Sai Kung Evening

I can't believe I forgot to arrange for safe-calls today.

Didn't launch until well past 1100, then I found out my tiger has turned into an ant-hill (in two days!!  I paddled it only last Sunday!!)  Took me forever to get them out; they were hiding in the built-in styrofoam floatie at the back, I had to sink the boat, then drain it, then sink the boat, then sink it, again and again and again.  Some of them still managed to hang on by clinging onto anything that floats, like the paddle leash that's still tied to the deck, or, well, the floatie.

After a long battle, the bay surface was covered with swimming red fire ants, and I had no choice but to paddle the anthill away -- it made no difference anyway, my body was already crawling with ants by that time.

Sat on the stern deck while I paddled.  No matter, ants still crawled all over my body.  Brings back fond memory... =_=  Anyway, washed it down a few more times on the WSC slipway, then paddled out for a few, um, half-rolls to wash the ants off me and the boat.  By the time I emptied and repacked the boat, lunch time was already over, which means I skipped lunch O_O

Sailed the Laser 13 with Joie, but it's rather painful, the SW wind was so feeble, I was getting drowsy all afternoon.

Finished derigging the boat just before 4, sort of hesitated about launching, because I was hungry and thirsty, and the sea has little patience for those whom are poorly prepared.  But I decided that hunger and thirst aren't going to keep me from committing to my assignments; I'm sure I'll have to keep paddling despite hunger and thirst at some point when I get to NZ, so I might as well get used to it.

Launched at 1608, was anxious that I wouldn't have enough time to finish 20+ k before sunsets.  But Sai Kung evening really is breath-taking.  A thin layer of fog descended around the waist of the small islands, the sky was clearing up after the thunderstorm, the sea was calm and water flat, the breeze was mild but cooling nevertheless.  It was easy to make-believe that I have found my way into utopia.

So I tried to focus on training, on posture, on driving with my feet, on rotating my torso, on synchronizing the strokes with my breathing, on driving the vessel with my lower back ... caught myself trying to sing a few times, bullied myself into training mode again, but at the end, I decided it was a losing battle, the entire experience was so beautiful, it's criminally stupid to mar it by being anal about such mundane things as techniques and postures (ahem.)  

My only regret was that I launched too late, had to worry about sunset as it was still rather cloudy and I knew I couldn't count on the moon to show up.  Funny, turns out my timing was perfect -- I made it to the rock just outside Tai Tan at 1926 -- not a moment too soon, because by 1927, everything was pitch dark, I ended up running aground (at rather high speed too), and then it started raining hard (with thunder and all).

Must remember to arrange safe call from now.  It's one thing to spontaneously decide to train in the dark in Shek Mun, but it's a scary thought that I was paddling alone when not a soul in the world knows where I was.  Well, it made my adventure into utopia more private, more secretive,  more magical.  But still, safety comes before romance.

1608  WSWSC

1638  Nam Fung Kok

1720  Wong Chuk Kok Tsui

1749   Ngo May Chau Northern tip (turned around)

1823  Wong Chuk Kok Tsui

1906  Nam Fun Kok

1927  Sze Tei

1929  That rock just outside Tai Tan -- stopped to pull out strobe light etc.

1941   WSWSC pontoon (low tide)

That makes 12.4x2 = appr 25km over 3hrs 21mins = 7.4km/hr

Oh ya, food.

Breakfast: hot and sour soup, dark chocolate, soy milk.

Lunch: nada

Dinner: cucumber, a can of fish in olive oil, 1 can of pocari sweat, 1 green granola bar.