Records set in epic sea paddle
AFTER almost two months paddling a rowing boat from Australia to Mauritius, the biggest disappointment for South African extreme athlete Cameron Bellamy was not making it to his homeland.
Although Bellamy and the rest of the recordbreaking crew crammed into the boat all dreamed of touching land on mainland Africa, they finally had to settle for the Indian Ocean island.
“We did 7 500km in 57 days and 10 hours – it was disappointing for me, especially missing South Africa,” he said.
Hit by a hurricane and storms shortly after leaving, the crew on the 13-metre Avalon had to alter course – making it impossible to reach their planned destination.
The Rhodes University graduate – who has spent the past few years doing extreme challenges around the world to raise more than R760 000 for two charities in Grahamstown and Zimbabwe – said his latest adventure raised R260 000.
The epic paddle broke the existing record by 10 days and also achieved the fastest average speed as well as the longest distance ever rowed.
Being crammed into a tiny boat for so long meant everybody had to get along no matter what.
“You have to be very tolerant of other people’s habits and personalities.”
Bellamy said the scariest part of the epic was the medical rescue of a crew member after he spilt boiling water on himself, suffering first-degree burns over a large part of his body.
“We tried to manage the wounds on board but , however eventually made the decision to have him evacuated from the boat for his own safety.
“Fortunately he had emergency medical insurance which organised for a tanker to deviate from its course to pick him up.”
During the rescue, the tiny boat was almost crushed by the 180-metre Nordic River tanker.
Arriving in Mauritius late last week was amazing and amusing at the same time.
“It took 1½ days to find my land legs again – in fact, the entire crew looked intoxicated even before they had their first drink post arrival.”
A financial analyst – when he is not doing extreme challenges – Bellamy said he had spent 10 years dreaming of doing an epic cross-ocean row.
“It was a very difficult row but an experience I will treasure forever. The hardest part of the row were the shifts of two hours on, two hours off – day and night – and the sleep deprivation that arises from this. On the other side of the coin are the sunrises and sunsets, which were incredibly beautiful.”
Despite the inconvenience of blisters on his hands and butt, Bellamy said: “There is a part of me that still wants to be out there.”