Sai Kung - Scorchio!

Well, with the Dragon Boat festival is fast approaching (June 19th) and training for the event is really heating up - quite literally. Summer is most definitely here in Hong Kong and the conditions out on the water in Sai Kung can only be described as absolutely scorching!

With only a couple of weeks left to practice, the training session commenced half an hour earlier than normal and started with the usual warm up (quite ironic considering the weather) on the beach. At the start of the session another gweilo turned up and asked to join the training, (bit late now I thought), however, as the HKADBA are a very amicable bunch he was welcomed and told that he could join - just as long as he filled out the form providing his emergency contact details first. Whilst slathering myself in sunscreen, I overheard the chap mention that he used to take part in outrigger canoe racing, and had done a bit of dragon boat racing before, so this should be no problem for him (ahh I thought - this should be interesting!).

Out on the water, training consisted of the normal speed trials, anaerobic sessions, practice on paddling technique, as well as paddling with lumps of wood tied to the bow of the boat to increase drag and generally make it tougher to paddle ( I thought that the blaring sun was doing quite a good job of this). We also had a couple of bouts of paddling with your eyes closed - which actually is not as daft as it sounds. (It is aimed at making you feel the paddle rate and how the boat is moving, which becomes particularly important during a race as it is absolute chaos - drums going, people shouting, lots of barricking between boats, all with the aim of trying to put other teams off their rythym, so it is important not to loose concentration). Dragon boating is not without it's fair share of dirty tricks it would appear.

The 'crack' on the boat during practice was fierce (for anyone reading this who is not from the UK, please see the footnote with regards to the meaning of 'crack'). There is a lot of joking and mickey taking in a mix of Cantonese and English in between bouts of paddling frenetically. The new chap struggles somewhat with his paddling technique, so the drill seargent and his second in command make their way to the back of the boat to put him right. I ignore the shouts from the other paddlers to give the chap instruction and show him how it should be done, and instead resort to throwing water over a few people in my normal mature manner.

It will be of no surprise to quite a few of you that I have ended up quite badly sunburnt again (it is rumoured by some that I can get burnt just by turning a light on in a darkened room!). The use of gloves and knee pads have caused some fairly odd looking burn patches (white hands - burnt arms, burnt legs with a white patch on my right knee, and another white patch on my left shin!). As for my face, well that is pretty much burnt all over except for the whte lines caused by my sunglasses.

In retrospect, I should have paid more attention to the very sensible advice given out by the Hong Kong Government on it's website today, some of which I have copied below.



VERY HOT WEATHER WARNING

VERY HOT WEATHER WARNING

THE VERY HOT WEATHER WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED BY THE HONG
KONG OBSERVATORY AT 7:45 A.M.

THE HONG KONG OBSERVATORY IS FORECASTING VERY HOT WEATHER
IN HONG KONG TODAY. THE RISK OF HEATSTROKE IS HIGH.

WHEN ENGAGED IN OUTDOOR WORK OR ACTIVITIES, DO DRINK PLENTY
OF WATER AND AVOID OVER EXERTION. IF NOT FEELING WELL, TAKE
A REST IN THE SHADE OR COOLER PLACE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

THE HONG KONG OBSERVATORY ADVISES THAT PROLONGED EXPOSURE
UNDER SUNLIGHT IS TO BE AVOIDED. LOOSE CLOTHING, SUITABLE
HATS AND UV-ABSORBING SUNGLASSES CAN REDUCE THE CHANCE OF
SUNBURN BY SOLAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION.

SWIMMERS AND THOSE TAKING PART IN OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SHOULD
USE A SUNSCREEN LOTION OF SPF 15 OR ABOVE, AND SHOULD
RE-APPLY IT FREQUENTLY.


DISPATCHED BY HONG KONG OBSERVATORY AT 07:46 HKT ON 03.06.2007

Post blog note - 'Crack' is used in the UK (particularly in the construction industry)in substitution to a many a word or phrase relating to things in general. Instead of What's going on?, What's happening?, What are you up to? People would say What's the crack? (I hope this helps).