The 64
th Dusi Canoe Marathon took place in Durban from Thursday 19
th to Saturday 21
st February 2015 and more than 1400 paddlers enjoyed the cool, clean waters and entertaining rapids of the lower Mngeni River.NSRI Station 5 was again asked by the Duzi committee along with other rescue organizations to assist with this historic race. A great many thanks is extended to the Dusi committee for including NSRI in the numerous meetings and for looking after the crew by providing plenty of liquids and lunch packs for both days.Twenty eight off duty Station 5 Durban members volunteered to provide support for seven “hot spots” over two of the three day race, inclusive of the famous Slide, Thombi, Hippo and Marriott rapids as well as Islands 1, 2 and 3, Five Fingers & Pump House weir. To date, almost half of the Durban crew have been trained in swift water rescue and were kept on their toes over the two days assisting paddlers, utilizing the various techniques learnt on the swift water rescue courses.One of the aims of partaking in this event is for ongoing rescue crew training and to get more crew to attend the swift water rescue courses ... including volunteers from our flanking stations.Station 5 was represented at the JOC (Joint Operations Centre) and all manned areas were in constant communication . We are very proud to announce that no serious incidents happened at any of our manned rapids and a fantastic job was done by all our volunteers who had spent very early mornings and long days on the Dusi.Unfortunately the UMzinduzi River claimed the life of a very experienced paddler taking part in his 19
th Duzi canoe marathon. This happened on a section of the river that was not manned. The NSRI send their sincere condolences to his family and friends.Well done to all those paddlers that completed the 2015 Duzi canoe marathon and we look forward to helping out, and continuing our technical swift water training, on the Duzi in 2016.
