Downwinding Across Shipping Channels - Marine Police check

[Off-Shore]

The water is warm, and the wind is blowing, and it was time to take the first downwind trip of the season across the Lamma shipping channel. We always do this with a safety boat. It is required if you don't have power, but in the 3 years we have been doing this (always with a safety boat), we've never been stopped or checked until now. The combination of having been away from Hong Kong for two weeks, the flu and jet lag, meant that I was, well, a little out of shape and fell in the middle of the channel.. Never a good idea. But in this case, the gap between the ships I'd chosen was more than enough to be able to get up and get going again under my own steam. It was perhaps the fall that alerted the marine police who intercepted me once I'd exited the channel. Once they saw our safety boat and knew I was okay, they went on their way.

[Night Wing]

Nice photos in your report. I enjoyed seeing them.

[iDownwind]

Definitely some cool pictures there Offshore. The channel looks like it could be pretty intimidating. You're a pretty small speck out there.

[coldsup]

Offshore.....you know how I like to go off topic .....what sort of watch is that you are using?

[Off-Shore]

Night Wing and iDownwind, These are stills taken from GoPro 4 Black footage using a Sail Video Systems 3rd PersonView Lite (https://www.sailvideosystem.com/products/3rdpersonview-lite) mount. It's a pain to set up for the first time to get the right angles and viewpoint without too much distortion. It also takes some getting used to paddling with it, and I would not recommend it for Surf or gnarly downwind conditions because of the chance of your leash getting wrapped around it and your neck or something worse when falling badly. I carry a marine knife on a lanyard in the breast pocket of the CamelBak I wear in case I need to cut the leash and have practiced taking the whole thing off in the water because of the potential danger that presents. I've also put a hole in the tail area of my board falling backwards and the knuckle mechanism punching through... so I always try to fall away and to the side.

The video footage is very varied due to the wagging motion of the extension arm when paddling, and so most of it can't be used. The still shots therefore are the best result from the system. I also like that the whole camera follows you when falling off, which gives a different viewpoint and experience than a DJ mount or Clay mount (two other Zoners (DJ and Clay) who make great SUP vids) as their mounts are fixed to the board.

Coldsup. It's a Garmin Forerunner 920XT. Great GPS watch, which I've had for 2 years and wear all the time. I have to say the Fenix HR GPS watch has since been introduced by Garmin, is, IMO the ultimate Garmin GPS watch, and measures your HR directly from your wrist. Both sync directly with your phone using bluetooth, and so you can have your phone in your pocket and see who's calling you on your watch, and read text or whatsapp messages etc on it. Yes, I know the new Apple Watch is also waterproof, and has all these features and probably more, but I'm a long term Garmin fan.

[Off-Shore]

Now the debate is over... back to ....downwinding...and why a safety / support boat is mandatory for crossings like these...


GoPro 4 + Sail Video Systems 3rd PersonView Lite