Top of Kilimanjaro

Gordon, with Brett and Ali

"I did it!", says sometime Xena crewmate (San Fernando 2011), Gordon Ketelby (aka "Gordie").

He goes on...

Here is the proof – me on the top of Mt Kilimanjaro with Brett and Ali

Its very high 5,890m or for those from the old school 19,430ft

Its very hard to breathe up there particularly when you have to climb 1,000m on the last day up a 45 degree slope. Its seriously cold at night -10 C or less.

It was seriously hard particularly the last bit of the assent, and going down hammers your legs.

Due to global warming there is not always snow on top, and most of the glaciers are receding fast!

Swell Times...

Click to enlarge... Photo: Reuters

Great photo in today's South China Morning Post, with the caption: "Surfers and dolphins at play in the waves off Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.  Dolphins are a common sight along Sydney's beaches, as they hunt for small fish, and waves suitable for surfing add to the attraction of venturing close to shore.  Surfers like their presence, too, as they are thought to keep the sharks away.  Australia tops the world in terms of shark-attack fatalities, with more than 200 deaths based on latest figures by a local conservation society."

Cool Change

Sent in by Iris, see her comment below. Sorry can't embed any more in this blog, not sure why, so link to YouTube is here.

"Adventurer Guo Chuan to attempt solo world sail"

Gao Chuan at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club yesterday

In today's South China Morning Post, a report of Gao Chuan's preparations to take Qingdao, an Akilaria Class 40 round the world, solo non-stop.  We're off to the Club this morning for a sail on Xena, so may see the boat there....
Report below the fold as it's behind a paywall on the SCMP site...
LATER: we did see Qingdao alongside the pontoon at the RHKYC last Sunday 23rd and she looked fabulous, extremely well prepared with all new gear aboard.  Everything looked as though it was just where it should be.  She really does look the right stuff for round the world. Hope to get some piccies later, as I forgot to take any myself. Actually, I did take one, at the end of our cruise last Sunday 23rd..

Qingdao at the pontoon, RHKYC, from deck of Xena, after our cruise
out to around Shek Oh rock in 3-5 knots.... nice, relaxing day with
Adrienne, Heiko and Cron, who are going to send some other piccies, I hope..

Pier Pressure

Article in today's South China Morning Post by Paul Zimmerman, about the lack of facilities for pleasure craft in Hong Kong:

There were some 9,500 licensed leisure craft in 2010, comprising nearly 7,000 pleasure boats and about 2,500 open sampans. Our estimates show that there is an unfulfilled demand for another 13,000 leisure craft in Hong Kong. Much of this latent demand is for small, affordable boats and some is for larger boats that require permanent crew. What stops people from buying water sports equipment is that fewer than 4,000 berths are available for safe mooring and convenient storage. There is not even enough space for the existing boats in Hong Kong, let alone for visiting yachts or new sampans.

PDF here