Budding lifesavers enjoy Winklespruit SLC open day

WINKLESPRUIT Lifesaving Club celebrated the success of its annual open day on Sunday, 2 September.

Witnessing the excitement that the nippers showed for the beach and coastline put smiles on the faces of all those who understand the importance of knowing how to safely enjoy the coastline.

“It was great to see all the budding nippers excited for the season ahead. The weather played its part and allowed us to facilitate obstacle courses, flag races and lots of fun in the water. The lifeguards on duty watched over all the competitors and did a rescue demonstration to inspire the little ones,” explained WSLC’s Mikayla Sumption.
She thanked all of those who involved themselves to ensure the day was a fun experience.

“Special thanks goes out to Françoise Labuschagne, who brightened up the club by painting a stunning mural on the walls of the lifesaving club. The mural captures everything that Winklespruit Surf Lifesaving Club is. Photos of this can be viewed on the club’s Facebook page,” she said.

“Clean Surf Project held a clean-up on the day and the nippers were more than happy to help out. The stretch from the river mouth to the Winkle rocks seemed clean at first glance, but we were proved wrong by the amount of litter lying underneath the surface.

We encourage everyone to keep our coastline clean and beautiful. Jo-Lees is the squad on duty this Sunday and they will be there to look out for you while you enjoy the beach.”

CSP’s Denzil van der Westhuizen commented on 40 children being able to pick up 1,436 pieces of hidden plastics in 10 minutes.

“It just goes to show how much plastic is buried in the beach sand, dunes and along the riverbank. Well done Winklespruit Surf Life Saving Club nippers. We spent an awesome morning interacting with the nippers. Getting children to love the ocean will hopefully help save the ocean!

Thank you to the Winkle Club for inviting us to share and to Jill van Wyk from Toti Conservancy for sponsoring the use of a ‘Swag Bin’ on the day.”

Sapphire Coast Tourism is hoping to install ‘swag bins’ on or before the end of the year at popular beaches within the Sapphire Coast Region, to encourage fishermen to dispose dangerous hooks and discarded fishing lines the rightful way.

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