgess at the Mitchell Park Tea Garden.

Elaine Aquadro, pictured here with Peter du Preez and Sally Holdt, spoke to the Constantia Club. She and Andrew Ingram also addressed the Ladies of the Netherlands Club who were very keen to learn about the history of the NSRI.

IN MEMORY OF Janet Burgess was invited to address the Montclair Methodist Women’s Auxillary near Durban in May. They were a lovely crowd of very interested ladies who are keen to tour the newly refurbished Durban base.

Thelma Kaye Chris Beazley Hans Ten Velden Anne Norrie Paul van Rensburg Brian Reynolds George Foulis Geoffrey Hawkins Joao De Oliveira Lex Fearnhead

ASHES LOG Kim also hosted a tea at The Farmhouse Coffee Shop in Somerset West.

(All respects were paid and the details of the scattering recorded in the ship’s log) Dane Paarman – Station 2 (Bakoven) Eva Pearce – Station 10 (Simonstown) Mr Van Niekerk – Station 14 (Plettenberg Bay)

Find us on Facebook SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

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BY MY BROTHER

Surviving a shark-bite depends on how quickly a casualty can be treated. For Caleb Swanepoel, the fast actions of his brother and a number of bystanders made all the difference. By Andrew Ingram

S

aturday 27 June. 14h28.

Caleb and his two brothers, Alexander and Joshua, had gone for a bodysurf at Buffalo Bay, a popular beach near Knysna. The sea was very clear. It had that beautiful glassy look the Southern Cape coastal waters sometimes get in winter. The water was a chilly 14,5˚C. The Swanepoel family had rented a house for a holiday treat and the young men were loving the beach. They’d seen dolphins in the bay, and seals frolicking just behind the backline earlier that day.

Left to right: Brothers Alexander (19), Caleb (20) and Joshua (22).

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Using a wave, Alexander swam with everything that he had, pulling Caleb through the white water into the shallows.

PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED, SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

SAVED

It was a great afternoon for a bit of bodysurfing.

Sharing a pair of fins, Alexander and Caleb caught some good waves, but they were not as fast as Joshua, who had his own pair of fins. Slowly the three brothers got pushed down the beach by the current, bodysurfing the waves as they went. After a while, the cold began to set in and they decided to wait for a good wave and ride it out. They were opposite the house where they were staying, just behind the backline, in water just under 3m deep, when Caleb saw a dark shadow under him.

At first he thought it was a seal or dolphin. But the shape was wrong.

Alerting his brothers to the danger, Caleb shouted, ‘Shark! Swim!’

Joshua, who had two fins, was in front, swimming hard for the shore.

Alexander, swimming alongside Caleb,

PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED

REAL-LIFE RESCUE suddenly noticed that Caleb was no longer next to him. He turned to see the shark and a trail of blood.

‘Help me!’ Caleb shouted.

Alexander swam back for his brother and, grabbing him by his wetsuit, started to pull him towards the shore. It was a swim of about 80m, but before the young men could get into the wave line the shark returned to circle them twice, bumping Alexander and biting Caleb again. When Alexander pushed his one foot towards the shark to try scare it off, it bit his fin.

Then they were in the surf.

Using a wave, Alexander swam with everything that he had, pulling Caleb through the white water into the shallows where their mother, Tracy, was waiting to help them out of the water.

Caleb’s right leg was amputated above the knee and his left leg had been lacerated.

It was a desperate situation.

Surfers who’d seen the commotion ran for the shark-bite kit and oxygen they knew was kept at the Buffalo Bay shop, as Alexander and his mother kept Caleb calm and staunched the bleeding.

Thinking fast, Alexander asked a fisherman for his belt and improvised a tourniquet by fastening it as tight as he could around the stump. There was no panic. Tracy, sitting on the sand next to her son, kept eye contact with him and – while he repeated that he felt heavy and tired – kept talking to him, reassuring him and making sure that he did not close his eyes.

The Knysna NSRI volunteers arrived on the beach to find Caleb wrapped in blankets, with a local doctor assisting.

‘We knew he would need fluids as fast as possible, and the ambulance was a few minutes away. So we used a surfboard as a stretcher and carried him up to the parking lot,’ says Declan Nurse, NSRI Knysna’s deputy station commander.

Caleb, who was flown to Mediclinic George by the Air Mercy Service helicopter in a stable but serious condition, probably survived the shark attack for a number of reasons. Near the top of this list is his brother Alexander’s

Dr Cleeve Robertson’s advice on

HOW TO TREAT

SHARK BITES ‘It is important to stop the bleeding. For an amputation, use a rubber bandage from a shark kit. A blood-pressure cuff makes a great tourniquet, or fashion one out of a surfboard leash or a belt. Use large wound dressings and apply direct pressure. Put the patient on his side that is not injured and try to move them as little as possible.

‘Get drips up and fluids into them.

If you need to start CPR, do not stop until the patient is in hospital.

