Happy Easter!

The decorations at Times Square  lead me to believe we have all slept through Christmas only to wake up to the other other yearly celebration.

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Dropping acid

Didn’t get the chance to post anything up about this last week.
Causeway Bay has entered the world of unearthly delights with the dropping of a bottle of acid from a rooftop near Sogo. A number of people were injured and probably a bit miffed. Acid dropping is not a new occurrence in Hong Kong but it’s more likely to happen on the Kowloon/New Territories side were all the maniacs live. Perhaps they over here Christmas shopping and decided to sprinkle their idea of Christmas spirit around.
Anyway, it hasn’t put off anybody shopping; Causeway Bay is absolutely jammed with people every day laden down with shopping bags and winter woollies as it is a little bit cold for the locals these days.

The police have been more visible on the streets patrolling around and a few days after the incident I happened to spy with my little eye (and my Nikon D70) something beginning with Roof Top Surveillance. That lasted about a day but I saw three other police dudes up there today so at least they are still just…checking. I think I read today that a reward of 300,000HKD has been offered up for the head of the acid dropper (or probably just their name). The worry now is if we are dealing with copy cat incidents rather than one sick and twisted mama.

Spot the spotter…

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There he is! Although it looks like he is just peeking in to the apartments opposite him. Whatever floats your boat buddy.

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Nothing says Christmas like…Part 3

….a gift of chocolate from a soviet satellite country which may or may not exist anymore.

I would like to think it’s called Zombie Baby Chocolate. Or something.

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On board the 23

This is most of my journey from HKU to Causeway Bay every Tuesday and Thursday evening on the top deck of the number 23 bus.
And no the passengers are not all Alvin and The Chipmunks wannabees I’ve made it faster for your more streamlined enjoyment.

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We are sailing…

One piece of news The Sub-Standard belched out today was the story of a family of sailors who set off in 2005 from America and travelled the whatever number of seas to make it back to their homeland, Honkers. What a nice story. The kids seem normal after been holed up in a cabin with their folks for 4 years so that’s alright.

Of course, I don’t pick up on the main aspects of the story, oh no. I came across a paragraph on their blog that Daddy Sailor wrote detailing the performances and upgrading of their sailing vehicle.

I have never in my life come across so many words that I can not comprehend and sound totally made up.

The piece:

I was not very happy with the Facnor SG2000 continuous line furler used for the gennaker. Whilst in Annapolis at the boat show, I contacted them, and they said it was too small for my sail, and I should use the 3000 or 4000. I then spoke to Doyle Sails and asked advice about light wind performance. They recommended I buy a UPS gennaker. This is much flatter than the one I had already, almost code 0 shape, and is made of dacron, not nylon, so is much stronger. The owner of the loft contacted Facnor who agreed to supply a larger single line furler and credit me with the full refund cost of the original. It turns out that they gave me $500 as the new furler is much cheaper. I bought the UPS with a show discount. It is excellent, allowing me to use it between 50 degrees and 170 degrees apparent. It likewise furls on its own luff, but you must make sure there is no load on the sheet when furling, otherwise it won’t roll properly. This has been a great addition. I have also added barber haulers to the jib sheet which gives a much better sail shape close hauled. I acquired a 2.5hp Mercury ob as a backup to our 6hp Tohatsu, although this has been very reliable since our early trouble. Trick is to use a fuel additive that stops it going off in the heat.

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I think he is taking the luff out of us.
I’m off to furl on the jib sheet before the barber haulers haul me away.

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