paddle... paddle... paddle...
Now typing with much difficulty with my numb fingers and burnt arms…Tink yesterday was one of the most memorable and hardest sea expeditions I ever had.
Actually had wanted to paddle since last last thur right after prelims, but with all sorts of changes it was poned to yesterday.
Reached city hall mrt at about 8.10am, ninghan came followed by peigeok. At first abit sian diao, cos only 3 of us. Then we were saying there were three things we could do: 1) go home straight away 2) wait for more ppl 3) go paddle with only 3 ppl… in e end it was a compromise of the last 2 options: wait till 9 then go paddle.
Walao pc is now so much more commercialized, it really looks like an office now, and when negotiating the price also so “commercialised”, but hai2 hao3 junbin still got some “ren2 xing4”, got “sheng1 suo1 xing4” on the hours for sea kayaking.
Herm… during preparations I learnt sth new, there were actually 3 sizes of megas, din noe abt it before yesterday.
Without much difficulty we launched our kayaks and set out for bedok jetty. In less than 15 min we were at macdonald’s, then in less than an hour we reached bedok jetty. Haha, I was tinking: “lucky the currents today are with us, its easy” I tink this made us go on to paddle for another 40min till we reached the first canal before tanah merah jetty. At the canal we took our time to relax, and indeed it was very relaxing to sit in a kayak right in the middle of the sea and just stare at the horizon. I loved the feeling. Still remember vividly the other time after triathlon, ninghan, likoon, wanling n I were paddling during sun set. The setting sun was so magnificent!
But wat didn’t catch our attention was that the ships anchored further out the sea were actually changing direction, in the direction indicating that the currents would be against us when we embark on our return trip…
On the starting of the return trip, we started to feel the currents against us. We were saying “oh no we are against the current”, wats worse was that the sea was getting rough and the wind was also blowing towards us…
It started to worry us… during the way to the bedok jetty, I kept reading the watch and really wished we would be able to reach bedok jetty by 2pm. But the currents got stronger and stronger, and after paddling for more than half an hour the bedok jetty was still out of sight. And when I looked back the distance between the three of us was increasing. I was getting worried, cos we’ve got to reach pc by 3pm, if not we would be charged 20 bucks, but at that rate we would never make it…
Finally, at abt 2.05pm we finally passed by bedok jetty. It was like ji1 han2 jiao1 jia1 cos at that time all of us were tired, cold and HUNGRY!
We stopped for a short while to drink, and to my horror I found out I lost my 1.5 litre water bottle! Lucky got pg’s big nalgene bottle, if not thirst will be added to the ji han jiao jia list… but as we drank, the currents got stronger… very soon we realized we were swept back to the bedok jetty.
The rest of the journey back was hell… the currents were getting even stronger… as I struggled to go on, I turned back and saw ninghan and peigeok struggling as well. I had a thought: maybe we shouldn’t have come to paddle, I shouldn’t have insisted on coming to paddle… now that we are without food , without towline, got to return to pc by 3… bad! The currents were against us, the wind blowing strongly against us, this is #%$^&$!
I still remember got a time peigeok caught up with me, she was saying: walao macdonald’s is still so far! I replied: dun worry lah, its just right in front. i knew I was lying, but I knew I shouldn’t agree with peigeok, if not all three of us wouldn’t have the morale to go on…
Actually I felt very sorry for ninghan n peigeok, because of me they were dragged along to kayak, with all the conditions unfavourable towards us… I felt very sorry for leaving them behind while I paddled all the way to pc so as to ensure the rental fee would be $12. maybe I should have waited cos I knew the ppl paddling at the back would be very demoralized. I felt both an1 xin1 and regretful when I saw ninghan n peigeok reach the shore. it was lucky that ninghan’s fully-filled kayak did not capsize in those conditions, if not I wonder what would have happened… if anything were to happen, I dunno wat could be done and I would regret it for the rest of my life… I sincerely pei4 fu2 ninghan n peigeok’s determination and yi4 li4.
it was a chance that I learnt quite some things about life and about kayaking:
about life
1) dun leave your friends behind, no matter what reason! Safety shouldn’t be compromised!
2) Keep on paddling, keep on trying, somehow u will reach the destination.
3) Very simple things should be treasured in life, even a packet of biscuits and a burger ur mum made for u! I often took it for granted to have such things, I only realised how impt these were when I was desperately paddling against the wind, and the currents, with an empty stomach…
About kayaking,
1) check the currents first before paddling and plan the time and distance well
2) make sure u bring food along (just in case, even for short distances), and bring safety devices like towline
3) get a good spray skirt…
4) NEVER COMPROMISE SAFETY! (I still feel very bad for wat I did… I am really sorry…)
We were lucky, but we aren’t always lucky in life. A small mistake can lead to severe consequences… i will never forget about this experience.
I am just happy that we returned in one piece :)
posted by Leo @ 8:55 PM
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