‘And, very importantly, call for help as fast as possible. Water users should know that the emergency-service number to call from a mobile phone and the official Sea Rescue emergency number is 112. Make sure that your friends also know this. If you frequent the same beaches, have the local Sea Rescue emergency number saved on your phone.’

bravery in going back for him, and then his borrowing a belt and fashioning a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

According to NSRI CEO Dr Cleeve Robertson, the time that it takes to get the patient to shore is critical. ‘To survive the bite of a shark, a mixture of luck and fast medical treatment is critical,’ he says. ‘It depends on how far out the person is, how cold the water is

[the colder, the better the chance of survival], where the bite is and what happens on shore.’

On Friday 26 June, the day before Caleb’s incident, 23-year-old Dylan Reddering, the son of a Sea Rescue volunteer, was bitten by a shark at Plettenberg Bay. He was rescued by other surfers, got out of the water fast, and was taken to hospital within an hour.

On 2 May, Mathieu Dasnois was bitten by a great white while snorkelling from a boat off Port St Johns. Rob Nettleton, the skipper of the boat, and his partner, dive instructor Debbie Smith, are both Sea Rescue volunteers and could give Mathieu effective first-aid treatment at once and get him to advanced life support and then to hospital fast.

‘In all three shark incidents, the men were young and fit, and received good first-aid treatment,’ says Cleeve.

Plettenberg Bay Sea Rescue coxswain Neal Stephenson was bitten by a shark in 1998. At the time he was a 22-year-old bodyboarder who had represented South Africa five times. Through sheer grit and determination Neal survived the incident. The shark amputated his right leg with the first bite, pulling him from his board twice before he could catch a wave and surf to safety. It is this same determination that got Neal back into the water. He mastered a paddle ski, and after visiting the NSRI crew to thank them for helping him, he joined as a Sea Rescue volunteer, refusing to allow his missing leg to hold him back.

‘I am lucky to be alive,’ says Neal.

‘I realise how close I was to being gone and decided to grab life with both hands and make the most of it.

But it’s not easy for someone who has had such a traumatic experience… It really helps to have a positive attitude to heal.

‘People die tragically every day.

Sometimes we all need a little help, support and encouragement. Sometimes we just need to look at life from a different angle.’

SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

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Left to right: Gal Chiles, Davide del Fante, Arthur Sierra, Lourens de Villiers, Ian Watson, Rudi Fisch, Daryn Clark and (front) Marc de Vos.

IN A RIP

James Medcalf vividly recounts the details of a surf gone wrong. Caught in a rip, he and his brother had to wait it out in less than ideal conditions, hoping the tide would push them in, while their friend Arthur was being pulled further out to sea...

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PHOTOGRAPHS: ROBYN SILVERSTONE, JOHN WILSON

IN TROUBLE

REAL-LIFE RESCUE Below: The rescue boat all but disappears from view in the swells; Rescue 3 heading off to locate Arthur.

THE STORY

PHOTOGRAPHS: ROBYN SILVERSTONE, JOHN WILSON

I

’ve been an ocean user ever since I can remember. From Sundays at the King’s Beach lifesaving club as a nipper to maxing G-Land in Indonesia, regular Friday ocean swims in prep for Ironman and rescues as a rescue swimmer of the Coastal Water Rescue Squad in PE – it’s safe to say I’m passionate about the ocean and experienced enough to put myself in places some people wouldn’t. What happened to me a few weeks ago is something that every ocean user can learn from and that’s the purpose of my writing. It’s to bring awareness to the great service of the NSRI, hopefully to educate other people about what to do in similar situations and to share what we learnt.

As a surfer I can vouch for the fact that, when a swell pops up on the chart, there’s an excitement that I can’t explain – the possibility of getting good waves consumes your mind. This time was no different: the swell appeared, my brother Jonty and I were onto it, and we made plans with our mates Kelly and Arthur to join us for what was supposed to be an awesome day in the ocean filled with amazing waves.

We arrived at Camps Bay after a trip around the Peninsula looking for the waves we thought we were going to get. As we arrived we were greeted by a six-to-eight-foot grinding right-hander that got us brimming with excitement.

After watching it for a while, Jonty, Arthur and I decided to paddle out and surf a spot we’d been wanting to get like this for a long time. Kelly felt it would be better if he stayed on the beach and watched us (thank God he did). With big swells come big currents, especially around a shore break. We were well aware of this, and of the usual assessment of how the rips were running.

Unfortunately for us, though, sometimes rips are hidden and can’t be seen.

As we stood on the beach we could see the rip running from right to left, and we decided to paddle out as far right as we could and use the rip to pull us to the left. We could see that, once you broke through the wash, it was relatively calm at the back and we could then paddle back towards the waves that we saw and wanted to surf. My brother

made it out first, and Arthur and I were left eating dust as we got beaten back to shore. On our second attempt we made it through the path we had intended and, once out at the back, I noticed my brother was unusually far out.

