Qingdao - Day 9 of Sailing

August 17th

Was raining when I woke up this morning, so I decided to just hang out in my room and catch up a little on email, etc.

When it was time for me to go to work – still raining – so I took the bus.

There are supposed to be golf carts inside the venue that will give you a ride to your work area. Nope, not today! I started with just an umbrella, but got drenched quickly, so dug out my lovely light blue B.O.B. poncho. Even with that, I was soaking wet by the time I made it to the compound.

(Later found out the golf carts weren’t running because they are electric and is unsafe to use in the rain)

The winds were strong, so they were actually sailing. However, the water was very rough! It was raining so hard that at times you couldn’t even see the boats on camera.

The camera guys were the heroes of the day… they endured really harsh conditions on the water – some for over 6 hours. Constant up & down with the waves and were not only drenched from the biting rain, the waves coming over the boats.

After a week plus of insane heat, they were now shivering.

Once they returned, many admitted they didn’t think they would ever make it back to shore.

Our offices have laminate flooring – no rugs or anything. So when people are coming in/out non-stop in the rain, the floors were very wet & slick.

There was also standing water in areas of the compound which freaked me out a little, considering there were endless cables sitting in that water too. A lot of voltage!

Some of the races were entertaining though since many of the sailboats capsized – some several times in the same race. (Sailing is pretty boring to watch – capsizing is about as exciting as it gets)

It came as no surprise when many of the races were cancelled due to “no visibility”.
Only means we have more to do tomorrow.

I ate dinner at the hotel with a couple of friends. None of us felt like going back out into the rain.

Sorry no photos today…. Am hoping to find some of the ocean – but haven’t found any yet.