This was an unusual day.
Some time ago, Alton had organised a BBQ & chalet stay for Native owners to be held on this day.
Some of the native owners, had also planned their own alternative mini BBQ so that they could invite their other friends.
Also, about a week before today, Raffles Marina announced that the rescheduled Raffles Marina Fishing Competition was to be held today. The original event was cancelled due to lack of a permit. I actually gave up a 6 day holiday to Hong Kong and 2 different work projects to attend that event, but it was cancelled at the last minute.
As many of us had already comitted to attending at least one of the BBQs, I don’t think there were any Native owners at the competition.
The call time for Alton’s BBQ was 7am while the call time for the alternative BBQ was around 9am. Nordin and I decided to launch late so we left at about 12.30pm.
My switch panel. Originally, I was very excited with this but due to some issues with the ‘gasket’, water ingress became a major issue so I had to make many workarounds. From the left:
1: A simple switch to turn on the camera
2: A simple switch to turn on the airpump
3: A simple switch to turn on the FishFinder
4: An Up/Down toggle switch to adjust the brightness of the LEDs on the panel
5: An Up/Down toggle switch to adjust the brightness of the In Hull Lamp
6: An Up/Down toggle switch to adjust the brightness of the External All Round White Light
Second Row, Extreme Right: A simple momentary switch to toggle the air horn
That red thing: A battery meter
We fished mostly at Ketam for around 3 hours but caught nothing.
In order to make optimum use of the tides and currents, we decided to head over to Alton’s first.
Being the only one there who hadn’t chipped in for this event, I felt a bit awkward and after a bit of a recceing, I decided to head over to the other BBQ. Nordin wanted to stay a little bit longer so I told him to meet me on the water and to radio me when he was near.
After moving through what can only be described as perfect peddling conditions, I neared the mini-BBQ site.
I beached my kayak and greeted everyone.
Then I settled in for some grub.
Once I cleared my plate, and also a friend’s carelesslly unattended plate, I began to play with the firesteel and tinder that I had bought so many years ago, and had left in my kayak for emergencies.
In that scene with the BBQ pit dug into the ground and discovering the best ways to make the firesteel and tinder work (I’ve found better ways since then), my interest was piqued in what was then a huge but muted fascination with camping and the wild outdoors. This experience would mark the beginning of what is now a mild but growing obsession with kayak camping.
With dusk fast approaching, we began to pack up and cover our tracks (they had brought garbage bags too!) as we headed back to Watercross.
Halfway back, we decided we wanted to fish a little bit more.
I have no idea what this is (it isn’t a puffer fish) but it had hooked itself on my.. hook… and my prawn was gone. I think it was just fortuitous but was still an interesting catch.
It was released back into the water.
With one guy already on the way back, I too began to pack up to leave while some of the others continued fishing for what we were later informed was another 6 hours.
Camping… Fire… yes.. this is good.