Reservoir Discovery Series 2015 - Jurong Lake

Once again, PA Water-Venture has kicked off another round of the Reservoir Discovery Series which covers Jurong Lake, Punggol Waterway, Lower Seletar Reservoir and Marina Reservoir.

I kicked off the 1st leg of 2015 at Jurong Lake 2 weeks ago on 24 June and the RDS kicked off with overwhelming response.

 Check out the huge group!

It was a wonderfully bright and sunny day, great for a leisurely paddle around the Jurong Lake.

Taking a back seat

Check out the view!

The 2nd wave of Water-Venture's Reservoir Discovery Series ended last weekend with the final leg being held at Kallang.

Project Blue WaVe - Third Wave Event Report

After waiting for quite a long time, I finally got to participate in the Third Wave of Project Blue WaVe at Jurong Lake last Sunday! Had to get up really bright and early to report at 7am!

It was a hazy day with the PSI hitting 104 by the time the event ended!

  The slipway all decked out in Project Blue WaVe posters

 Kian Seng talking about marine conservation on behalf of Waterways Watch Society

Project Blue WaVe

A blue movement by PA Water-Venture to engage all stakeholders in building & maintaining a clean & blue water landscap.

Instead of its annual coastal cleanup, Water-Venture is including an educational element to solve the issue instead of reducing the symptoms.

Project Blue WaVe will be rolled out in 3 waves at various locations with a different theme for each location.  Interconnection, Ownership and Sustainability will be the 3 themes guiding the running of each wave and you can find out more on their facebook page: Project Blue WaVe

 

Head on to http://one.pa.gov.sg to register. It's free!
Simply search for "project blue wave" in activities using the search bar.

I will be participating in the Third Wave at Water-Venture Jurong Lake on 19 October. See you there!

Reservoir Discovery Series 2014 Kallang - Event Report

Had a blast at the final leg of Water-Venture's Reservoir Discovery Series in Kallang. I wasn't the lead paddler for that trip and mainly stayed back to help paddlers out.

I was left behind right from the start to help out the late comers while an old school instructor led the group. Not too sure if the participants were ok with him, but I feel that there really is no need to run these kind of events like a military operation.

Anyway, after I guided the late comers to the main group the first thing I did was some wildlife rescue!
Noticed a bird trying to fly, but the poor thing kept getting yanked down as there was a bit of string tangled round its beak. Luckily, I had a scissors in my PFD and was able to cut it free. Look at it, the poor bird looks so traumatised.

Shortly after, more wildlife was spotted under the Merdeka Bridge. An owl!

The group was actually quite capable and cleared the 10km distance really fast. Spoke to some of the participants and they commented that it was more interesting to paddle here.

And.. I agree! Check out the view.

 Happy faces from the participants.

And of course, PA had to promote its newest outlet Passion Waves at Tanjong Rhu by having a stopover at its pontoon. This new outlet is set to replace the existing Kallang outlet under the Nicoll Highway when the it reopens at the end of 2014.

Pontoon launches should lead to some interesting candid snapshots if people capsize. :p

All in all, I had a great time being a part of the Reservoir Discovery Series. I realised that I have come to prefer this sort of events over the standard 1 Star coaching courses.

Just a small time paddler in Jurong Lake

 

Just came back from a kayaking try-out session at Water-Venture Jurong Lake. The great thing about these sort of events is that it is that there is basically no committment involved. I show up, do a quick brief and it is pretty much just babysitting for the rest of the session.
Free and easy.

Back to Pandan Reservoir

Went back to Pandan Reservoir at 14A Penjuru Road after an absence of a couple of years. Really hot weather, thankfully it was windy. Pandan Reservoir is under the care of the Singapore Canoe Federation. However, they have outsourced the running of the place to X-Current.

It is a reservoir, but due to the openess of the area, it is very windy and there are waves big enough to do some light surfing. Not really condusive for beginners to learn since the water is choppy.

 It's a pontoon launch only area which may be intimidating for newbies. The main pontoon area is well maintained and in very good condition, however, the extension is pretty unstable and is not in really great condition.

 There's a nice urban view and lots of open space. It isn't really cramped and crowded because the folks there are mainly canoe polo players who practice in the confined area. One good thing about the place is that there's free parking. However, those folks using public transport may find it inconvenient to reach the place.

Personally, I won't mind coming here for leisure paddling but it's because I have my own transport and I am confident with the windy and choppy conditions.

Reservoir Discovery Series 2014 - Kallang

After an enjoyable day of paddling for the 1st leg in the PA Water-Venture's Reservoir Discovery Series at Jurong Lake, I just confirmed my participation in another leg of PA Water-Venture's Reservoir Discovery Series at Kallang!

