COA Mirs Bay Rally 2017

The weekend started with an awesome braai (South African barbecue) on Friday night. Andy Badenhorse, our F&B Chair, had arranged a couple of South Africans to come cook for the members of Hebe Haven Yacht Club. Lamb on the spit, boerewors (South African sausage) and some fine craft Darling Beer made for an excellent feast — thanks, Andy.

Saturday morning we awoke to a glorious blue sky and a light force-two easterly, not expected to become force three. Malarky 1 was ready with our fine crew: skipper Jimmy Lau (winner of last year's Typhoon series), Monika, Timothy, Heiman and Ralph, along with myself (playing the role of owner), Malarky's first mate Wemmy Ball, and of course the ship's dog Bonnie. We motored out to the starting gate near the police barge, just southeast of Bluff Island. The fleet was out in force, with 10 boats mustering for a pursuit start — each boat had its own start time and recorded its time and GPS location as it crossed the line.

We motored up to the start gate because our Genoa had ripped and was in the shop for repairs. When it came our turn, Malarky 1 started the race twice — the first time we missed the gate, as without the Genoa we were making no headway, so we'd tried to get as far upwind of the start as possible but went too high. Race Control informed us we'd missed the gate, so we went around and started again to get a DNF instead of a DNS. Unfortunately, without the Genoa we were only making 1.5 knots, and with 20nm to go to Mirs Bay at 1.5nm/h, that would mean 15 hours rolling around in a slight breeze — no thank you! The purpose of the trip was never to race in a 28-ton boat with an old rig and sails — we went to have a good time with other cruisers and enjoy the beauty of Tai Po.

So, retiring from the race, we motored the 20nm up to Long Harbour, arriving at Ko Lo Wan just before lunch. The after-race dinner was scheduled for 6pm, so we went to look for a nice swimming beach. I'd always wanted to anchor in Wan Tsai and hike over the little spit of land to Hoi Ha Wan — after a half-hour hike we arrived in the little village only to discover I'd made the mistake of bringing Bonnie: no dogs allowed on the beach! I had to go back to the boat while the crew went for a swim. Note to self — if you want to take the dog to Hoi Ha Wan, make sure you're on a boat!

At 6pm we pulled anchor and headed across the bay to Ko Lau Wan and the Kau Kee Seafood Restaurant. Rob and the Cruiser Owner Association (COA) crew had organised a delicious seafood dinner, and at only HK$200 a head it was a bargain feast. Thanks, Rob!

Wemmy and I went for a walk during dinner to take some photos of the village and the setting sun, our first time in Ko Lo Wan. There used to be a huge ice factory here, long since closed. One strange thing about the village: there are only two dogs in the whole place, unusual for a Hong Kong rural village. A friendly local told us there used to be a lot more, but they caused "disharmony," so most were rehomed — now there are only two.

On returning to the restaurant it was prize-giving time. Francis Ma on Crystal, with a corrected time of 3:25:33, won the COA Mirs Bay Rally 2017. After a lovely dinner we all dispersed back to our yachts for the night.

We had sweet dreams anchored in Tse Uk/Lam Uk Bay, a few hundred metres south of Ko Lo Wan, with a nice northeast F4 keeping the mosquitoes away until about 3am, when the wind dropped and they invaded. We slept on the top deck under the stars, as we always do at anchor — there's nothing better.

Come morning I paddled Bonnie ashore in the kayak and walked into Ko Lo Wan village. I found a French guy, Bobby, with a little coffee stall by the path, and stopped in for a coffee and a long chat. He's married to one of the villagers and spends his weekends here — he was the one who told me about the two dogs. Bobby is well known in Hong Kong for escorting hikers up the nearby sharp peak, if he likes you. He even has his own Instagram.

After walking the village and taking more photos, I headed back to the boat and asked Wemmy: go home now, or push on to Hoi Ha Wan and I'd take Tuesday off work? Easy decision. We were soon pulling anchor and heading a few miles north. We dropped the hook in 15m of clear green water, the wind holding us to face east so the sun stayed overhead all day rather than beating into the cockpit. The AFCD guys came by in their launch to check on us and hand over a map of where to anchor. We launched the kayak and paddled over to the coral beds — Hoi Ha Wan is an area of Special Scientific Interest, protected for having the largest diversity of coral and marine life in Hong Kong, usually with excellent visibility.

