Hong Kong

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Stanley Cruise-Hong Kong

We sailed aboard Richard and Isabel Winter's Soko for the Discovery Bay Yacht Club Cruise to Stanley on the back side of Hong Kong Island.

The pursuit race was low key as races go but we sailed hard and we won! Too busy sailing to take many photos but once the race was over the cameras came out.

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wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Next to finish

Soko's Crew

From left: Eric, Andy, Nita, Judy, Caroline, Isabel, Richard

Judy & Caroline and the parot

Andy & Judy

Fred

Soko-Moody 46

Fleet at Stanley

Ashore in Stanley

Richard accepts first place

Andy & Nita

Judy regales Xaxanaca's

Caroline

Judy & Isabel Talk to Linda

Stanley

Stanley

Middle Island Anchorage

Storm Clouds in Middle Island

Discovery Bay Livaboards

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wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Discovery Bay Marina & Hong Kong (background)

We stayed in Discovery Bay Marina on Lantau Island, one of Hong Kong's many outlying Islands, with Andy & Nita, ex crew members of ours and good friends.

Livaboard Junks at DBMC

Discovery Bay is home to the unique Hong Kong liveaboard "junks". There are about 120 of these vessels here, and they are a bit strange. Originally they were converted from wooden powered junks which are used for local day cruises. Local builders however soon realized that they could custom-build bigger vessels with much more living space. The result are virtually floating homes which, while equipped with engines and steering stations, are not suitable for leaving the docks, and rarely do.
Discovery Bay is filled with these livaboards, most with expatriate families, including kids and dogs, and usually a Filipina maid or two. Only about 10-12 sailboats are now moored in this marina, and the price of a club membership, which carries the right to enter a drawing for any berths which come available, is soaring.

The boats themselves sell used from $US400,000 to $US750,000, for a 65' to 80' boat, although there is a 50' version which goes, new, for about $US370,000

Original Wood Junk

Evolved to Big Blue Junk

Seaworthy? You judge

Rows of Big Blue Junks

Now, even bigger white junks

Parked chock a block

Arild & Ji

Our friends Arilde and Ji and their daughter Ann have remodeled their original wooden junk into a very lovely and interesting home with 5 living levels, all in beautiful wood, with modern appliances and fixtures.

LAX-Beijing

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Los Angeles-Working by the Window

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Beijing Airport

Images from Tsing Ma Regatta, 2005

I ran across these images sent to us last year by the Discovery Bay Yacht Club. Since this is supposed to be a blog about sailing, I thought I'd post them, even if they are a bit old.
Finishing
Before the start

Arriving
Crew work (Notice the captain seems to be studying the winch in front of him while the tactician tries to get him to steer the boat. Heh Heh)

A previous visitor must have found these photographs and left them for us to see when we entered the house where perhaps these people used to live.
wingssail-Fredrick Roswold

From a hilltop we spotted this abandoned village, and decided to find our way down to it.
wingssail-Fredrick Roswold

We found a store room full of pots and this large, flat pan. What was stored in these pots? What was the pan used for? Why were they left here?
wingssail-Fredrick Roswold

Sam A Wan View

We scrambled far up the hillside above Sam A Wan and found great views of Wings and the surroundings. The hill was steep and we didn't want to go down, so we roamed around the ridges above and found a better trail.
wingssail-Fredrick Roswold

Wandering around in the hills we found other villages, most abandoned. The houses there were unlocked and open, and inside we found personal belongings and furniture, and on one house, this wooden threshing machine.
wingssail-Fredrick Roswold

This is Lai Chi Wo, a traditional chinese farming village. The sites of villages like this are carefully selected, taking fully into consideration all aspects of fung shui, including the hill and forest behind, the view of the water, a stream flowing by.
wingssail-Fredrick Roswold

We went for a walk around Sam A Wan and found this noodle house; popular with the hikers who come here to explore the hills and abandoned villages.
wingssail-Fredrick Roswold