Adrian Tregoning

Gravity Adventure Festival 2008

This was the final festival of the four in South Africa this year. Water levels were looking a bit suspect but from all accounts it sounded like it would be an event to remember. Either way I would not be able to kayak anyway because injury but would at least be able to get a few photos and have a blast. That is exactly what I did.

I arrived on the Friday just after midday and chose a camping spot a little away from the main tent. This proved to not bring about the end result as some students opposite us made a hell of a racquet with their ‘music’ anyway the entire time. The intention of finding relative peace and quiet was at least there. Rowan Walpole and I met up with Braam Rademeyer and I dropped them off at the put in. Initially I walked up with them to take photos but then when a rain squall came down I ran back to the car. The walk from the car to the put in above ‘Hand Stands Up’ is 1.3km. I measured on Google Earth. They had a relaxing paddle down in the low water conditions and returned a while later. The plan was to hit Kleinmond beach for a surf/bodyboarding mission but Braam had to return to see the missus, Rowan was feeling a little lazy and I couldn’t motivate myself either. My attention was rather averted to some Captain Morgan and a bit of socialising. We took it very easy anyway.

I always stop above Caves to check out the swell. What an awesome spot!

Braam Rademeyer running Judgement Day rapid.

A view within the camp site.

Some fynbos. Such fine detail...

During the night it rained nicely and I’m sure everyone was stoked to hear the pitter patter on their tents. The river would surely rise. When dawn broke it was wind still, with a thin layer of high clouds which looked like it would break sooner, rather than later. I walked down to the bridge above the Palmiet River and peered down. Ah, ha! The river had indeed risen. This was good news and I reckon it had almost doubled in volume. It still wasn’t high, but much higher than the previous day for sure. The morning was a lazy one while people busied themselves with all manner of other things like competing in the adventure race, a trail run, rock climbing, rafting, a mile long swim – yep, there were many other things to do besides kayaking. But as this is a kayaking website, I’ll tell you only about the kayaking.

Fluid Nemesis. From left: medium, small and large.

A few boats before the event. That guy rope on the right hand side.... Hmmm... (see text further on)

At about midday, 36 kayakers and their boats got taken to the put in. They would race down the 3.5km (measured accurately off Google Earth – if they put in above Hand Stands Up) course, while dropping roughly 25m (7.1m/km) to just upstream of the bridge at the main road. The river is what I would consider class 2 to 3+ pool drop rapids with some interesting little Palmiet channels which usually upset beginner paddlers while actually being very easy. It is a fun section to do and while not ideal for absolute beginners, beginners always start out on this river as there is little choice. I’ve now paddled this section twice, and once as passenger on a sit on top kayak. It is definitely good fun and the scenery is magic.

Judgement Day rapid on the Palmiet River.

At the end of Judgement Day is this section, known as The Gates. This is usually the trickiest part of the rapid and often causes a lot of carnage. This was taken on the Friday, before the rain.

The Gates with slightly more water, on another day.

Again, with slightly more water, again on another day. This was the exact same level as competition day though!

The Gates at flood. This was last weekend when I paddled for the first time in 5 months and 1 day. More on that in the next article... Photo by Niell Taylor.

One dude falls out, climbs back in again, only to be eaten at The Gates.

Another paddler making The Gates.

Abrie Swanepoel at the top and another paddler at the bottom doing the same move... Nice! :-) This was during a fun run of the rapid.

Johnny Heatlie heading through The Gates on a fun fun down Judgement Day.

Uno de Waal trying to get in a surf just below The Gates.

The trailer getting loaded up for the event.

Judgement Day rapid from the bottom, looking up. The Gates on the far right hand side.

Oli in the lead with Johnny just behind him with the blue H20 blade.

Oli Feuillette going through The Gates and down to victory. Nice one Oli! Note his homemade boat, paddle, helmet... Seriously light paddle...

Kate Walton running into trouble above The Gates, managing a roll before them but already knocking her lip and chin. So coming out bleeding, but smiling. Nicely done.

Niell Taylor getting screwed on a rock... Whoops!

