Donation from Southport fishing competition

Station 20, Shelly Beach, received a donation of R4 855-00 from the proceeds of a one-day fishing competition held on Saturday at Southport Beach, one of the Blue Flag Beaches on KZN’s South Coast.The competition was the brainchild of John and Ann Booth, Southport residents, and was hosted by the Southport Angling Club. The concept was that in lieu of registration fees to participate in the competition, competitors would be asked to make a donation to the NSRI.A huge amount of work went into organising the competition with John and his wife, Ann, at the forefront. Sponsors were found for prizes for the competition itself as well as prizes for lucky draws and raffles. The Southport Angling Club made their members available as judges at the various fishing points on the beach.“This really was a team effort,” John said.The owners of the Captain’s Anchor, a popular pub and restaurant on the Southport Beach, Johan and Lara Rudolph, were the first to announce that would donate R1000-00. This was followed by another donation of R300-00 from the Hunters Rest pub and restaurant at Anerley.After the prize giving, John said that he did not really know what to expect on the day, but the end result had far outweighed his expectations.Station 20 erected a static display at Southport using its vehicle and Rescue Runner as well as few crew members led by one of the Coxswains, Shaun Harris.“Sea Rescue is directly dependent on donations, sponsorships and bequests to enable it to achieve its mission to save lives on South African waters. That mission would not be achievable without the kind of support we received today”, Harris said.Station Commander, Mark Harlen, who was away on an NSRI training conference, in letters to the local media thanked sincerely everybody who had made this generous donation possible.“Arranging an event like this takes team work and as such there were so many people who contributed in so many different ways. We are deeply grateful”, he added. John Booth and Shaun Harris. All the donations were placed in the Lifeboat. Lara and Johan Rudolph, owners of the Captains Anchor with crew members Shaun Harris and Cathy Rolt at the static display at Southport.