Members of the epic Coast2Coast4CANSA campaign, supported by SPAR and ACER, will be sharing experiences from their arduous 2800km jet ski fundraising campaign at the C2C4C closing function at SunCoast Casino on 8 July. The journey, which saw six South African celebrities travel nearly 3000km on Yamaha WaveRunners from Ponto do Oura (Mozambique) to Alexander Bay (SA-Namibia border) in 23 days, was aimed at raising funds and awareness for the Cancer Association of South Africa.

The C2C4C closing function will take place at the Colony room at Durban’s SunCoast Casino at 18h00 on 8 July, who also hosted the launch of the campaign back in April this year. Expedition leader Russel Symcox said that “this closing function will be an ideal opportunity for us to share our wonderful experiences with friends and family, associates, suppliers, sponsors, donors and anyone who's been linked in some way to the campaign. Having had over a month since the campaign ended to reflect on what we achieved, I can assure you that we are excited to give an insight into the life-changing journey we completed”.

The jet ski crew, which included Russel Symcox (ex-dolphins cricketer), SA surfer Jason Ribbink (Durban North), ex-Protea cricketer Lance Klusener (Mount Edgecombe), SA surf skier Barry Lewin (Durban), cancer survivor Bennie Benson (Durban North) and marine conservationist Mark Addison (Scottburgh), made history when they reached the mouth of the Orange River, the border between South Africa and Namibia, having left Mozambique on their Yamaha WaveRunners 22 days and 2800km ago.

The team had to overcome shocking climatic conditions on South Africa’s West Coast, although they made good use of a brief period of fair weather on the last day to complete the grueling final 346km leg from Brand se Baai to the Orange River mouth at Alexander Bay in just over nine hours.

During the expedition, marine conservationist and shark expert Mark Addison successfully completed the country’s first ever mega-transect marine census from a personal water craft. Addison took almost 50 water samples throughout the expedition, which will be analyzed by the SAEON (South African Environmental Observation Network) in Grahamstown. This phytoplankton survey is aimed at ascertaining the health of the water body around the entire South African coastline. Addison will be on hand at the closing function to shed some more light on this world first.

To access information about the campaign, including photo’s, press releases and the official C2C4C blog, or to make a donation to CANSA, log on to the official website at www.coast2coast4cansa.co.za.