Boating enthusiasts are flooding down to both the Vaal Dam (Deneysville) and Vaal River (Vereeniging and Vanderbijlpark) in a celebration of Spring, free of the water lettuce menace which swamped the river earlier this year.
The festival launches with a Flotilla – where boats meet up at Millionaire’s Bend at 12 midday and all cruise up river together to the Baddrift Bridge – arriving about 2pm. The Baddrift Bridge will be closed for vehicles, so pedestrians will have a marvelous aerial view of the flotilla of hundreds of boats cruising together, decorated, and blaring of lots of fun music.
With FOMO aplenty – there are prizes for the best video, drone and photos taken capturing a surfeit of ‘ships’ of all shapes and sizes as they stream together towards Baddrift Bridge in celebration of our local ‘Riviera’, the Vaal River! If you don’t have a boat of your own but don’t want to miss out on the fun, you can hop aboard a number of large cruisers that will be cruising down the river.
* View www.vaalrivercommunity.co.za for the full program and to see where you can join the flotilla of boats. The program also shows a wide selection of offerings at dozens of river front properties that can be enjoyed by land or by boat.
Thousands of rands in prizes are on offer from venues along the course of the Vaal River and Dam, between the two walls, from Loch Vaal to the Vaal Dam wall at Riverview Pub & Grub, and Deneysville.
Footage needs to be just uploaded on vaalrivercommunity.co.za to enter the competition.
While the Barrage will be ‘spinning’ with great give-aways and prizes across the board, upstream participants have also offered their fair share of vouchers, over R10 000 worth, in their bid to connect shoreline dwellings and residences to the depths of the dam and river.
The second leg of the action begins at Riverview Pub and Grub (below the Dam Wall, just off the R549, Sasolburg – Heidelberg road). Here, as is the case with the Barrage, the hosts have the assurance from the water authorities that the river level will remain constant for the festivities. (With the Vaal Barrage level currently 7.5m; Outflow: 5.1m3/s and Water Temp: 14.6°c.)
In contrast the Vaal Dam level is presently 45.88% with Inflow at 34.5m3/s and Outflow: 17.5 m3/s.
While that sounds low the Vaal Dam is vast compared with the river and there is plenty of water to go around. And the level of the Vaal Dam, having dropped due to the combined factors of lack of rain during the winter and maintenance shut-down at its feeder, Lesotho’s Katse Dam, islands are popping through the Vaal Dam’s surface water making for challenging sailing and exciting exploration.
(This may be something to consider when around 40, smallish mono- and multi-hull, dinghies race from Stilbaai Yacht Club on Saturday, as they contest the Gauteng Provincial Championships, a colourful sight to behold!)
Participating outlets in Deneysville are offering meal vouchers at Lake Ave Inn; two Ploughman’s with two drink vouchers at Cafe Bluez; a R500 voucher at Riverview Pub & Grub; a total of R500 in gift vouchers at Danicas Boutique; Accommodation Vaal Delta, Waverley St Waterfront (4 nights midweek for two, Monday to Thursday, with a free meal for two at the Sisters Dam Pub). Just adding the cherry on top to the Barrage festivities with lots of prizes from venues along the Vaal River downstream to look forward to.