And Niell then opted to swim down... :-)

John Goodwin hitting the same rock, and also swimming down...

William Binedell coming short too...

The spectators waited at the last rapid - Judgement Day. It is the longest and most difficult rapid of this short section of the Palmiet and also promised the most carnage. The wait was very long and after what felt like an eternity of alternating on working on my tan and wearing a jacket while the sun played hide and go seek behind the clouds, they eventually came. Oli Feuillette was in the lead, followed very closely by Johnny Heatlie and two other competitors not far behind. It was a close finish and the final results for the Capestorm Kayak Downriver was as follows:

1. Oli Feuillette.
2. Johnny Heatlie.
3. Tom Thring.

A big congratulations to the top three finishers, as well as all the other people that participated. There were some swims upstream but even those that were racing stopped to help; great camaraderie. In the end, everyone just had fun.

Stefano Sessa cruising down the top part of Judgement Day nicely.

Next up was the downriver sprint. Fluid kayaks sponsored four medium Solo’s for the race so everyone would be on an equal footing. While this was a very kind gesture and a good idea in theory, in practise, I don’t believe it was the best of ideas. Every time a race was held, the next group of people had to walk up with the competition boats as it was pretty slow. This obviously took a lot of time and many of the spectators left after a few races. Time was running short too and there were only 4 heats with the first person advancing to the final. So if you blew your heat, tough luck. This was done because the light was running out and was a real shame. A lot of the competitors also did not take part in the sprint, maybe they were tired after the downriver race, who knows? Also, with having to use the same boats for everyone, there was no time to get the boat to fit you and the shorter guys could not even touch the bulkhead with their feet. Where is the equal footing then? Yes, I know, it was done because many people don’t have creeks boats. In creek boat versus play boat the creek boat will always win (unless the pilots are massively differing in skill) but I still feel that if someone doesn’t have a creek boat, they could always borrow one from a mate or quickly make new mates and ask nicely. I find that kayakers are generally very friendly and helpful people. I’m positive I don’t stand alone with my point of view.

Abrie Swanepoel in one of the medium Fluid Solo's sponsored for the racing.

Abrie Swanepoel cruising down for the fun of it in his own boat.

Another paddler on a fun run down.

If I was racing, I would want to paddle the boat I usually paddle. There was a race on the Sabie River once (before I started kayaking) and I believe everyone was given the same boat. It didn’t work, especially while running one of the hardest rapids, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Just ask Luke Longridge how much carnage he witnessed that day. It sounded hectic. Paddle a boat that fits you well, then you’ll style.

But anyway, back to the racing. The four heats were relatively interesting but of course not as exciting as the other festivals purely because the Palmiet is quite a laid back river. This is actually not a bad thing and gives the lesser skilled paddlers a better chance. I think Judgement Day is quite a good rapid to run down. They also made it a little more interesting by forcing paddlers to catch two eddies on the way down which shakes it up a little and adds to the technical factor. Next year, I would recommend that they put a buoy in each eddy for the participants to paddle around so that the point is clearly defined and then there is no room for argument. When I visited the Euro Cup last year in Sweden, they had a buoy in an eddy and it definitely added a bit more spice to the run. Also, perhaps some race numbers for each kayaker. Then at least we would have known what the full results were for the downriver race.

Some boats waiting above the start line for the sprint.

From the top: Rob Smith, Oli Feuillette, Rowan Walpole, Unknown dude who was pretty fast, Meyer de Waal. (the only race with 5 people in it) On your marks, get set.......

Go!!!!!

The close racing on the very top part of Judgement Day. This part is not visible from the bottom and sadly, no one came up to watch the action from here. There was probablty more action to be had here than at the bottom!

The final race, in fading light. Oli in the lead, Johnny just behind him. The green boat on the top right is where they first had to eddy out, and then where the yellow boat is on the left is the second eddy the paddlers had to catch.

The finish!!! Thanks to Fluid for sponsoring these boats.

