Trash outing
today went down to PA Water Venture Sembawang (really recommended to get there by car, the public transport guide on the PAWV website doesn't quantify the amount of walking necessary) to do the trash4kayak freebie. which all things considered, means we ended up paying for the land vehicle rather than the sea one >_>
the bucket provided for the trash picking is pretty much the biggest diameter that will fit into the cockpit, which means... paddling with it between your legs is not much fun. our big brain play was to fill up the bucket at the beach nearest to the launching point, come back to dump the full bucket, and paddle around until shiok WITHOUT the asdflkwjaeio bucket.
spotted over the course of the 2 hours of morning:
1 x grey(?) heron
1x otter which looked a bit lost *MEEEEP
>=6 x wild dogs at the beach we were picking trash at (after we returned to the other side)
>3 x schools of fish jumping out of the water in the shallows. why? no idea. maybe they full of life
more trash to fill all the buckets we could have carried - picking trash at the beach during low tide evoked a range of feelings. first stage was "wow i'm helping!" followed by "hay check out all these barnacle encrusted bits and pieces", and as the bucket filled, "we r clearing molehills out of mountain dis is exercise in despair and futility".
conclusion is that this activity (beach cleanup, +- kayak) is great for schoolkids, both as an activity that benefits from sheer manpower, and as instant environmental consciousness raiser.
other learning points from the day:
-the tide rises really fast after 2 hours our trash picking beach was submerged
-GetGo car-sharing has an additional /km charge (40c/km), factor that into your budgeting
-make sure you test your rental car's brakes so you know what to expect in terms of braking force curve (never forget big balled auntie at bishan amk park)
-BM's alternate time slots (e.g. 2-330, 530-730) is for the lone person on duty for a 12h shift to take a break.