Monday, October 17, 2005
Stories for the grandchildren. Start collecting now.
Hey guys.. just back home from southern island kayaking expedition.. So decided to blog about it. The most bloomin insane experience happened right at the end of the trip, and really closed the trip with an unexpected bang.
Day 1, thursday.
8pm reported at poly's marina. we waterproofed out stuff, played some games of Uno and knocked off for the night in preparation for the trip ahead.
Day 2, friday.
woke up at 6am+, and everyone went to clean up and brush their teeth. breakfast was speghetti, and after that we all launched in our kayaks. the seas were smooth as we headed to the sisters islands, passing sentosa, where we stopped at the edge of their lagoon to have a simple sea lunch of apple and pandan sponge cake. those who needed to pee also jumped into the sea to let it loose. heheh.
we were soon on our way to sisters island, crossing an area with moderate waves, with 3 conflicting currents bumping our boats about.. everyone managed to make it past safely, with only 1 capsize.
beaching and setting up camp by around 4, we went to a clearing to play games, like Untanglement and Dodgeball, and went back to camp to slaack. some went to help the commitee prepare dinner yea..
dinner was rice, egg, crabsticks, chicken and lemon sauce, cabbage n carrots, button mushrooms. the rice was gawd-awful, tasting like powder with a hard center, and my group ended up throwing most of it away. after dinner we all conked out in our tents, to get much needed rest for the next day.
[..]
Day 3, saturday.
we got up, having a simple breakfast of bread and milo, shipping out at 9 to pulau hantu, quite a long while away. once there we played some water games in e shallow beach water, having a quick lunch of chocolate wafers, apple and bread, before kayaking back to Sisters island around 4. everyone did their own stuff then, and most offered their help with dinner.. which was pretty darn good: rice (much better this time), fish patties, chicken with pepper, cabbage n carrots, button mushrooms, n campbells soup. my group asked for second helping. heheh.
we had campfire night!. not really a bonfire, but just many small candles in the center.. we sang camp songs, including sappy boyband stuff, ending with those nice canned desserts.. and we crept off to sleep, already dead tired.
Day 4, sunday.
The day started normally, breakfast was maggi noodles with mushroom n sausages n a little egg. by 8.30 we packed up the whole campsite n loaded up the boats, shipping out by 9.. we planned to chiong all the way back to poly marina by 1pm, so we can clean up everything n get debriefed and head home happily for warm showers.
by 12pm, we had just passed Sentosa, making a beeline for the cranes of west coast harbour, when we saw dark clouds gathered on the island. some seniors were happy that we finally had some excitement coming our way, sth that wouldnt make all the paddling seem so boring..
and then everything started going crazy.. the waves were throwing us about, and you could hear the guys going "wooo~!" as they rode the wave crests. we thought it was rEal kayaking, and then it got worse..
the waves started growing, n often crashed down on us, giving us a hard time deciding between steering and bailing water. kayaks started capsizing, and we had to save them.. standard action.
me n my partner, after helping a nearby capsized boat, had to paddle against strong currents that were moving inland, because of the storm brewing over the mainland. it was hell paddling, and no matter how much we tried, we still inched along, constantly having to readjust our kayak to cut the incoming waves instead of being carried by them.
we were paddling alongside the concrete pier that large containerships dock at, when a large wave practically tipped us over.. we hung there sideways for a while, trying to regain balance, before succumbing to the sea, capsizing and raising our paddles and whistling like mad. a nearby kayak heard us and came over, but they too capsized on the way.. soon one of the poly's motorboats that helped to transport our camping gear throughout the journey came to save us.. they circled us, pulling the 4 of us into the boat, before attempting to salvage the kayak's stuff.. but we got trapped under the concrete, and the tail end of the motor launch was pushed down.. waves coming from behind filled the boat with water, and the alumni steering the boat ordered us to bail water before finally deciding to abandon ship and all the expensive stuff.. including 2 cameras, handphone, tents, coolers, food, burners, gasoline, etc.
the motor launch was soon submerged, but didnt sink tho.. them bangladeshi workers at the docks then threw us ropes n lifebuoys, pulling us towards a ladder, where we finally climbed out of the sea n onto the docks. up to that time i thought i was the only one that had it bad, until about 100m up, we saw other participants scrambling up the shore on their own.. so we had to run to help them up. the port people gathered us in a powerstation, which provided the warmth we needed, while the commitee ran about making sure everyone was okay and doing headcounts.. some ppl were still in shock, n we had to comfort them n warm them.
after huddling for a while we rode to the port's foodcourt in pickups, attracting curious stares from the port workers dining there. we were pleasantly surprised when they said we could take what we wanted from the drinks stall, and they also came up with new t shirts n towels for us to keep warm. the police soon came, called by the motor launch's crew when the situation got out of hand.. they took down our particulars, and we waited for an update..
soon the other kayakers straggled into the foodcourt, gathering with us.. in the end no one made it to the marina, all falling victim to the waves. there were people who scratched themselves scrambling up the wooden barriers full of barnacles, people who drifted for an hour before being picked up by coast guard, people who caught the attention of a civillian tugboat, and others rescued by our other accompanying rubber dinghies.
soon a bus brought us back to the marina, where we were debriefed and dismissed, heading home, tired and shaken after that crazy encounter at sea. our seniors n comittee stayed behind, launching boats to go salvage what they can.. last i heard, with the help of port authorities, they managed to recover every boat. dunno about the stuff inside each boat, which may have been washed away if not fastened =/
Final words? respect the sea, or it will chew you up, eat your stuff, and spit you out. Blah.
and in all that craziness, i wished you were there beside me..
jOhn thought at 1:52 PM
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Tribulation.
The night's still young, there's hell to come.
A call of death, a stormy mom.
A wall put up, a hope begun.
To ride this ride until we're done.
-Don't count the days.. because we always had forever.
jOhn thought at 2:46 PM