CRUSING SAI KUNG

Cruising Sai Kung

A new column by Guy Nowell.

Have you seen all those canoe things that are absolutely everywhere these days?

As a confirmed water-junkie, I should to be delighted that there are so many people “out there” enjoying Hong Kong and Sai Kung’s greatest asset – the water – but it is hard to be enthusiastic when the numbers and the usage impinges badly on the locals and the residents.

I have a friend who lives in Sheung Sze Wan where there are reportedly 1,000+ boats for hire on the beach. The whole place smells like a badly maintained public toilet, hire parties arrive by the coach load, he can’t drive to his house any longer, and he can’t park when he can. I am not a champion of Regulation, and while those canoes look pretty tied up, they are a very problem by virtue of numbers and the inexperience of the users.

A couple of weeks ago, a paddler was killed by a lightning strike: that was an unfortunate accident. But I have recently seen canoes (kayaks?) paddling beyond Town Island, and tent encampments on Hole Island. That’s a long way from home at Lobster Bay. Breeze in the wrong direction is going to make it very hard for them to get home at the end of the day, and there was no sign of any safety support boats. A big motor yacht cruising home at the end of the day isn’t even going to feel the bump when someone gets run over. I would politely ask the Marine Department to get a grip on this scenario before someone gets hurt.

Just round the corner from Sheung Sze Wan is Green Egg Island. Nobody had even heard of it a year ago, and it doesn’t even have a name on the MarDep charts, but all of a sudden it is the ‘in’ destination. There’s the problem – popularity instantly means overcrowding.Insta-fodder, I suppose, but it makes me think of Dr Seuss’s green eggs and ham. There are plenty of places to stop for a picnic lunch on board, or on a beach, in Port Shelter, so you don’t all have to end up in the same place! We’ll talk about some them in this column over the next few months.

For now, stay dry (when it’s raining), get wet (when the sun is shining), and never stop enjoying Port Shelter and Sai Kung.