Anchor Watch

At the end of the day, enjoying the view from the deck.  All is well.

Rose Sunset at Anchor Watch

At the end of the day, the momentary glow of a rose colored sky at sunset.   The beacon marks the entry to the safety of the Typhoon Shelter for those boats coming home to anchor before nightfall.

Sampan Boatmen of the Typhoon Shelter

Sampan woman pilot and her crew, "Chocolate"

Singapore River Boatman

Living on a boat in Hong Kong, and commuting daily to shore and back by sampan, I'm constantly aware of the necessity of the small boats and their crews to the working life of the Typhoon Shelter.

During my most recent visit to Singapore, where I've lived for many years, I was taken by how much development is now completed along the Singapore River, with luxury hotels, high rise condos, restaurants, and manicured landscaping, to the point that it little resembles the area of rundown "godown" warehouses that I use to photograph years ago from muddy foot paths along its banks.

The  Singapore River has been highly regulated for decades now, with no private, commercial or recreational usage permitted.  Even the old wooden bumboats, Singapore's version of the Hong Kong Typhoon Shelter sampans, have disappeared. A number of these small open boats had operated for years as tourist sightseeing rides, and to provide some scenic appearance of activity on Singapore's small inland waterway.  The periodic efforts to promote their use as "water taxis" never was successful.

In recent years, the bumboats were removed and experimentally replaced by everything from brightly colored plastic tour boats, sleek enclosed air conditioned European canal boats, to even a Venice style gondola.  To me, all of these looked very out of place, and had nothing in common with the history of the Singapore River.

The latest incarnation to Singapore's river transport is a return to wooden boats, with efforts of vintage design, but now with enclosed cabins.  They look very similar to the small boats that ferry diners to Aberdeen's Jumbo Floating Restaurant.

While the authentic, if little used bumboats of the past are now gone, I was able to spot and photograph a lone boatman working on his more modern reproduction of a vintage river ferry that has replaced them. The tattooed boatman at least appeared to be the real thing, and perhaps to be himself the most authentic reminder of the River's working past.

Moon Lit Sky Over The Typhoon Shelter

Beautiful Holiday Morning, from the deck of Watermark

Southern Seawall

Typhoon Doksuri

Watermark, prepared for the Typhoon

After the Typhoon

The Typhoon That Did Not Happen

Typhoon Season has begun for the South China Sea and the regions around Hong Kong.  Last week, as Tropical Cyclone Talim approached in the  morning hours of Wednesday, the Hong Kong Observatory raised its Typhoon Signal 3 alert.   Businesses and government services would remain open, but preparations for higher winds and torrential rains should be made.

My wife and I prepared Watermark, tightening the mooring lines to the neighboring boat, folding the canvas deck canopies, and lashing the deck furniture down, before calling a sampan and going on to work in the morning as usual.   I fully expected to return home in the evening under a heavy rain and a possible Typhoon Signal 8, which would close offices and transportation.

From my office in Mongkok,  all of us watched the weather during the day, which continued to be windy, grey and overcast with light rain.  But during the late afternoon, as I was working at my desk, I sensed the light in my office change. Looking up from my laptop screen and directly out my window, I was amazed to see the most impressive rainbow I have ever experienced.

Hong Kong had been missed by Talim, and the weather cleared.  I can't predict what the rest of Typhoon Season will bring to Hong Kong, the Typhoon Shelter, and Watermark, but I do know that this particular day ended with another of nature's spectacular displays, which was by far better than the one of high wind and heavy rain that was expected

Typhoon Shelter Panorama