Hoi Ha Wan is a special place for me and Malarky 1. Back in 2013, just after I'd bought this fine yacht, my friend Gary Stokes — the Sea Shepherd guy — called me up: "Mate, fancy taking a bunch of Sea Shepherds up to Hoi Ha Wan to survey the corals for a report we're preparing to save it from developers?" I said yes immediately. I'd owned Malarky 1 for about a week at that point and was still getting to know her. To cut a long story short, Hoi Ha Wan is where I first fell in love with my yacht.

After lunch and a nap on the foredeck, we took Bonnie ashore for a long walk (dogs are allowed on the Marine Park trails, just not the beach or water) — the rule apparently relaxes at 5pm once the AFCD guys go home.

Since we hadn't planned the extra night, we had to break into Malarky's canned goods locker — tomato soup and a tin of tuna made a fine dinner. We slept on the top deck again, wrapped in blankets against a cold, stiff NE4, until it got too cold and we went below.

When we woke, the wind had strengthened to N-NE F5 as we prepared for the long trip down the coast. I knew it would be rough, and it was — as soon as we cleared the protection of Long Harbour the waves and swell kicked up nicely. We put the main and mizzen up to keep us stable, motor-sailing south along the rugged Sai Kung coast.

Wemmy on the helm did a fine job skippering us through some very rough conditions, and neither of us got too sick — Bonnie hated every minute of it, she hates sailing. We were both very happy to see the channel into Outer Port Shelter and the flat water it brings.

We then turned the engine off for a slow sail back to Hebe Haven, finally making it home about 3pm. What a lovely weekend!

Thanks, Malarky 1. Thanks to Jimmy and the crew, thanks Wemmy Ball, and thanks to Rob Winter, Arthur Ho and all the COA people for organising the rally. I look forward to next year's event!

我們在週五晚上以美妙的Braai開始了這個週末。我們餐飲服務的主席Andy Badenhorse安排了幾位南非人為白沙灣遊艇會的會員煮了一頓大餐。這場美味的盛宴有碳燒羊肉、boerewors和一些精美的工藝達令啤酒，衷心感謝Andy。 星期六上午，我們一覺醒來迎來了一個美麗的藍天，吹和緩的F2東風，預計不會變為F3。Malarky 1 已經完全準備好了，載着一班出色的船員，包括：船長 Jimmy Lau（去年的颱風盃帆船系列賽的獲獎者）、Monika、Timothy、Heiman和 Ralph，以及我自己（扮演船主的角色）、Malarky 的第一個拍檔 Wemmy Ball，當然少不了這艘船的狗Bonnie。我們把船駛至沙塘口山東南部、警察躉船附近的大門。整隊船隊一起出動，總共有10艘船開始向前衝；當每艘船開始的時候，它們都會有自己的啟航時間，並會記錄其最終比賽時間和GPS地點。 由於我們的Genoa被毀掉了，並要留在商店裏進行修理，所以我們便啟動引擎衝上起跑門。當輪到我們開始的時候，Malarky 1 一共開動了兩次。由於沒有Genoa，我們並沒有前進，所以我們第一次開動時錯過了大門，然後我們試圖盡可能地利用大門那邊的逆風，但是走得太多了。賽事控制室通知我們錯過了大門，所以我們便回到起點重新開始，以便我們可以得到DNF（未能完成），而不是DNS（未能開始）。不幸的是由於我們沒有Genoa，我們只能開出了1.5節，和只能用每小時1.5海里的速度前往至20海里外的大鵬灣，這意味着我將有15小時需在輕微的微風中滑動——不，謝謝了！ 這次出海的目的並不是為了比賽，那絕對不是乘搭一艘有舊鑽機和風帆的28噸船的目的，所以我們和其他遊艇一起度過美好時光，享受大埔的美景。 因此，我們從比賽中退出後，我們往大灘海駕駛了20海里，在午餐前抵達高流灣，由於賽後晚餐晚上六點開始，因此我們去尋找一個漂亮的泳灘。我一直想把船停泊於灣仔，然後遠足至海下灣。經過半個小時的步行，我們到達海下灣的小村子，突然發現我把Bonnie帶來的決定是錯誤的——這漂亮的海灘不讓狗隻進入！我不得不回到船上，而其他船員則去了游泳。在此提醒大家，如果你們想把狗隻帶到海下灣，請確保你是乘搭遊艇前往！ 下午六時，我們啟動遊艇，穿過海灣前往高流灣和九記海鮮小廚。Rob和COA的船員組織了一頓美味的海鮮晚餐，每位最後只需繳付200港元，這真是一個美味又便宜的節日。謝謝Rob！