I sat up on my board to assess everything and could see that, in fact, there was a rip running out to sea and I felt that my brother may be stuck in it. I looked back and Arthur had done the right thing and stuck close to shore.

Looking back towards my brother, I saw him dive under a rogue outside set wave that must have been over 10 feet. As soon as I saw him surface, I decided to paddle straight to him to see if everything was okay.

He was pretty calm and so was I, but we quickly realised that we were in a spot of trouble and things were escalating quickly. We tried our best to get closer to shore and out of the rip but unfortunately it wasn’t working. My brother made the call and said we need to go in through Glen Beach. I sat up on my board, took a look at the mess that was Glen Beach and said, ‘There’s no way we can get in through that,’ and my brother just said, ‘We have no choice.’

So we changed direction and started paddling towards Glen Beach. Then another rogue outside set wave broke in front of us – this was easily the biggest wave I’d ever had to duck-dive. When it is that big you cannot duck-dive deep enough, so we just bailed our boards and swam down. As I dived deeper and the SEA RESCUE / WINTER 2015 /

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REAL-LIFE RESCUE I can stand!’ I got close to him and tried to stand but, without a board and the sheer volume of water washing in and out, I got swept off my feet and taken 10 to 20m back out, only to be washed in again. Unfortunately, this sort of washing-machine process went on for about 10 minutes, and in a completely exhausted state, with my muscles cramping and burning from the strain, I just had to hang on until I got washed in enough to a point that I could stand. My brother never left my side and stayed knee-deep in the water to keep encouraging me and make sure I Far left (left to right): A relieved trio: James Medcalf, Arthur Sierra and Jonty Medcalf after their ordeal. Left: Arthur Sierra and his girlfriend, Kim Ellis.

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THE LEARNINGS There is so much that can be learnt from this: ›› If you are with friends and are going into heavy surf, discuss an action plan before the trouble begins. Take a good hard look at the ocean and go through every scenario together so that everybody knows what to do when the situation arises. ›› Check your equipment – my leash was not thick enough for surf like that and losing my board could have cost me my life. ›› When you get into difficulty, do not panic – this saps your energy and you do not have energy to waste. ›› While staying calm, take a moment to assess the situation and try figure out a plan to get yourself out of trouble. ›› Do not fight the rip – it’s impossible to take it head-on. First try swimming out of it diagonally and if that does not work you have to just go with it. ›› If, like me, you are caught swimming, try not to turn your back to the ocean. Rather roll on your back and swim backstroke so you can keep an eye on approaching waves. ›› Stay aware of the surroundings – if it wasn’t for my brother I wouldn’t have known that I was getting too close to the rocks. ›› Next time you look for a wetsuit, buy the brightest one you can get. It’ very difficult for the NSRI to spot you in a black wetsuit, especially since our waters are a darker shade. ›› Carry the NSRI number on you at all times. Our friend Ian had the number in his wallet and called the NSRI immediately – there is no time to waste in these situations and his swift response saved Arthur. ›› Never give up – just keep fighting even when you are tired. With the adrenaline pumping in your body you’d be surprised how long you can fight for.

The NSRI is what made the outcome positive in this case. They are so passionate about what they do and they do it all voluntarily. This is incredible, and I encourage each and every one of you to help in their cause. It may be a monthly donation; it may be bringing awareness about the Be Bright campaign – but whatever it is, these guys deserve it.

You can donate online at www.nsri.org.za and, to help the NSRI take the search out of search-and-rescue, check out the Be Bright campaign.

Hooray for the NSRI!

PHOTOGRAPH: CRAIG LAMBINON.

turbulence of the wave breaking above took its grip on me, I felt the tension on my leash getting tighter and tighter and then snapping. My board disappeared and I was left in a nightmare situation with no choice but to swim myself out of this.

I looked over at my brother and his calmness filtered down onto me. I knew I just had to back myself, my ability, stay calm and focus on what I needed to do to get out of this. I rolled onto my back and swam backstroke so that I could watch the waves coming, while my brother paddled in front of me and made sure we weren’t getting pulled in the wrong direction – as well as continuously reinforcing the fact that we were going to get out of this okay. After a while, Jonty shouted over to me, ‘Jamo, swim away from the rocks!’ I was already exhausted and at the mercy of the rip, and I just replied, ‘There’s no way I can swim away from the rocks; I just have to go with it.’ Jonty then suggested we try to go in over the rocks, but without a board to protect myself that would have been too dangerous, so we just kept on fighting our way to shore.

I noticed that the rip had taken us close to the rocks but the wash of the water filling into the bay was keeping us at a distance and pushing us towards this small beach, or a gap in the rocks.

As we got beaten by another couple of set waves, my brother shouted, ‘Jamo,

PHOTOGRAPH: CRAIG LAMBINON.

stayed relaxed and was close enough to come to my aid should I have called for it. We had already had that discussion when he said, ‘Just come and hang on to my board,’ but I felt I was okay and didn’t see the need to make an already difficult situation even more difficult. As soon as I got the chance, I got to my feet, tensed my muscles and made sure I had a good footing and then walked to the closest rock where I just sat down in relief. I couldn’t believe we’d made it out in one piece. Then, like a gift, my board washed up onto a rock nearby.

