Kayakasia

6 days ago

A few times a year, Anemone Sandy offers us a glimpse of what’s going on under the teal waters of Pulau Ubin. We use a special viewing device so that we can view these delightful creatures clearly, while floating at a safe distance above them. It’s like dry snorkelling!

#pulauubin #kayaking #anemone #snorkeling ... See MoreSee Less

Kayakasia

1 week ago

In a few weeks, we will go to the Arctic.

This has always been one of the places a kayak will take us to. The Inuits invented the kayaks 2000+ years ago, crafted the first paddle, paddled the seas in search of prey. Going to the Arctic is like a necessary stop along our path of using kayaks to explore our planet. The idea is as simple as visiting your old school buildings, or rereading a book you had read a long time ago, soaking in the sense of familiarity and historical connections. Except it's more complicated!

Since 2015, I have read many books about the Arctic and took notes. Coming from a tropical climate, the Arctic frightened and intrigued me. The cold, the dry painful breathing, the constantly wet clothes, and.... the mosquitoes! The pages recorded sufferings of all those who had ventured there, for a barren, white, desolate expanse. I imagined how your tongue can get stuck to your metal spoon, or how your contact lenses freeze inside your eyeballs...at one point, I thought I had to get corrective eye surgery to go there. And then there were the calories required (I wrote about the potatoes)....plus, it was really expensive to get there.

One of the largest Arctic wilderness is in Greenland. On a 2D map, Greenland looks much bigger than the USA. Although 3000 times larger than Singapore, her actual size is just about the state of Alaska, or 4 times smaller than China. Still, it is the largest island in the world. All her population of 55,000 can sit inside our National Stadium, a population density which is equivalent to 100 people living in Singapore. As of now, Singapore already has 134 MRT stations....

Having the right gear (not just any gear) is the most important safety lock in the outdoors, especially in extreme conditions. In Arctic Greenland, latitude 66.5° north of the Equator, the compass doesn't work. We don't need one. Total darkness in the Winter months, the sun stays for 24 hours during Summer; land of the midnight sun. We don't need lights or strobes. What we have to bring is plenty of cold protection, especially during kayaking. If we fall into the water without protective clothings, we are dead in less than 15 minutes.

I didn't know what a drysuit is. I have never touched or worn one. I didn't know if it is necessary. It is very expensive for something that we will wear once. Perhaps we could replace this gear with other cheaper options from China or Lazada? A good suit costs more than USD1,000/suit. This piece of gear might never touch water. The chances of prolonged immersion in water seems unlikely. What if I am more careful? What if we stick to the coast? What if we make sure we always paddle in a group?

But, what if I fall into the water? The worst consequence of any bad decision outdoors is death, and USD1,000+ would be a very small price to pay. From an inexperienced cold water kayaker, it took a while to get this around my head. This 1.5kg suit must be 100% sealed or no kayaking, even if the water is like a mirrored lake, even if it is 'sweltering' 15 degrees air temperature. After some research, I got the suits from NRS and Kokatat, that will protect us from the risk of hypothermia.

If USD1K gets you a drysuit, adding another USD200 more gets you only a pee zipper! Imagine having a drysuit without a waterproof pee zipper and you have the repeating scenario of taking off the whole suit just to have a wee wee. It takes effort to squeeze a drysuit, when the head opening is the size of your neck and the hand openings are the size of your wrists. For the guys, the front pee zipper is just 20cm long, but the rear female pee zipper runs the rear width of the drysuit, so drysuits are not unisex fittings.

Accompanying these drysuits are a whole suite of maintenance and care products, meaning we also have to bring a drysuit spa and workshop along. A small hole in the suit becomes a risk. A small tear in your bum bum area becomes a risk. Any kind of modern chemical products like insect repellent or sunscreen become a risk. Saltwater entering the zipper is a risk. So, there is a beauty regime to maintain these suits to ensure their functions and comfort. It's like checking your space suits before going out for a space walk on another planet!

Whenever I visit the Zoo, I would always stop by to see Inuka the polar bear, as that is as close to the Arctic as we could get from Singapore. In a few weeks, arriving in Ilulissat, we will spend 7 days paddling to the fjords, islands, and villages around Disko (Qeqertarsuaq) Bugt, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From Ilulissat, the north pole is 2,400km away, something like Singapore to Hong Kong. We will be closer to the north pole than Mandai Zoo, and I will send more reports.

#arcticdiary #kayaking #expedition #greenland #arctic ... See MoreSee Less