The C2C4C crew had the great opportunity to fly to Joberg yesterday to attend the launch of one of Acer’s new offerings. Russ, Oj, Bennie, Pat and myself hit the 6am flight to the welcome of the Acer marketing people for breakfast on the other end.

In the preparations for C2C4C our expedition leader Russel Symcox got in touch with an adventurer named Jeremy Burfoot who rode around New Zealand to raise awareness for cancer on a jetski.

I have to say I haven’t been this amped to race for some time. Felt like a kid again. The break from the racing scene has had an effect and definitely positive on the motivation.

I recently did an interview for Acer (C2C4C sponsor) about my experience on the trip. Nice cap off after the trip. Amazing we still getting good awareness with SABC news this week and an Article in the Sunday Tribune. Stoked.

It’s been a week since the dream of C2C4C became a reality. I have really tried hard to update the diary entry but this specific last day needed some processing before putting thoughts to paper. Sorry it a week late but here is the diary entry for day 23, a day I will remember as one that changed my life.

930am – Sitting 12km into the ride I think I had my worst nightmare. If the west coast wasn’t kicking us in the balls enough Jason’s ski had an electrical malfunction and we had to hit reverse and tow him back to the start. What a mission. We had to set up another spare ski and fill it with petrol. All of this wet and super cold. The water here is frik cold, way colder than even Cape Town which meant froze on the beach for ages. Never been that cold.

845am pushed out of the bay with big hopes of covering some decent distance to make up for yesterdays missed riding. No such luck. The 7m swell that was rolling up the coast and 20 knot head wind mean slow going.

7am – Woke up and looked outside, the wind was blowing so hard the birds were walking down the beach and the rain was bucketing. Picked up my phone and saw an sms to the team calling off the day. What a relief.

930am – Leaving CT out the V & A under the backdrop of table mountain was special. CT was a big milestone and the feeling is the we are on the homeward leg now that we are heading up the west coast.

7am – hit the long drive out to Millers. Everything is far in CT and seem to be driving forever here. Awesome views, cape is awesome when the weather comes right.

9am - Hotel breakfast getting tired by now and opt for some cool muesli and yogurt to make it interesting. Still half asleep when was asked to pick up some slack by driving trailers across town. Eish. Cancelled some plans to meet friend on the day off and headed out to the Yamaha in strand to make sure the waverunners were all on track to get us round the point tomorrow. The extra sleep doing me wonders.

9am – Later start but still min sleep after one hell of a day yesterday on the water for every minute of light. Wind had hit as predicted and the ground crew who kakked on us for pushing it was now coming round to understand the move and how it had kept us in the game.

620am – the team rounded the Mossel Bay point on route. Vibe in the air of only one goal, hurry up. The weather reports were saying there was some very bad weather on its way off CT and if we could run as far as possible we could maybe still make Miller point tomorrow on time but we had to push.

8am – Latest start on tour so far. Simple things make me smile. Climbed into a new thicker 4mm dry wetsuit today as well. Rocked my world.

6am – Standing on Hoby Beach in pitch black dark. As we move down the coast the light changes and we are no longer able to launch as early as when we started. First sign of the shear distance we have covered already.  

445am – Wake to an early alarm. Think for a minute what the hell the alarm was for if we were on a rest day. Realise it was my alarm and not a practical joke for one of the team. Off Jason and drove to J-Bay some hour away for a first light surf.

7am – All on time this morning leaving the harbour. Haha. Over the previous days admin after a great sleep. Rest does wanders for the mood and state of mind.