We had assumed that Arthur was okay because we last saw him very close to shore and assumed he had got a wave in after seeing us in trouble. However, as we got up onto the road and walked down the hill towards Camps Bay Beach, Kelly charged up towards us with a very concerned look on his face and asked, ‘Where is Arthur? Was he with you?’ To our horror, Kelly and our other friends Ian and Rochenda had last seen Arthur heading around the point at the Glen and

Knowing your friend is missing at sea is an indescribable feeling and something I can’t explain. towards Clifton. Ian had already called the NSRI and, amazingly, they were in full force with the rescue operation.

Jonty and I got changed and drove to the parking lot where the rescue mission control was based. Knowing your friend is missing at sea is an indescribable feeling and something I can’t explain. We knew that Arthur, like us all, is very experienced in the ocean and we were positive that he’d be able to hang on. The NSRI boat arrived and started circling. Scarily, it would disappear between swells – during this ordeal the swell had jacked up and was now extremely big. It didn’t take long for the chopper to arrive and it, too, began circling. Quite a bit of time went by.

The fire brigade, ambulances and police

had all arrived and by now there was a large ground crew stationed at every point from Camps Bay to Clifton, looking out for Arthur.

Just as I began fearing the worst, I noticed that the chopper had stopped and began to hover. Arthur was just below them and had cleverly turned his board upside down so that the bright-orange bottom would attract their attention. News came over the radio that they had found him, and that he was alive and well. The boat was on the way to pick him up. The relief I felt at that moment is something I will never forget.

We all headed to the NSRI base, where we were met by family and friends. We patiently waited together for the boat to arrive. As the boat came into dock, Arthur appeared with a smile and seemed to be in good spirits considering what he’d been through. After the mandatory medical checks we all caught up in the NSRI base over a couple of beers to calm the emotions.

You can read Arthur’s account on ZigZag.co.za

WATERWISE Left to right: The beautiful but treacherous waters of Coffee Bay; Debbie demonstrates CPR; and Eoudia joins a netball match.

WATERWISE REACHING OUT NSRI WaterWise Academy educators Debbie Smith and Eoudia Erasmus took a trip to Coffee Bay to run a series of workshops in an area highlighted for drowning incidents. Debbie tells us about the experience.

E

oudia Erasmus and I visited Coffee Bay in March, as this area was highlighted by the Eastern Cape South African Police Service as ‘a problem area’ with regard to drowning incidents.

Coffee Bay is 197km from Port St Johns and a four-and-a-half-hour drive from East London. There is currently no dedicated WaterWise instructor working in this area.

I set up WaterWise workshops at a number of schools but when we arrived we discovered that four teachers from the area had died a few days earlier in a horrific taxi accident near the Coffee Bay Primary School. A few schools understandably cancelled our visit as teachers were attending the memorial service.

We did, however, successfully complete three school visits at Pato JSS (384 learners from Grades R to 7), Coffee Bay JSS (338 learners from Grades R to 7) and Matokazini JSS (458 learners from Grades R to 9) – that’s a total of 1 180 learners whose ages ranged from four to 20.

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The three schools were most appreciative of our visit. Most learners make use of the ocean at Coffee Bay for swimming when the weather is warm.

There is a river close to Mapuzi, which is also used, but the ocean remains the more popular choice.

At the end of our stay we visited the Coffee Bay police station and told them about our visits to these schools. We shared with them the aims of WaterWise. They told us about four drownings in September and two in December last year. Two of the casualties were visiting from Mthatha and two were local schoolchildren from the area. All drownings took place in the ocean at Coffee Bay. A local schoolteacher advised us that there are seven schools in the immediate Coffee Bay region, not including outlying areas. There is also a high school, which we did not manage to get into, as well as an FET college.

Hopefully we can plan a second visit later this year.

We were superbly hosted by Roy

Sparg from White Clay Resort. Our heartfelt thanks go to Roy and his staff for making us feel so welcome.

White Clay boasts spectacular views from its setting right on top of a cliff above the ocean.

There were many highlights to our trip, but a moment that stood out for both Eoudia and me was at the end of the day, on our return to White Clay, when we ran into children returning to their village. As we turned into the steep road down to White Clay, we passed three young boys carrying wood, all with their faces painted. Imagine our surprise when they started to call out the 10177 number. We stopped the car, dumbfounded, and asked them to repeat it.

Their painted faces creased into smiles as they stopped, still with the wood bundles on their heads, and repeated the 10177 number a few times. They must have been from one of the schools we visited, presumably the Coffee Bay Primary School, and, recognising us and our vehicle, decided to remind us that they remembered our visit.

