Hendri Coetzee
Extreme kayaking is not a sport where you can have a quickie. In skydiving you can have a jump every month or so and still enjoy. It’s over in a few minutes. Kayaking is a ladder and once you get to the top, you fight to stay there. Fear is as natural, constant and persistent as gravity. Without strong wings you fall. My inability to train for this mission was forced on me and that softens the disappointment. Instead of bliss, I merely feel happy to be alive. It still beats a kick in the balls, but if alive is all I wanted, I could have stayed at home.