Greg and his Dad have arrived in Qinqdao.Dear All:
I am very pleased to report that our transportation and arrival in Qingdao went very smoothly. We traveled from Toronto via New York and Beijing. It was a long 24 hours but any long trip is a good trip when you walk away from the plane and all your baggage arrives with you!
The Olympic Village in Qingdao is magnificent. The facilities are the best I have ever seen. The harbour is perfectly set up for an event of this size, with lots of parking space for the boats and docks for all the coach boats. The accommodation is actually too fancy for sailors. We are staying in what is a building that will be operated as a five star hotel after the Olympics. The rooms are luxurious with lots of marble and the latest style of fittings.
The food has been good, with a good selection that would meet all tastes. Greg is a pretty careful eater and has been able to get what he wants and needs. We are starting to finally adjust to the change in time zone. I am still not sleeping at regular hours and, as when we went to Australia, Greg adjusted a lot faster than I did. He is into his physical program, with swimming in a very big pool in the hotel and working out in the gym.
Greg went sailing today and enjoyed the conditions. There was over 10 knots of breeze with a good swell and current with the wind. He enjoyed surfing downwind. A good start to an event where we expect to sail in all kinds of conditions. With typhoons etc, we should get a bit of everything, but mostly light conditions. They have largely solved the algae problem, although Greg reported having to sail around a few large clumps. They are still working on it and we expect that they will have the fishermen clear out the last of it before official racing starts.
Greg does not face any challenges for sailing. I am facing the usual challenges regarding the logistics and communications side of things. Internet access is limited here. They offer internet in the room; at an outrageous amount of money that nobody is paying. So we all use the free wireless that is available only in the public areas. They do not even have wireless in the “office” that they have provided the team. So I cannot use my laptop in my “office”. The “office” does not have a scanner. I brought my own printer/scanner which I set up in my room.
My other challenge is the lack of effective English in most staff at the Village. We are assigned two assistants who can barely get past “good morning” and who have no clue about normal business items. Buying a USB cable for the printer and sending a FedEx package both proved to be an adventure. I have found a concierge at the Crowne Plaza Hotel outside of the Village who has proven to be more helpful that any of the staff within the Village. They have covered every square foot of the Village with these volunteers who are only useful to smile at you and say good morning. I send away my assistants most of the time because I can get things done faster without their help.
We will sail every day until we go up to Beijing for the opening ceremony on August 8. Getting into the routine will be good for Greg. He is thrilled to be sailing with all of his heroes. We will be walking along and he will lean over and say “Do you know who that was? That was Robert Scheidt.” We have not seen the British team and Ben Ainslie, but I am sure that will be a thrill for him. He already knows a number of the sailors here. Raul and Rulo from DOM are here. Greg has spent enough time in Cabarete that they get along very well. I last saw Rulo early this month in Curacao at the Optimist North Americans. I am even seeing some of the coaches from Optimist events here.
One of the great things about this sport is the fact that sailors can continue competing at the highest levels well into their 40’s. Maybe not in the single-handed classes, but many guys in the Star are almost my age. There is a 60 year old competing. So we have a wide spectrum of ages, from Greg who is the youngest sailor in the event, to guys older than I am.
That’s it for now. It is bedtime for me. Greg is already asleep. We will get up early, get into the gym and then have breakfast before he goes sailing tomorrow morning.
Regards to all
Peter Douglas
I am very pleased to report that our transportation and arrival in Qingdao went very smoothly. We traveled from Toronto via New York and Beijing. It was a long 24 hours but any long trip is a good trip when you walk away from the plane and all your baggage arrives with you!
The Olympic Village in Qingdao is magnificent. The facilities are the best I have ever seen. The harbour is perfectly set up for an event of this size, with lots of parking space for the boats and docks for all the coach boats. The accommodation is actually too fancy for sailors. We are staying in what is a building that will be operated as a five star hotel after the Olympics. The rooms are luxurious with lots of marble and the latest style of fittings.
The food has been good, with a good selection that would meet all tastes. Greg is a pretty careful eater and has been able to get what he wants and needs. We are starting to finally adjust to the change in time zone. I am still not sleeping at regular hours and, as when we went to Australia, Greg adjusted a lot faster than I did. He is into his physical program, with swimming in a very big pool in the hotel and working out in the gym.
Greg went sailing today and enjoyed the conditions. There was over 10 knots of breeze with a good swell and current with the wind. He enjoyed surfing downwind. A good start to an event where we expect to sail in all kinds of conditions. With typhoons etc, we should get a bit of everything, but mostly light conditions. They have largely solved the algae problem, although Greg reported having to sail around a few large clumps. They are still working on it and we expect that they will have the fishermen clear out the last of it before official racing starts.
Greg does not face any challenges for sailing. I am facing the usual challenges regarding the logistics and communications side of things. Internet access is limited here. They offer internet in the room; at an outrageous amount of money that nobody is paying. So we all use the free wireless that is available only in the public areas. They do not even have wireless in the “office” that they have provided the team. So I cannot use my laptop in my “office”. The “office” does not have a scanner. I brought my own printer/scanner which I set up in my room.
My other challenge is the lack of effective English in most staff at the Village. We are assigned two assistants who can barely get past “good morning” and who have no clue about normal business items. Buying a USB cable for the printer and sending a FedEx package both proved to be an adventure. I have found a concierge at the Crowne Plaza Hotel outside of the Village who has proven to be more helpful that any of the staff within the Village. They have covered every square foot of the Village with these volunteers who are only useful to smile at you and say good morning. I send away my assistants most of the time because I can get things done faster without their help.
We will sail every day until we go up to Beijing for the opening ceremony on August 8. Getting into the routine will be good for Greg. He is thrilled to be sailing with all of his heroes. We will be walking along and he will lean over and say “Do you know who that was? That was Robert Scheidt.” We have not seen the British team and Ben Ainslie, but I am sure that will be a thrill for him. He already knows a number of the sailors here. Raul and Rulo from DOM are here. Greg has spent enough time in Cabarete that they get along very well. I last saw Rulo early this month in Curacao at the Optimist North Americans. I am even seeing some of the coaches from Optimist events here.
One of the great things about this sport is the fact that sailors can continue competing at the highest levels well into their 40’s. Maybe not in the single-handed classes, but many guys in the Star are almost my age. There is a 60 year old competing. So we have a wide spectrum of ages, from Greg who is the youngest sailor in the event, to guys older than I am.
That’s it for now. It is bedtime for me. Greg is already asleep. We will get up early, get into the gym and then have breakfast before he goes sailing tomorrow morning.
Regards to all
Peter Douglas
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