Author: Charl van Rensburg

Marin on the Soca

Posted on by Charl van Rensburg


I just recently heard about Marin Medak for the first time. He is a young Slovenian Adventurer who has made a name for himself as a sea kayaker and a rower, counting amongst some of his achievements; paddling the length of the South Korean coastline in 23 days, mostly in below freezing conditions.

Marin has recently taken up Riverboarding, and being an Adventurer he was not simply content with running some whitewater here and there. No, he decided to run a stretch of 120km’s of the Soca River in Slovenia and not just run it, he decided to do so non-stop on a trip which should take 48hrs. In the end he had to abort the first attempt due to a problem with his dry-suit, but indications are that he will be launching a second attempt in the Spring of 2013.

It was of course great to see that he chose a Fluid Anvil for this trip, which is exactly the idea behind the Anvil, it is meant to be a key to help others unlock adventures.

I’m really inspired to see Marin going for it and look forward to following his exploits. You can visit his Blog here > http://www.marinmedak.com/en/soca-hydrospeed-descend/#more-140 and he has a Facebook page which has some great images of his trip here > http://www.facebook.com/marin.kajak?ref=stream

Take a moment…

Posted on by Charl van Rensburg

I’ve just recently returned from a month away working on an exploration project in Botswana. As African countries go, Botswana is often referred to, along with South Africa, as an “African Country for Beginners”… meaning it is not plagued by many of the challenges so prevalent in most other African countries.

That aside, the reason I am discussing Botswana here, on a blog called MYLIFEINWATER, is that the country is entirely land-locked (surrounded by other countries) and therefore does not border the ocean at all. This may only seem to be of passing interest, but take a moment and consider this:

Imagine being born in a place that does not have an ocean nearby and, considering it is a third world nation, probably means that a fairly large percentage of the population will live their entire life without ever seeing the sea.

While in Botswana I met a local older gentleman named Thomas Tau (Tau means Lion in Tswana). It was a random meeting in a eatery which ended with Thomas & I sitting for 2.5 hrs talking and discussing everything from education, to politics through to faith. He is a fascinating man who made some observations which to my mind are truly original, especially regarding South African politics.

In his own words, Thomas was fortunate to travel to South Africa at the age of 34 (he is now in his late 60’s) and it was there that he saw the sea for the first time. I asked him what it was that he most remembered about this experience and he said that it was the horizon. He’d never seen the horizon stretch that far.

Since returning home, I’ve often thought of Thomas as I’ve looked out over the ocean and to the horizon and I somehow feel more appreciative of the fact that I not only have the opportunity to ride waves… but even just to live near the ocean… and that I am blessed to look over a horizon that seems infinate.

If you’re fortunate to live at the ocean, take a few moments when next you’re at the beach to look out beyond the waves. Allow your eyes to search out the furthest point on the horizon, and as you do appreciate the fact that you are able to ‘broaden your horizons’. That is not a right, it really is a privalege.

Travelling…

Posted on by Charl van Rensburg

Hi & thanks for popping in!

I’m off travelling for a few weeks and will not be able to load up any new content during this time.

Enjoy your time here and be sure to check in again in a few weeks when I’ll have some new content up.