ANIMAL RESCUE

TOO COLD TO SWIM A

s beautiful as the southern Cape is, one thing most swimmers and surfers agree on is that you need to get used to the very cold water. While our rescue crews are quite adept at this, hatchling loggerhead turtles are not. They are far more used to the warm waters off our east coast.

When they reach the cold waters off the Cape coast, they become weaker and weaker and are swept ashore.

Loggerhead turtles are drifters and they lead mostly solitary lives swimming the warm ocean currents of the Indian Ocean in search of food. Females return to their natal beaches to nest and lay eggs, and the hatchlings then make their way back into the ocean in late summer. Sadly, turtle numbers are dwindling, largely due to human impacts of pollution and fishing. Turtles are often caught in fishing nets as by-catch or become entangled in plastic debris that litters the ocean. Loggerhead turtles are classified as endangered and that is why, when they wash up on Cape beaches, every effort is made to rehabilitate them and release them back into the warm Indian Ocean.

The Agulhas current sweeps South Africa’s east coast, moving in a southerly direction until turning back on itself and returning to the Indian Ocean. Most of the time, this process keeps the turtles circulating in the warm water currents.

However, with ever-changing weather patterns, it is not unusual for sea turtles

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Under the guidance of Two Oceans Aquarium staff, Agulhas crew assisted in the rehabilitation of stranded baby loggerhead turtles. Pictured (in inset from left to right) are Victor Rademan, Richard Gouws, Ian Fourie and Henrietta Brock.

to be swept south out of their usual territories and into the cold Benguela current. Over the past few years, roughly 20 loggerhead turtles ranging in age from one to three months are found on the southern Cape Peninsula per year.

But this year, since March 2015, almost 200 loggerhead hatchlings have been found stranded. While it’s not known for certain why these numbers are so high this year, it is thought that large squalls that happened out to sea at the beginning of April could have been a contributing factor.

Like other reptiles, turtles quickly become hypothermic when immersed in cold water. The severe cold water weakens them and they are blown and washed ashore. This year, as the juvenile turtles

WHAT TO DO

If you find a stranded sea turtle in the Western Cape: ✱ Call Two Oceans Aquarium on 021 418 3823. ✱ Keep the turtle out of the water.

Place it in a plastic container with lots of air holes so that it can breathe, and keep at room temperature. ✱ Make a note of where the turtle was found and take it to Two Oceans Aquarium as soon as possible.

For more information on the turtle rehabilitation programme, visit www.aquarium.co.za/blog

washed up on the Agulhus shores near Struisbaai, Station 30 (Agulhas) became a local rescue hub where members of the public could bring stranded turtles. NSRI volunteers worked under the guidance of staff from Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, helping to look after the turtles until they could be transported to the aquarium for further care.

There is just a small window period during which the turtles can be released back into the Indian Ocean. The conditions need to be just right, with calm winds and currents. While the majority of turtles will remain at the aquarium until November to receive further rehabilitative care, 74 turtles showed they were strong enough to go home in early May. They were transported in special containers by air to Durban, where staff from UShaka Marine World successfully released them back into the ocean.

Sea turtles form a vital part of marine ecosystems, and the combined efforts of members of the public, conservation organisations and aquariums go a long way to helping ensure their survival.

You can help by collecting plastic litter from beaches and the ocean, and by contacting Two Oceans Aquarium if you come across stranded sea turtles in the Western Cape. For our Sea Rescue crews it was a rescue of a different kind, but no less rewarding. Thank you to everyone who helped find the stranded hatchlings and brought them to safety at the NSRI Agulhas base.

PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED, TWO OCEANS AQUARIUM

Station 30 crew were involved in rescue and rehabilitation efforts of a different kind when baby loggerhead turtles were stranded off the coast of Agulhas earlier this year. By Cherelle Leong

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GETAWAY

Forest Retreats Winter is a time for log fires, muddy mountain-bike trails and bracing walks to mist-enshrouded waterfalls. And don’t forget to pack a good red wine! By Catherine Hofmeyr LOG CABINS AND LEAPING TROUT Log cabins are inherently romantic – add a Victorian bathroom, a fireplace and down duvets, and you’ve got the picture at Lakenvlei Forest Lodge. The lodge overlooks a vlei and wetland in the Eastern Highlands of Mpumalanga, just outside Dullstroom, a village famous for its trout fishing.

Trout fishing is one of the major attractions of Lakenvlei, but it’s not obligatory to toss out a fly because the forest, hills and wetland making up this 4500ha estate offer plenty more. The bird list alone boasts 237 species (little wonder it’s been declared a Natural Heritage Site) and several small mammals could cross your path while you’re cycling, walking, horseback riding or rowing. Drifting leisurely between the myriad channels and islands of the vlei, you could spot a purple heron, a mother duck with her brood or even an elusive Cape clawless otter.

Lakenvlei Forest Lodge offers four- and eight-bedded chalets on a self-catering basis. There’s also a lakeside restaurant and cosy pub, as well as a tennis court. Phone 013-754-2889 or go to www.lakenvlei.co.za.

