Rehersals...

Today, I had to go to MacRitchie at 12 to help out in the moving of boats, paddles, life jackets and knee pads to Lower Seletar Reservour. Started by taking out the boats involved in the race, followed by assembling into the boat the seats and taking our paddles and accounting for our life jacks.

By 1, the trucks that Mr. See called for came from the top of the hill which the sheds were on so we brought our stuff up. Slowly, the trucks were being loaded with boats like tiles on a roof. Then came the part where we had to fit the Canoers into the trucks too. Apparently, another teacher was present to help out and contribted to ferry four people using his car. Mr. See then searched for the young canoers and picked out Joseph, Leon, Ting Wei and me. How sad. Riding on one of the trucks seemed exciting and fun, so riding in an average car stole the fun of it all. Oh, well.

When we arrived at the reservour, we quickly unloaded the trucks and laid then down in a particular area that was well protected by a barbed-wired fence. The entrance could only fit one boat at a time, so we had to cooperate with the other schools that were unloading with us. Once done, we awaited for the comand to take the boats down to the water for our rehersal for the competition, only to be told that orders were given to the canoeing teams not to get into the water because of a glitch in the morning.

You see, Lowrr Seletar Reservour's most southern end is rimmed with extremely sesitive satelite dishes that guard the military base/airbase nearby, sensing anything that comes within radius. And apparently, a couple of paddlers went deep deep down into that area, despite the fact that there were obviously no buoys floating around the area. The satelites caught them, thought they were terrorist and sparked an alarm which they had to clear up for the time being. Thus Mr. Goh had to conduct his introduction to the terrain we were going to race in by foot.

First, there would be a ramp that we would launch from. This ramp faces the Starting/Finishing Line for ease, ease as long as you launch properly. From the Starting/Finishing Line, boats line up into four different waves, each wave starting off in 5 minute intervals from 9 A.M. onwards. From the Starting/Finishing Line, which is quite close to the dam that divides the reservour from the sea, the boats have to head out to 3 buoys that form a smooth arch. This buoys give us a rough guide on how to turn in the route.

After the turn, we head for two other buoys at the southern end of the route. If these two buoys can't be seen from where you are, look for two white satelite dishes (which would be too large for you to miss) and head for it. Once at the two buoys, make the turn which they marked out and head back to the northern end of the reservour, which can be marked out by a blue concrete building. Once near by, look for two red ramps and head for the one CLOSER TO YOU.

When at the ramp, quickly get out of your boat and carry it through the 110m track marked out on land. This particular track is divided into two lanes: The Express Lane on the left and the Feeding Lane on the right. The Feeding Lane is for those who need a drink and rest, while the Express Lane is for those who think they can still endure their remaining lap(s). Once on the other side of the track, place your boat into the water and travel the same corse stated above.

The Starting/Finishing Line is made up of 3 buoys; The Left and Centre Buoy mark the Starting Line while the Right and Central Buoys mark out the Finising Line. When starting, you can line up anywhere along the line, but when finishing, you HAVE to aim into the Finishing Line. If you miss the Finishing Line, you would still be counted as 'not finished' and would have to turn back to exit through the Finishing Line just to state that you're done.

After the debrief, we went back to the place the trucks dropped us and the equipments off and were asked for volunteers to bring back our paddles for safe keeping. The remaining paddles which could not be taken care off were placed and hidden inside double boats (boats that require two rowers). After settling that, we went to make wave breakers for the boats who need it using plastic boards, scissors and Mr. See's penknife. Afterwhich, we were dismissed.

Being one of the guys who volunteered to bring home their paddles, I hitched a ride on a MGS bus along with a few fellow ACSIans to MGS, from there we took our buses home. It was quite a cheap-trill watching the public staring at this guy carrying a paddle along with him in a bus. I bet the bus driver would be telling his co-leagues, "And you should have seen how he was struggling to fit the paddle through the bus without hitting any passengers! After seeing him sucessfully finding a suitable position, I told him he could place lie on the floor! Ahahahaha! You should have seen the look on his face when he found out his efforts went to waste! Ahahahahahaha!!!!..."

That raps it up for now. Me and my paddle signing off for today. God bless you, and may he be with me tomorrow...