In the end, the final once again had Oli and Johnny in it and in a quick race, the results were as follows:

1. Oli Feuillette.
2. Johnny Heatlie.
3. Roche Schoeman.

Back at camp.

Once again, well done to those three, as well as the fourth person who made the final but unfortunately I don’t know your name! With that done, everyone made their way back to the camp grounds and began the customary celebrations. Before the weekend I had already said that this would be one of my last weekends’ of serious drinking (seriously). I started off strong and managed to a ¾ bottle (the remaining from the Friday night) of rum before sunset and then was good to go for the remainder of evening. Although I did manage to drink plenty more beers which probably wasn’t the wisest of ideas. The prizes were pretty good, and the sponsors all came to the party, so to speak. There was a bit of a break and then at around 19:00 there were some films shown. In the end, Scott Martin won with a very cool movie about some good paddling in the Transkei. Nice one Scott!

William Binedell showing us how fast he can jam to the music. Good times!!!!!!!!

The party tent...

Fire dancing stuff.

And more of it. I love this shot...

But I like this shot even more. The tents looked pretty cool. And in case you didn't know, that white streak is a car cruising along the road.

Adrian Tregoning up on the hill chilling with Meyer and Uno de Waal. Photo by Uno de Waal.  :-) Uno? Any comments?

A medium Fluid Solo was also up for grabs and this was given out on a lucky draw. Meyer de Waal was the lucky man, much to the disappointment of many people who had already clearly stated that they would win the boat! Hehehe...

Abrie Swanepoel hand rolling Meyer's new medium Solo on the grass... and in the process tweaking his neck. Ouch!

The party then started in earnest and there was a very good local band playing – Tribal Echo. It was a good time for sure and the evening went on and on well into the night. I never party with a camera but decided to fetch mine from the tent to capture some of the action. I sprinted back to the tent and managed to trip on a thick guy rope and hit the ground really hard. I stood up and could not breathe, on the third attempt air rushed back into me and my right shoulder pained deeply. Idiot I thought to myself, as I wondered if I had now damaged it. The only damage was a nice 2cm cut on the inside of my bottom lip which surprisingly didn’t bleed very much at all. I returned a tiny bit sobered and then carried on, blinding every second person with the flash. Of course, there are MANY photos which sadly will never make it to the web for obvious reasons... It was an excellent party – no doubt.

From left: Meyer de Waal, Max Maxumus, Uno de Waal.

From left: Adrian Tregoning, Oli Feuillette, Abrie Swanepoel and Jacques du Toit. Photo by.... Uno de Waal, I think.

Abrie Swanepoel high as a kite... With Andrew Kellet (red cap) looking like he's on a mission and Max Maxumus to the left. Classic photo.

The party just went on and on!

The following morning I felt rougher than a donkeys arse and couldn’t visualise myself doing anything too constructive. There were some things happening but at around midday I took a slow and lazy cruise home.

As the only person to have been to all four kayaking festivals in South Africa this year I can comment a wee bit. The Gravity Festival was a lot like the other festivals, although each and everyone was different in its own special way. The t-shirt was really bomber! I think it’s one of the best ones I’ve come across so far. That and the Sabie X-Fest ones were really great, and last years’ Thrombi X-Fest t-shirt. Overall, a very lekker event and one I will not miss next year. The only thing I would desperately ask to change is the toilet facilities (no bathrooms at all). Those ‘things’ are not very cool... In fact they’re downright disgusting. Perhaps camping at another spot would resolve this issue. I know of one person who did not camp this year (because of his missus) and if I had a girlfriend, she would not have been impressed either with the arrangement. Otherwise it was great to get so many kayakers together and while I’m really not a party animal, I think the party, live band and DJ were fantastic, well done.

An unknown bodyboarder scores a sick wave at Caves.

A massive thanks to people that made it happen, the fantastic sponsors and all the people there that made it such a sweet event. If you missed out, then make you sure you don’t miss next years’ festival!

Photography by: Adrian Tregoning, unless otherwise stated. Thanks to Niell Taylor for the use of one of his photos.

Words by: Adrian Tregoning.

Next article: Molenaars River for the first time