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It’s winter, it’s cold and you’re miserable. So go on, give yourself a lift – quite literally – at Tsala Treetop Lodge between Knysna and Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route. Sister hotel to nearby Hunter’s Country House, Tsala is a spectacular hideaway that oozes romance and luxury.

Constructed from wood, stone and glass, the treetop villas and suites are tucked into the canopy of Knysna’s ancient hardwood forests.

Expect the finest of linen, your own infinity pool, an open hearth and a bathroom fit for royalty.

Tsala’s Treetop Suites are a romantic indulgence in any season – although the pool would certainly be more enjoyable in summer.

Not really aimed at rand-wielding guests, Tsala’s arboreal love nests don’t come cheap. But if you make use of several winter specials, you may be able to be king and queen of the forest for a night or two.

Breakfast in the glass-walled restaurant will set you up for the day, complete with a glass of bubbles, and dinners should be lingered over. Phone central reservations on 044-501-1111 or go to www.tsala.hunterhotels.com.

PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED.

BLOW THE BUDGET ON THE GARDEN ROUTE

OFF THE GRID IN MAGOEBASKLOOF At Kurisa Moya Nature Lodge near Magoebaskloof you’re off the grid and three metres up in the trees, eyeballing narina trogons from the deck of your forest cabin. The lack of electricity only enhances the hideaway’s ambiance, with a fire for warmth, gas for cooking and the delicious glow of candles and hurricane lamps for lighting. Enormous windows make you feel as though you’re in the forest – even when you’re lying in bed.

The nature lodge is on a farm near Haenertsburg in Limpopo. Apart from the forest cabins, there’s also a cottage and an old farmhouse that offers five en-suite rooms and once housed the resident forester. With its wraparound veranda and huge kitchen, this restored gem is begging for a rowdy family or sociable group to fill it to capacity – and it’s pet friendly too. You won’t need to move off the stoep unless it’s for a guided bird walk or an exhilarating single-track bike ride through indigenous forest, grasslands and mountains.

For more information on cabin and farmhouse accommodation , phone 071-658-6980 or 082-2004596, or go to www.krm.co.za.

ON THE EDGE IN HOGSBACK The swirling mists, forests, waterfalls and even one or two residents of the village of Hogsback were reputed to be the inspiration behind JR Tolkien’s epic fantasy The Hobbit. And if they weren’t, they certainly should have been – for the Hogsback is pure Hobbit country.

The village, set high up in the Amatola Mountains of the Eastern Cape, is virtually hidden by Afro-montane forests where birds sing, butterflies flit, magical streams bubble and some interesting varieties of mushrooms flourish.

It was from the cliffs of Hogsback escarpment, back in the mid-1800s, that Xhosa warriors descended into the Tyhume Valley to battle with the British in the famous Christmas Day Massacre. Nowdays things are more peaceful at The Edge Mountain Retreat. For dramatic views, book the luxurious thatched Heavens Above cottage or get romantic in Thunderstone Rondavel with its open fire and king-sized bed Walk the labyrinth – by the time you get to the centre you will have strolled 1,4km and be ready for a good coffee and cake from Restaurant at the Edge – or, if it’s snowy, a hot chocolate or gluhwein will do nicely. Don’t leave Hogsback without buying a red clay hog from the locals and visiting Diana Graham’s outdoor Eco Shrine and art gallery. Phone 045-962-1159 or go to www.theedge-hogsback.co.za.

PHOTOGRAPHS: SUPPLIED.

IN THE SHIRE Once ensconced in your chalet at The Shire (yes, there’s a Hobbity inspiration here too!) you might be forgiven for thinking you’re at sea – until you look out of the curved glass window onto swathes of indigenous forest. On the edge of Xholora Forest, a few kilometres outside Stutterheim, Robb Scott set out to build something unique and innovative. The result is The Shire, an architecturally unusual collection of four convex-walled wooden chalets each reminiscent of a boat or a quirky wooden bubble.

The two riverside chalets have open bush showers – discrete and all your own, except for inquisitive shamango monkeys.

Inside these ‘bubbles’ you’ll find Rob’s handcrafted eco-furniture. From beds to cupboards, it’s all made of Australian blue gum and black wattle, both invasive aliens that need to be eradicated from Eastern Cape forests.

At The Shire you’ll be tempted to do nothing at all, except restore your soul – and that’s pretty much the intention. If you’d like to venture a little further, there is an onsite nursery and several trails through the forest, plus the mountain biking around Stutterheim is superb. Phone 043-683-2452 or 072-364-8077, or go to www.shire.co.za.

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THE BIG BLUE

Armoured warriors

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GEOFF SPIBY

Some are as tiny as a pea; others have a leg span of 4m…

Crabs are as fascinating as they are, well, crabby. Naturalist Georgina Jones reveals some interesting facts about these side-stepping marine soldiers.

