I should have taken a screen shot of the weather bureau's forecast for today ... "light to moderate southwesterly winds". Since I was paddling northeast from South Lantau, past the southern tip of Lamma, sounded ideal (wind at my back to finish the trip).

Yep, sounded too good to be true and it was.
Instead, wind was right out of the northeast (exact opposite direction), again pushing my kayak backwards. Okay, the wind wasn't that strong (only 5-10 knots) so instead I'd list it as a minor 'irritant' for the day.  

Longest open water crossing in this trip = 23km

Stopped on the southern tip of Lamma for a leg stretch, pee break, and a bit of lunch. Then paddled up the east coast of Lamma and across the Lamma Channel into Deep Water Bay.

Now i'd like to say there was a nice size crowd gathered on the pier, awaiting my arrival, and as i paddled the last 200 meters they were waving and cheering, taking photos, a few "well done's". 

Not to be.

I arrived about 30 minutes earlier than my announced "ETA". One final thunderstorm had me push hard during the last 3-4 kilometers. As a result, my mini support crew, the girls from the Fred Hollows Foundation, and a couple of reporters were nowhere to be seen as i paddled up to an empty, wet pier at the Victoria Recreation Club, 5pm Friday. Folks were obviously hiding from the rain. Maybe I should have done the same...    
            

Today's journey was a grand sweep around the southern half of Lantau Island, starting at Butterfly Beach over in Tuen Mun, paddling across to the airport, south past Tai O, and then out around the Soko Islands before heading back to Tong Fuk Beach. The day started strong with calm conditions and a slight tide in my favour. Within 2 hours I had paddled 16 kilometers. As I reached Tai O, the wind picked up and ... of course ... swung around and was on the nose of my kayak. My speed dropped to about 5km/hr. I plodded on and reached the lighthouse on the southern tip of Lantau at around 1pm. By then the wind had picked up significantly - enough for me to change my plans for the day and as i pulled in for lunch, decided the loop out and around the Soko Islands was probably best left for tomorrow.

Fast forward one hour. Wind dropped off, my belly was full, even took a cat nap for 20 minutes, energy was back, and with all that decided the Soko's were within reach. So off i went ....

For those that don't know, the Soko Islands are located about 6km off the coast of Lantau. No big deal, except the channel between Lantau and the Soko's is the main "freeway" for all the high-speed ferries zooming back and forth to Macau. I'd say this is probably the only aspect of the trip that made me slightly nervous - trying to navigate my way across the channel IN BETWEEN the ferries that literally come out of nowhere at alarming speeds. On a couple of occasions I had to wave my red paddle high in the air. Maybe they saw me, maybe they didn't? I wasn't taking any chances.

I paddled into Tong Fuk beach just after 6pm, as the sun was sinking. The wind had dropped. The water was flat. People were finishing their day on the beach. 

My best mate Syd and his son Isaac were waiting for me. What a nice surprise! I thought they'd be waiting for me in Tung Chung...               

I'm often asked, "So what do you think about for 6-7 hours while you're paddling? Do you not get bored?"

While there are moments of boredom, and yes there is time for reflection, these are in fact quite short and rare and tend to slot in between the mind-fully-focused-on-something periods that tend to fill the day. Take today for instance. Total eight and a half hours on the water. During that time, my main focus (and fear) was running out of water. Call me stupid. I like to travel light; i never take enough fluids. Less than 60 minutes into my paddle i knew this was going to be a bit of an issue. Add to that the sun was strong and the tide was against me. Two more things to occupy my mind! Then of course there's things like how uncomfortable the seat is (btw, why is it so difficult to design a kayak seat that is "soft & comfy"?); the blisters on my hands (and the Bandaids that keep falling off because of the salt water splashes); the aching muscle in my right thigh that logically shouldn't be hurting cause it's not really being used ... but it does; the Banana Boat sunscreen that claims to be "SPF 50+" but doesn't seem to be doing much ... will i get burnt again?; what if a high-speed ferry comes straight at me? What's the plan? (loose plan is to flip my kayak upside down and dive as deep as possible ... hopefully the propeller will miss my head as it whirls past).

Yeah, so these are just some of the things that occupy my mind as i paddle hour after hour on my own. Of course a more "seasoned" and experienced paddler would no doubt fall into a harmonious state of grace and oneness with the water ...... i'm just not there yet. Still learning.                        

After the long day yesterday, nearly 10 hours on the water (+2-3 hrs commuting back and forth to home) I was very relieved to have a "walk day" using different muscle groups ... and with a bit of luck, possibly a shorter day. 

In the end it took me about 4.5 hours to pull the kayak 22 kilometers. And yes, a lot of people staring at me as i walked through downtown Fanling, wondering, "Where the hell is that fool going with that thing?"  

Photos don't really tell the story. 

You can catch a bit of video on the event's FB page: www.facebook.com/kayak150 

I started the morning quite late, about 9:30 by the time i got dropped off at Wong Mau Chau. From there, it's a long crossing (across Mirs Bay) to Tung Ping Chau - 11 kilometers one way. By 10am the rain had started ... and with it, the wind! Was the wind at my back?? Silly question. Of course not. It's all part of the fun - wind is always in your face!