Wemmy和我在晚餐中途外出散步去，為鄉村和夕陽拍了一些照片，這是我們第一次到高流灣出遊。從前在這裏有一所巨大的冰廠，但已關閉很久了。這條鄉村很奇怪，整條村只有兩隻狗，對於一條在香港的鄉村而言是不尋常的。我們問了一位友善的當地人，他說過去這裏有很多狗，但他們在村裏造成「不和諧」，因此他們捨棄了大部分狗隻。如今只有兩隻狗。 回到餐廳的時候，頒獎時間到了。Crystal 的 Francis Ma 以3:25:33的時間，獲得2017年COA大鵬灣錦標賽的冠軍。經過美妙的晚餐後，我們都回了自己的遊艇享受晚上。 我們在高流灣以南幾百米處的謝屋、林屋村好好睡了一覺，幸好當晚吹和緩F4東北風，令到蚊子也飛走了，直到差不多凌晨3點，風比之前少了，蚊子又回來了。如我們一直以來把遊艇停泊一般，我們在星空下的頂層甲板上睡覺。沒有什麼比在星星下睡覺更美好了。 早上，我在皮艇上拍拍Bonnie，帶上牠到高流灣村散步。我認識到一個友善的法國人Bobby，他在路邊一旁有一個小小的咖啡店，我停下來邊喝咖啡，邊聊天。他與這裏一個村民結婚，並在這個美麗的地方渡過週末。他就是那位告訴我關於村裏只有兩隻狗的人。Bobby在香港是很有名的，如果他喜歡你，他便會帶你到附近的尖峰遠足。他甚至擁有自己的Instagram頁面。 在村裏逛了一圈，又拍了些照片後，我又回到船上。我告訴Wemmy現在可以選擇回家或前往海下灣，星期二我便回去工作。我們很快便決定啟程前往北方數英里以外的海下灣。當風把我們吹到面向東邊時，我們在清澈的水域放下鉤子15米，因此太陽整天都在我們的頭上，直至下午稍後才照射在駕駛艙的側面。漁農自然護理署的職員前來查問我們會逗留多久，並給了我們一個可供停泊船隻的地圖。然後我們駕駛皮划艇，駛到珊瑚床上。海下灣是一個有不少特別科學知識的地區，亦是受保護的地方，因為它具有香港最大的珊瑚羣和多樣性的海洋生物。海水很是清澈。對於一些需要在週末離開城市到大自然處休息的人來說，這是一個非常受歡迎的目的地。 海下灣對我和 Malarky 1 來說很特別。2013年，當我剛買下這艘漂亮的遊艇時，我的朋友、那位海洋守護者 Gary Stokes 來電：「夥伴，有興趣與一眾海洋守護者到海下灣一起研究珊瑚嗎？我們正準備從開發商那裡拯救海下灣呢。」我隨即便答應他。那時，我才擁有 Malarky 1 短短一個星期，還在摸索着這條船呢。長話短說，海下灣是我第一次愛上這艘遊艇的地方。 在甲板上午餐和午睡片刻後，我們帶Bonnie上岸（狗隻可以進入海岸公園的小徑，卻不能進入海灘和水中）漫步了很久。顯然地，規則在下午五時待漁護署人員下班後，便放寬了。 由於我們之前沒有計劃多留一個晚上，我們不得不打破Malarky的罐頭儲物櫃。我們煮了番茄湯和一罐吞拿魚作為晚餐。我們再次睡在頂層甲板上，但這次由於風勢凜冽，達4級東北風，我們裹上了毯子。最後，由於實在太冷了，我們不得不下去船艙裏了。 當我們早上醒來時，風勢已加強了，在我們為接下來的長途旅行預備船隻時，吹着F5東北偏北風，我知道這將是辛苦的一天。離開大灘海後，波浪開始來勢洶洶。我們沿着崎嶇的西貢海岸向南方航行時，我們拉起主帆和後帆保持船隻的穩定。 作為船長，Wemmy做得很好，他帶領我們渡過一些非常惡劣的情況，我們當中也沒有人因此而生病了。Bonnie則非常討厭這段旅程，她討厭航行。我們都非常高興看到通往外部保護港的通道及其水域。 然後，我們選擇把引擎關掉，慢慢回到白沙灣遊艇會，終於我們在下午3點左右回家，真是一個美好的週末！ 感謝 Malarky 1，感謝 Jimmy 和船員，感謝 Wemmy Ball，感謝 Rob Winter，Arthur Ho 和所有 COA 的伙伴組織了這次 COA Mid Summers Rally。我熱切期待明年的活動！