New False Bay route!
The New Year got off to a bang when CLDSA member and extreme swimmer Andrea Mason forged a new route across False Bay, from Cape Point to Gordon’s Bay – 40km! Her time was 13:12:07.04. Andrea was swimming to raise awareness and funds for her charity Lady Talk Matters.
Skipper, Derrick Frazer of BigBay Events Water Safety describes in his own words how the day went:
“Shortly after having a long and difficult crossing of False Bay on her first leg of a 48-hour challenge,
Andrea confirmed that she would never swim False Bay again! Unless we could maybe swim from
Cape Point to Gordons Bay. Knowing Andrea relatively well, I immediately knew that we would be doing
this sooner rather than later. 2022 proved to be miserable and never offered us the opportunity to
complete the swim.
“I casually asked her what she was doing on the 4th of January and there was no turning back.
We launched at Millers and Karl (Andrea’s husband) drove the trailer back to meet us at Gordons Bay
and avoid the long haul back to Millers. Sea was calm and the glorious sunset set the mood for a great
day on the water. We measured water temperature, and at 15,5 easily decided that she would wear a
wetsuit.
“We elected to swim on a dead straight line and interestingly enough the halfway mark was the same
point as the halfway mark on the standard False Bay crossing. The first half (20km) was great with the
forecast delivering what was promised and Andrea was flying along at over 4km/h.
“Shortly into the second half, the southerly breeze started picking up, creating an uncomfortable side-swell
and surface chop. Holding a steady line became increasingly difficult and our navigation equipment was
telling us that we were heading for the Strand, despite aiming for Gordons Bay. Andrea’s pace dropped
to 3km/h and we had serious doubts on our chances of getting to Gordons Bay. However, Andrea knows
how to dig deep and kept fighting the sideways push until we reached a wind shadow, allowing her to
make good headway straight towards our original target of Bikini Beach.
“The light was fading when after 13 hours and 12 minutes she reached the beach and her cheering
supporters.”
Andrea’s charity, Lady Talk Matters, focuses on Period Poverty, a prevalent issue in South Africa.
It is estimated that 3.7million girls are unable to afford basic sanitary products and 30% of young girls are missing 27 days of school a year whilst on their periods. Lady Talk Matters is on a mission to help reduce these statistics one pad at a time.
Help Andrea and Lady Talk Matters give the gift of education. R100 can help keep a girl in school for an extra 90 days over three years!
