First trip with Phil

Just a quick one before I drop into TMT for CLG.  Paddling with Phil was a blast this morning; he's really nice, more to the point, his kayak is really nice :D

Got a minor emergency his morning in the form of a cockroach in the cockpit; was running late so finally gave up evacuating it before I launch.  Paddled head wind out of Sam Pak, then port beam towards Tai Pak.  Had the wind and waves behind me when I entered Tai Pak.  HKO announced the monsoon this morning but I thought the sea condition was no worse than a strong BF5.  (Officially it says BF 5-6 from the East.)  But Phil wanted to launch his tandem, which is just fine with me, and we tried to chat with the strong wind in our face.

Phil had a winged carbon paddle, whereas I was stuck with the heavy plastic/metal shaft paddle.  I took the back seat and tried to follow his ultra-rapid cadence, my god, it's punishing!  I'm going to have to take Kiska home from Fred's. (and even with Kiska, I don't think I can paddle comfortably with that kind of cadence.)

We launched around 0720, circumnavigated Peng Chau, and got back to Tai Pak around 0830, so it wasn't much faster than my pace when I paddled Martlet last month.  Having said that, we paddled under some pretty strong (but steady) wind today.

Tried to roll Martlet on my way back -- and failed.  Tried twice and decided to go home, after all, I do have CLG to practice this afternoon.

[edit: decided to call off CLG.  Not feeling well, am cold, clammy, stiff and weak, suspect over-training, and still got an exam to sit this Sunday]