As soon as I got off work, I have been pouring over maps of HK again.

I can't believe how much I have forgotten. For example, I saw Yim Tin Chai on the Sai Kung map, and briefly wondered where that is. Then I zoomed out of the map and saw where it was located, then I remember, that's where I finally landed my kayak after Tung Ping Chau, all dehydrated and exhausted.

I still remember I had beef and vegetables on rice for luch that day, along with three sport drinks. The food was rather nasty, but I made myself eat it all anyway. I mean, it can't be any nastier than trying to eat peanut butter without any water.

I am a bit apprehensive about trip-planning again. I used to paddle so regularly that getting the equipments together was second nature to me. But now, even though I am still stuck in the middle of inland Japan, I am worrying about finding a good enough sponge to bail water out, to find enough floatations, etc.

Another thing I want to experiment with is a sea anchor. I want to be able to sleep in a kayak, but I will probably have to buy a wider and more stable kayak first. Another thing is to be able to rig my kayak with wood planks or other stuff so I can lie down and stay dry in a calm sea. (I don't think I will be trying to sleep when it's stormy anyway...)


Issues I need to deal with:

1) better trip planning. Most if not all of my solo trips have been very punishing, with frequent late night emergency landings. Ego must defer to safety and sensibility.

2) Make some friends, for christ's sake. group trips aren't for show-offs, it's for socializations...

3) become a better swimmer. I still haven't capsized in a solo trip yet, but it's bound to happen, sooner or later.

4) Practice and practice and race against time to pitch a tent, especially in the dark. 75% of the punishments in a solo trip came from laziness and trying to survive in a bivy. I also reasoned that it's a waste of energy and time to pitch a tent, sleep for a few hours, and then break camp again to repack. Well, get used to it. For longer trips I need to rest well to be able to continue to paddle safely.

5) rolling. I suck at it. Actually, it's more accurate to say that I can't do it. I can only do it half of the time when I am calm, when I am merely practicing on calm water with a watchful partner. And I absolutely cannot do it on the LHS. So, in all practicality, rolling will not save my life in a stormy sea that is rough enough to capsize me.

That's all for now. I just remember all my precious kayak logs were messy loose-leaves, so more likely than not, I cannot go back to read them again, ever. So, from now on, I should probably put my logs online, maybe in a blog.

-Lia