Now here's the dumbest thing I did during the whole trip (fellow paddlers will think i'm a fool, rightly so) ... 
As the wind and rain picked up, I tried to maintain my course heading towards Tung Ping Chau (roughly 10 degrees northeast) using "guess work" and the general direction of the waves. Duh. Problem was, i couldn't see land (or anything else) so i had no "true" heading. I was just blindly paddling (too lazy to pull out my compass) .... I figured the rain would stop soon and Tung Ping Chau would magically reappear directly in front of me. Of course the rain never stopped and after about 50-60 minutes of paddling an unknown rock/island appeared in the distance. Long story short ... i was about 90 degrees off course and paddled about 4km in the wrong direction. Woops. (okay, so that's another one of my 'secrets' i want you to keep to yourself...shhh).

By that point, the rain was thumping and i was ready for a break. So i stopped on this tiny rock-of-an-island, again assuming the rain would stop soon and i'd be able to carry on my merry way. Of course the rain did not stop. It didn't give a damn about me, nor my plans to paddle in "fair weather". With the clock ticking and only so many hours till dusk, I decided i'd better get moving. Back in the kayak - due north to Tung Ping Chau. Quick break and a bit of lunch on the beach (where i took a nasty slip and sliced my hand in about 4 places), then back in the boat for the return trip across Mirs Bay.

Reached Crooked Island by about 4pm, at which time the sun came out!! My spirits changed immediately. After paddling in the rain for 5 hours+, it's amazing how a ray of sunshine feels like a ray of hope. I still had 2 hours of paddling ahead of me, and felt rather beat up, but with land in sight and the sun on my face ... ahhh, time to smile ... life is good again.     
 
              

In terms of logistics and coordination this was probably the trickiest day. With unpredictable weather (calling for squally thunderstorms) and an inaccessible coastline (Saikung Country Park) we had difficulty deciding where to end the day; and where the motorboat would meet me. For those thinking we had a "support boat" for the whole trip ... no, that's not the case. The only reason we incorporated a motorboat on Day 2 was so i could finish and re-start tomorrow at the same location without having to camp the night. In the end, my final destination was Wong Mau Chau - an idyllic, charming island plopped in the middle of Mirs Bay. It's a rough, rocky island that's not particularly pretty until you view it from the north side ... where there's a tiny picturesque beach full of white sand and a cute pier. Not sure i'd want to be stranded on this island for very long, but for a lunch stopover and/or a swim, it's "picture perfect".    

On route to Wong Mau Chau, I also paddled past Basalt Island with its amazing sea arches! See photos. Shhhh ... this is a hidden gem, a 'secret' you and I should keep to ourselves.

Oh, and i had a birthday today (the big "5-0"). Hence the silly t-shirts. Another secret!             

Brilliant start to the trip! The folks at Victoria Recreation Club ("VRC") agreed to let us start/finish the expedition from their base in Deep Water Bay. On Saturday morning they were having their monthly race, so about 50 paddlers joined me for the "kick off" ... sending me on my merry way.

Wind was out the southwest so as soon as i got past Po Toi Island the wind was at my back ... nice clear run for 30km all the way to the Ninepins. As i was approaching the east Ninepins, the sky started to change colour ... from clear blue (nice & sunny) to dark gray. Within 20 min a squally thunderstorm was blowing out of the north. I couldn't move; wind was too strong. I had to 'hide' behind the smallest of the east Ninepins, together with two motorboats (you know if motorboats are hiding ... the wind is strong!). Meanwhile on shore my buddy Syd was trying to send me messages. We lost contact. He didn't know where I was. I didn't know where he was. Bit of a mix-up. So he jumped in a support boat and headed across to Town Island (near Basalt Island) looking for me. After about 45min, once the wind dropped, i started to paddle towards Clearwater Bay ... meanwhile Syd was still looking for me ... eventually getting in a police boat (yes, he was that worried!). We eventually reconnected at 7pm. By that time i was home and he was still out in the police boat.      

Thanks to FastMedia for their coverage of this event.
Please donate $150 and help restore somebody's sight: www.simplygiving.com/kayak150

Only 7-8 weeks till kick-off ..... so time to build (or at least TRY to build) a bit of muscle. With that in mind I planned an overnight trip around Lantau - roughly 80kms in 2 days with a side trip over to the Soko Islands.

Dropped in just north of the airport and paddled south past Tung Chung, watching airplanes take off over my right shoulder, and south towards Tai Po. Spent the night camping on the south-east coast of Lantau (Tung Fuk Beach); and then paddled north the next morning through thick fog ... north towards Cheung Chau Island, Mui Wo, Discovery Bay, Disneyland (shame i missed the fireworks), and then swinging around the north end of the island under the Tsing Yi bridge.  

Excuse the one-angle photos! Unfortunately there's really only one perspective when you're paddling solo ....