Check out my write up "Water-Venture Kallang Walkabout" if you've never been there.

Those who are driving may wish to park their cars at the Kampong Bugis carpark across the river. You just have to cross a small bridge and walk a little to reach Water-Venture Kallang.



Noticed a blog with a write up on the Jurong Lake leg of the RDS 2014 as well on A Winsome Life and saw a pic of myself :) It's not often that I get my picture taken while paddling.

Water-Venture Reservoir Discovery Series: Jurong Lake

I had the good fortune to be involved in the 1st leg of Water-Venture's Reservoir Discovery Series. It was a simple 5km kayaking trip around Jurong Lake, Chinese Garden and the Japanese Garden.
One good thing about this event is that its a simple and short trip at only 5km. Best part was that permissions was granted by PUB to allow paddlers to enter the Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden, places usually out of bounds to avoid the risk of paddlers being flushed out by the tidal gates when PUB needs to reduce the water level.

 

The day started off pretty gloomy with heavy rains early in the morning. The event was delayed by 30 minutes, starting at 10am instead of 9.30pm.
The organisers were a little worried when only less than half of the registrants showed up at around 9am, but we ended with quite a good turn out.

Kayaking Orientation for Hapag-Lloyd at Jurong Lake

According to the club's records, I haven't been to Jurong Lake/Chinese Gardens since 2011! My my... How time flies.

Spent some time with a really nice group of people from Hapag-Llyod today. Quite pleasantly suprised to see the ladies interested in the activity were not too worried about getting a tan or lifting the heavy boats.

Last minute coaching job

Did a last minute coaching job last Sunday, helping out with the second day of a 1 Star Course at Water-Venture (Kallang).

It was an open group with mostly adults and some dragonboaters, so the group was fairly easy to manage. Another instructor took the helm as she was with them for both days, so it was a relatively relaxed session for me :)

We even had time to teach some of them how to do a seal launch (kinda).

It was a nice sunny day to paddle out and take some pics with Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer in the background. Awesome views.

Water-Venture Kallang Walkabout

Water-Venture Kallang has since closed down. A new outlet named PassionWave @ Marina Bay is located at 11 Rhu Cross.

Water-Venture Kallang is located under the Merdeka Bridge of the Nicoll Highway.

 
The address is:
4876 Beach Road (S) 199587
Tel: 6296 6683
Fax: 6294 4393

Public Service Sports Carnival at Marina Barrage

The view at 7.15am from the middle of Marina Reservoir

Helped out in the water sports try out booth by Water-Venture at the Public Service Sports Carnival on the 26th of November.
There was dragonboating and kayaking. There was quite a number of people coming to paddle, which I honestly didn't expect.

Water-Venture Bedok Reservoir

Main entrance

Went down to Water-Venture's Bedok Reservoir for the first time today to conduct orientation programmes. Quite a nice place and it takes about 45minutes to travel there from my home.

I like the fact that the launch site for the recreational boats and the racing kayaks are separate. No issue of helpless newbie paddlers getting in the way of racers and being yelled at.

More Jurong Lake pictures

Took a bunch of Primary 5 kids for an orientation programme at Jurong Lake that stretched over a period of 5 weeks and decided to take some pictures on the last session.

Uncle Lau, my partner for the sessions

The usual pagoda shot

Kids posing for a pic

Trying to recreate the scene from Titanic

Obligatory standing up shot

New Methods

Did 2 orientation sessions at Jurong Lake after coming back from Kota Tinggi with Charles.
As usual, his methods are a little different from what Im used to.

Here's what I mean:


Reckless or calculated risk? These sort of things are very subjective.

Paddling in Jurong Lake

UPDATE: The entire Jurong Lake area is temporarily closed due to redevelopment works. As such, the Water-Venture outlet there had to close down too. It should open again by end 2017.
Twin pagodas

In the lake

I recently conducted a series of kayak orientations at Jurong Lake and it was an awesome place.
Nice and quiet place with interesting scenery.

Located near the main entrace of the Chinese/Japanese Garden, the under-utilized Water-Venture (Jurong Lake) aka Paddlez Inc run by the People's Association Water-Venture is a nice place for families living around the area to come for a paddle.
Parking is located a stone's throw away, making it convenient for those who drive. The nearest MRT station is Chinese Garden. The walk over is quite a distance and takes you through the Chinese Garden where you enter from the back gate and come out from the front gate.
Bicycles are not allowed to enter the Chinese Garden, but the Park Connector Network goes round. There are bicycle racks for parking your bicycles infront of the main gate to the Chinese Garden, but Im sure the nice folks at Paddlez Inc will allow you to bring your bicycle in.
Careful about cycling in though, its all gravel past the main gate.

