‘FEATs on water’ include kayaking expeditions and long-distance swims. These are more in the realm of expeditions rather than technical and specialised adventures like first descents and waterfall drops.
Orange River source-to-sea
Paddler: Rob Wilson
Discipline: Kayaking, self-sufficient
Date: 10 January – 17 April 2009
Distance: 2440km
Duration: 96 days
Route: As the first section of the river is unnavigable by kayak due to its small size, low volume and gradient, Rob started the trip with a hike. He stashed his gear with a village chief and hiked, with a guide, to the source of the Senqu River. He got on to the river from Thoteng village. This trip was self-sufficient (carrying gear in kayak). The trips ends at the Orange River mouth (Oranjemund) on the West coast. This is a restricted access area (diamond mining).
Website: http://planetriver.com/ (click on Journal and then Pure Orange). Short, daily posts.
Orange River, length of
Discipline: Swimming, relay team
Date: April 2007
Distance: 1900km
Duration: total of 40 days over four years
Route: This team of swimmers swam the Orange relay-style. They seem to have swum the river over a period of four years, doing it in 600-kilometre sections. They completed the final leg, from Upington to the Atlantic Ocean, in April 2007. The swimmers spent between 11 and 13 hours a day in the water; when not swimming they paddled alongside their swimmer. According to OutThere Adventurer of the Year nominations for 2007/2008, “The four legs of the swim saw them swimming 1900km from the Lesotho border to the sea. Andrew Chin, Ram Barkai and Cheryl Young; completed all four legs, Priscilla Neethling and Gavin Pike swam three of the sections while, Liz Webb, Jenny O’Hanlon, Viv Brown, Hester Snyman, Lisa Greenstein, Kevin Ordman and Andrew Watt made up the rest of the team.”