W

ho hasn’t picked up a crab on a beach or a river bank and been soundly nipped for presumption? Those beasts can inflict an excruciating pinch. Perhaps this partly explains why crabs are such a successful group, with close on 7 000 species known in 93 families. They range in size from tiny pea crabs to enormous Japanese spider crabs, which may have a leg span of up to 4m. They live their lives encased in a chitinous exoskeleton, which provides them with protection from predators and rigid attachment points for their muscles.

Life as an armoured warrior has its downside, though. As crabs increase in size, they outgrow their exoskeletons and must generate a bigger suit of armour by moulting, retreating to a (hopefully) safe place to do so: the old exoskeleton weakens at predetermined points while the crab makes its body swell, splitting the old armour. The crab will then struggle out of its old suit in minutes, and continue to pump its body up to enlarge the new exoskeleton as much as possible. The crab is then very soft and can’t move much, and at this point is at its most vulnerable. It may be eaten by a predator, or fail to extract itself from its old exoskeletons, becoming trapped and dying in it. It is estimated that up to 90% of crustacean mortality occurs as a result of moulting – quite a burden on animals that spend the bulk of their lives until adulthood in some stage of moulting.

In some species, however, this is the only stage when mating can occur, the crabs being impervious for the rest of their life cycles. Crabs generally mate belly to belly and fertilisation takes place internally. The female, which typically has a rounder abdomen than males of the same species, can store sperm for some time until her eggs mature. Once fertilised, the eggs are deposited onto her abdomen in a sticky

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Main: A Cape rock crab (Plagusia chabrus) looking for a tasty morsel to scavenge.

Top left: Porcelain crabs have mouthparts modified into sieves for straining food from the water.

Top right: A giant spotted hermit (Dardanus megistos) safe in its protective shell.

matrix and brooded until the larvae are ready to be released into the plankton.

The larvae undergo several developmental stages before setting on a suitable surface to grow into their adult form. Although there are some land and swimming crabs, the majority of species live on the sea floor and on reefs.

Some crabs have developed a specialised pair of legs on their backs.

These are porter crabs that may first use their claws to nip off a suitable piece of sponge, colonial sea squirt, soft coral or seaweed and then transfer this cloak to their porter legs. The purpose is usually camouflage, but some crabs go further and carry toxic animals on their backs. In several cases, porter crabs are known to carry living sea urchins. The crab benefits from the protection of the urchin’s fierce spines, while the urchin is transported to different food sources.

Other crabs are decorators. They carefully attach hydroids, sponges, sea weeds or feather stars to their carapaces, so that they become almost unrecognisable. Experiments involving removing the crabs’ decorations have resulted in the unfortunate crabs laboriously reattaching their decoration. When uncleaned crabs have been put in a different area of a reef, they have changed their decorating overnight so as better to blend in with their surroundings.

The toothed decorator crab, known from Saldanha Bay to Richards Bay, is an alarming shade of bright magenta or sometimes vivid yellow when it first moults. Until they have managed to complete their decorating, they like to shelter in fields of striped anemones, using them for protection. Once decorated, they become practically invisible.

Protection is a watchword for hermit crabs, which have soft abdomens and must find a shelter in the form of an empty shell, stone or piece of wood.

Some species inhabit fixed homes such as old worm tubes attached to reefs, or holes in corals and sponges. Hermit crabs must find bigger shells when they grow too large for their homes – and this can be tricky. They can be observed inspecting shells for fit and will wait for

Hermit crabs are not that closely related to true crabs; they’re closer kin to porcelain crabs, which live under rocks. up to eight hours by a too-big shell for another seeker to arrive, sometimes making ‘vacancy chains’. Here the crabs arrange themselves in a line from the smallest to the largest. If a crab arrives that fits the too-big shell and moves out of his own shell, each crab in line will quickly move to the slightly larger vacated shell up the line.

Some hermit crabs have anemones attached to their shells. This symbiotic relationship provides protection for the hermit and transport for the anemones.

When the crabs change shells, they persuade the anemones to move with them so their relationship can continue.

Hermit crabs are not that closely related to true crabs; they’re closer kin to porcelain crabs, which live under rocks or commensally with anemones.

Porcelain crabs don’t usually get much bigger than 15mm across, but they have relatively large claws for defending their territories. Their mouthparts have been adapted into sieves that they use to strain plankton out of the water.

They’re called porcelain crabs because of their habit of dropping their legs to escape predators. This is one advantage of moulting that they share with true crabs: they can regrow their lost limbs over successive moults.

It’s a process that makes crabs rather more formidable to humans. Not only can crabs give a serious nip to the unwary, their weaponry can be regrown if it suffers an accident. The trick lies in picking them up, if this must be done, by the sides of the carapace. Or else leaving these armoured marvels strictly to their own devices.