Main entrance

Both sit-on-top (open deck) and sit inside (closed deck) kayaks are available for rent. However, you will need a 1 Star certification to rent the closed deck kayaks. Afterall, this is Singapore, land of the paper chase :)
Rentals cost $15 for 2hours. For more information on rates, click here.

Kayak shed

Buoyancy vests and paddles

The launch site is a small pontoon. Although, I dont recommend beginners to use pontoons for launching, paddlers can take their time here since there is barely anyone around. There is also a ramp where those not confident in pontoon launches can wade into the water before getting into the kayaks.
To my knowledge, only the Yuan Ching Secondary School dragonboat team trains here. So its not very crowded.

Launch site
Changing room

Lockers are provided and there is even a vending machine selling drinks. For those who just need water, there is a water cooler next to the changing room.
The downside of this place is that there isnt any toilet and shower facilities. Only a changing room is provided. There is a public toilet outside, but it does not have showers.
You could however, rinse yourself off at the tap behind the changing room before changing out into dry clothing.

DISCLAIMER: I am an appointed trainer for Water-Venture and conduct courses for them on occasion.

Why I dont enjoy coaching at Macritchie

There are a few things that can make coaching unpleasant for me.
Unwilling participants, learning environments not condusive for learning and coaches with very conflicting techniques are just some of them.

I dont enjoy coaching at Macritchie, in fact I think its a horrible place for leisure paddling or to conduct a 1 star course.
First of all, the kayak sheds are located far away from the launching area. Bringing 10-15 kayaks over takes up quite abit of time especially when working with secondary school kids there as part of a school programme. These students are usually not interested in taking part to begin with.
Also, there are joggers/runners using the same path. You can imagine the congestion carrying boats will cause.

Secondly, the launch area is a pontoon. I dont have a problem with pontoons, however, I feel that launching from the shore is better for beginners. Using the pontoon to teach is a problem when there are 20 other schools using the same pontoon to launch. This means having to put the kayaks a distance away from the launch site after taking them out from the shed and then bringing them to the pontoon one by one to launch in order to avoid congestion.
As the newbies launch off one by one, does the coach stay on the pontoon to help or go into the water to herd those who have launched?

Thirdly, the place is full of racers. Racers are there to train, they want to go all out. That usually means expecting everyone else to give way and lots of yelling.
However, telling a newbie touching the kayak for the first time to "Hold water" doesnt really do much. The newbies have no idea what hold water means and lack the ability to control their kayak well even if they do understand.
This situation is similar to triathletes on $5000 bicycles running red lights and expecting cars to give way to them at all times in the sense that both parties lose out in the event of a collision. Crashing the K boats would definitely result in a capsize and some damage, depending on the speed.

Lastly, Peter Chai the guy who runs Paddle Lodge and is basically the guy in charge of watersports there is a jaded old man.
He just doesnt give a shit about other people and has a perpetual scowl on his face. The only time I've seen him smile is when he thought he could gain a benefit from someone which quickly turned into his usual scowl and a look of disgust when he realise no benefit was to be gained. Very calculative guy. Like the stereotypical chinese businessman.
Dont bother to apologize to him when you have made a mistake or if he misunderstood something you did. He will ignore you and any explanations you have anyway. Just let him say his peace and carry on.
Telling him you wont do it again next time will merely get the response that there is no next time. Telling him you were given wrong info would result in him saying no such thing.
Typical bureaucrat eh?
Oh and dont be late when returning keys, he needs to close shop and rush off to moonlight.

Paddling in reservoirs

Source: http://geotacs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/CRW_1531-1024x680.jpg

Reservoirs have been open up for watersports sometime back and members of the public can rent sit-on-top kayaks for a leisurely paddle. Unlike in most other areas, you do not require any certification to paddle in reservoirs if you use the sit-on-tops. This makes it a perfect activity for families who would like to spend an hour on the water on a Sunday morning.

However, these reservoirs are also provide perfect conditions for flatwater racing and competitive canoeing and dragonboat teams flock to them. This can be nerve wrecking for other users on the water, happy to just float around. Having fast moving racing crafts speeding by and yelling for you to get out of their way might just spoil that serene Sunday morning that families were hoping for.

So I suggest giving the outlet a call and asking them if the time you intend to paddle coincides with training times and if its too crowded, to give paddling a miss all together.