Dusi Canoe Marathon - 2009

This years Hansa Powerade Dusi field will be over 1 400 paddlers and preparations went off well. Paddlers took to the water this morning, January 15 at 6am for the start of the annual pilgrimage from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
Recent rains are filling the dams and the river system and the water level is expected to be good. The water quality is better than at the same time last year throughout the rivers and Umgeni Water are monitoring the water on a daily basis. Working for Water from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry together with the Invasive Alien Species Programme (DAEA), accompanied members of the organising committee worked furiously through the weekend to remove as much of the weed in the river as possible.
The winners so far in this year’s Dusi are the three charities that the race supports. With a day still to go before the Charity Batch auction closes, over R250 000 has already been raised for SPCA, Starfish and the Duzi-Umgeni Conservancy Trust (DUCT). The Charity Auction Batch is a batch of 60 paddlers that bid to be part of an early batch start each day of the three days. The men’s race is the most wide open field for many years.
Paddlers will be backed up by nearly 1 000 volunteers, 40 SAPS bikers, 300 peace monitors drawn from the local communities, navy divers, almost a dozen race helicopters, 100 plus medical staff, a field hospital, and 50 000 spectators along the route. The three day classic starts at 6am on Thursday from the Natal Canoe Club, at Camps Drift in PMB, to Blue Lagoon in Durban (a quick 7 min drive from Gibela Backpackers Lodge) Not only canoes will be seen at the event this week.
The world famous Gabriel aerobatic team will be performing at each of the overnight stops as well as at the finish at Blue Lagoon on Saturday. "We are continually looking at ways to build the crowd appeal at the Dusi", said Ray de Vries, spokesman for the event. "Scully and his team are an exhilarating act and we are thankful to new Dusi sponsors Gabriel, for adding this to our line-up."