New Downwind Run: "The Frisky Whisky"

[Off-Shore]

The weekend before last we had the perfect NNW winds to try a new 14.5km / 9 mile downwind route. It starts at the old Police Pier in the Sai Kung Country Park and ends at the Clear Water Bay Marina, running between Sharp Island and Kau Sai Chau island (where Hong Kong's only public golf course is). The run passes a beautiful little sandy beach called Whiskey (白環) Beach on Kau Sai Chau, whose liquor themed name is lost in time but as there were initially, and to a certain extent, still are a lot of Scots in Hong Kong, this was maybe a place to consume or trade whisky. However the official name on Govt websites spell it with an "e" which usually denotes Irish or American whiskeys, and reading about some of the major early construction in Hong Kong (eg dams built in the early 1900s) these were often built with a lot of Irish skill and usually near any big construction project was an illegal still distilling some kind of illicit hooch. But who knows? We've called this run "The Frisky Whisky"

We've been wanting to do this run for a year or so and it is often done by the Surfski community so it was great to be able to do this with a fellow SIC unlimited owner (SICMaui Bullet 17-4) and avid surfskier who could show the way. The run starts in the same place as our favourite downwind run, the Port Shelter Express but goes to the east of Sharp Island and Shelter Island instead of the west of them and is 4km / 2.5 miles longer. This is so far the longest downwind run we've done with car drop off and pick up. The longer ones we've done rely on boats.

As you can see from the pics below it was a glorious cloud free day. Still cold, but it could not have been more perfect for a first run. The start is very sheltered by mountains to the north (behind us as we paddled) so the wind did not really pick up until the 2nd half of the run.

The forecast and recorded winds were for 25knots but we only saw this towards the end of the run due to the local geography. We set off around 7.15am with high tide being around 8.30am. The last 2-3kms (2 miles) opens up into the ocean and if there is an Easterly swell (coming from paddlers' left) it can get very technical and difficult. Fortunately on this day it was not evident.

We remarked afterwards that out of all the "first runs" we've done this had to be the best for having the best conditions AND on a Saturday morning when we could paddle it. Awesome stuff.

Vid in the making...

[Eagle]

The history of the area is interesting.

The surfski crew in these parts seem to always suss out nice DW runs as well.  Looks like a nice fun run!   

[covesurfer]

Glad you are getting good conditions and new runs are super fun. Your paddling playground looks really interesting and challenging.

Although we drove a lot of miles today, it turned into a bust as the direction kept changing and what could have been favorable (35 knots) was straight off-shore towards nevah-nevah (which isn't an island, just oblivion).

When I got home, I looked at the cameras and saw 30+ knots of wind in a favorable direction for nearly the entire run that we would have done. Some days are like that.

Thanks for posting this, I love seeing where other downwind nuts go 

[Off-Shore]

Thanks Eagle and Cove for your words of encouragement. It is a great privilege to be able to do a new run like this in almost perfect conditions (for a first run). Here is the vid. It certainly is a scenic run. With another 5 knots of wind this run will be epic.


GoPro 4 Black. Headmounted

[covesurfer]

Very cool. The video is very clear and crisp.

Almost looks like if you had unfavorable wind down at the far end that you could miss the last bit of land and go over the horizon....I'm sure you have that well in hand. Very interesting to see where you guys paddle.

[Off-Shore]

Very cool. The video is very clear and crisp.

Almost looks like if you had unfavorable wind down at the far end that you could miss the last bit of land and go over the horizon....I'm sure you have that well in hand. Very interesting to see where you guys paddle.

You are correct and the next land is ... well... the Spratly Islands some 1,500kms / 950 miles away, followed by the Philippines! The wind and waves want to take you directly out before we reach the last bay, and then the waves actually bend around the headland a bit so it is not that bad. Being experienced though at cutting across waves and not going directly down them is a must on this run and having steering certainly helps the process.

[coldsup]

Interesting place to paddle...ace vid again!

[Off-Shore]

The history of the area is interesting.

The surfski crew in these parts seem to always suss out nice DW runs as well.  Looks like a nice fun run!   

I was talking to a sailing buddy recently here, and he told me something that resonates.. Any port that was established 150 years or earlier, had to have year round wind to be successful in getting sailing ships in and out. Of course they also had to have fresh water, and a safe sheltered harbour too, amongst a bunch of other things, but if you look at those old ports around the world, and you will find that many of them do have that year round wind. I'm thinking San Francisco, Cape Town, Melbourne, Edinburgh. All great places to downwind..

We have a 100+ strong Surfski / OC community here, and they are able to paddle upwind as well as downwind, and so they do figure out a lot of the upwind-downwind and car-car runs. However their skis/boats are too long to fit onto most of the speedboats for rent here, so we SUPs have pioneered a lot of the boat-boat downwind runs.

[Chilly]

Nice video Off Shore. So scenic, I can see myself getting loss in the moment and missing the landing spot.