The Ossie Gladwin

Come Sunday, and the first of the Dusi qualifying events. We mosied our way up to Albert Falls for the Ossie Gladwin; a 28km paddle consisting of 7.5km on the dam, a 2km portage, followed by 18kms on the upper Umgeni. This was only my third race in a single and there were some nerves for the dam section. I’m still not 100% stable and falling out in the middle of the dam would’ve meant a long swim to shore pushing the boat.

My start was a bit suspect, almost falling out within the first 50m. However I think this got the concentration going and I made it over the dam without any hassles (read a few wobbles and some nervous moments). I took the run casually putting in just above the weir, our normal starting point. The river stretch went well with 10 cumecs of water as opposed to the 3 cumecs we had for previous races. All in all a good paddle for me…the first race I’ve completed without falling out of the boat. WOOHOO!!