On the Saturday, our last full day in Hong Kong, we got up in good time to take the ferry across to Hong Kong Island. This is called one of the world's 50 great trips by the National Geographic (or so the ferry says on its publicity). It is a huge amount of fun for HKD2.
It's even less if you get an Octopus card, which we had acquired when we arrived. This is the equivalent to London's oyster card, giving substantially cheaper public transport. It works on almost everything, including the trams and the ferries.
A detour via the City Hall took in the extremely smug 'Maritime Focus' exhibition. A radar plot of activity across the Pearl River Delta (for which HK is the principal deep-sea port), speeded up, makes for impressive viewing. You'd need a very sharp lookout navigating in these crowded waters.
We had ordered some business cards from a small stall in Man Wah street, near the western end of Des Voeux Street Central. They were ready for collection, and now when Pip is asked for details of her jewellery, she can hand over a natty card. Also, at long last, we have proper 'boat cards' for Roaring Girl. Lots of other cruisers have them and we've needed them many times.
And of course, we had to visit the marina. This is situated under the world trade centre, a relatively short sky-scraper on the waterfront of the shopping area at Causeway Bay, east of the central district. It's quite hard to find from the tram stop and we wandered around a maze of overpasses and underpasses, glimpsing masts in the gaps of buildings, for quite some time.
It's a small marina, and doesn't appear to have many pontoons. Vessels are moored bows to a big mooring buoy, from which two lines are then taken aft to each quarter. This is a new system to us, and would make for interesting mooring the first time. There is a typhoon barrage protecting the marina, but one would have to be very sure the mooring were up to the impact of hurricane force winds.
There's a busy ship yard and a reasonable chandlery. Security was quite evident; we were challenged on the gate but they let us in to visit the shop. We don't look terribly threatening of course, and in general we thought it looked fairly safe. There are several sampans which are obviously being lived on. Also quite a few of these wonderful old-style coasting and fishing vessels. We had seen several in the harbour and they are still regular working boats.
By the marina is the Noonday Gun. According to the plaque, this was originally part of the substantial armoury of Jardine Matheson. This company was one of the first western trading concerns in China, and become a powerful hong or business. The senior management were important taipans. JM armed its clippers for protection against piracy, storing its arsenal at East Point, which overlooked both Causeway Bay and the principal clipper anchorage. A gun was fired to honour the return or arrival of JM taipans into Hong Kong.
One day, one such taipan overtook a newly arrived Navy officer who was becalmed on his way into port. The officer heard the private signal, and was outraged. He ordered that JM should ensure a gun was fired at noon every day, as a time signal for the colony. The tradition survives to this day.