SeaKeys SeaKeys, a project funded by the National Research Foundation and run by the South African National Biodiversity Institute, is intended to unlock foundational marine biodiversity knowledge. To this end, museum specimens are being catalogued, records digitised and the distribution of various marine animal groups is being investigated. Already underway are a Sea Fish Atlas and a Sea Slug Atlas. This year’s project is the start of an atlas of the marine arthropods found around the South African coast. It can’t happen without your support and we ask that you post any local images you may have of marine arthropods (including sea spiders, crabs, shrimps, lobsters, barnacles, isopods or amphipods) either to Rose Thornycroft at R.Thornycroft@sanbi. org.za or on the Facebook Crustacean Atlas page (www.facebook.com/CrustaceanAtlas) along with the date and location the image was taken. These images will then be uploaded to iSpot under your name and will help form the basis of the atlas.

Alternatively, please register on iSpot (www.ispotnature.org/communities/southern-africa) and upload your images tagged with ‘SeaKeys’ and ‘Crustacean Atlas’.

We look forward to and thank you for your support.

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STATION DIRECTORY The NSRI is manned by more than 900 volunteers at 35 bases around the coast and on three inland dams. Our volunteers have day jobs but will always respond to your emergency.

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BAKOVEN Bruce Davidson 082 990 5962 TABLE BAY Pat van Eyssen 082 990 5963 MYKONOS Casper Frylink

082 990 5966 DURBAN Clifford Ireland 082 990 5948 PORT ELIZABETH Ian Gray 082 990 0828 EAST LONDON Geoff McGregor 082 990 5972 HOUT BAY Lyall Pringle 082 990 5964 GORDON’S BAY Anton Prinsloo 072 448 8482 SIMON’S TOWN Darren Zimmermann 082 990 5965 PORT ALFRED Juan Pretorius 082 990 5971 KNYSNA Jerome Simonis 082 990 5956 PLETTENBERG BAY Deon Truter 082 990 5975 MOSSEL BAY André Fraser 082 990 5954 STRANDFONTEIN Mario Fredericks 082 990 6753

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HERMANUS Deon Langenhoven (Acting) 082 990 5967 MELKBOSSTRAND Rhine Barnes 082 990 5958 RICHARDS BAY Dorian Robertson 082 990 5949 SHELLY BEACH Jeremiah Jackson (Acting) 082 990 5950 ST FRANCIS BAY Paul Hurley 082 990 5969 VAAL DAM Dick Manten 083 626 5128 WILDERNESS Hennie Niehaus 082 990 5955 LAMBERT’S BAY Marius Louw 060 960 3027 HARTBEESPOORT DAM Rod Pitter 082 990 5961

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STN 26 KOMMETJIE StatCom: Ian Klopper

082 990 5979 STN 27 VICTORIA LAKE, GERMISTON StatCom: Graham Hartlett

082 441 6989 STN 28A PORT ST JOHNS StatCom: John Costello

082 550 5430 STN 29 AIRBORNE SEA RESCUE StatCom: Andy Connell

082 990 5980 STN 30 AGULHAS StatCom: Reinard Geldenhuys

082 990 5952 STN 31 STILL BAY StatCom: Enrico Menezies

082 990 5978 STN 32 PORT EDWARD StatCom: John Nicholas

082 990 5951 STN 33 WITSAND StatCom: Attie Gunter

082 990 5957 STN 34 YZERFONTEIN StatCom: Willem Lubbe (Acting)

082 990 5974 STN 35 WITBANK StatCom: Dean Wegele (Acting)

060 962 2620 STN 36 OYSTER BAY StatCom: Mark Mans

082 990 5968 STN 37 JEFFREYS BAY StatCom: Rieghard Janse

van Rensburg

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GENERAL NEEDS

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Data projectors and speakers or flat-screen TVs for training • GoPros or similar waterproof devices to film training sessions • Good-quality waterproof binoculars • Prizes for golf days and fundraising events • Towels for casualties • Groceries such as tea, coffee, sugar and cleaning materials • Long-life energy bars • Wet and dry vacuum cleaners • Dehumidifiers • Small generators • Good-quality toolkits • Top-up supplies for medical kits • Waterproof pouches for cellphones • Tea cups/coffee mugs/glasses for functions • Training room chairs.

You can also make a cash donation through our bank account and let us know which rescue base you would like to support. Cheques can be mailed to: NSRI, PO Box 154, Green Point 8051. Deposits can be made at: ABSA, Heerengracht branch Branch code: 506 009 Account number: 1382480607 Account holder: National Sea Rescue Institute Swift code: ABSA-ZA-JJ If you choose to do an EFT, please use your telephone number as a unique reference so that we are able to acknowledge receipt.

The Cape Town Boat Show is South Africa’s premier yachting and water-sports showcase

9–11 October 2015 at the CTICC and V&A Waterfront

CAPE TOWN I N T E R N AT I O N A L

BOAT SHOW

• Live on-water demonstrations, • competitions and loads of • action for everyone in the family

For more information call Dana +27 (0)82 411 8769 or Johnny +27 (0)82 461 6037

boatshow.co.za

Dawid Mocke Four-time World Surf Ski Champion

Colour could save your life.

Wear a life jacket and bright colours when out paddling.