Safety

Sailing can be a dangerous sport, so proper preparation is essential.

Equipment

When sailing from Discovery Bay you are strongly recommended to carry the following equipment on board :

• life jackets
• knife capable of cutting through the trampoline
• a phone with the emergency numbers below programmed in
• spare shackles and rope
• a righting line attached to your mast base
• money

Before leaving, tell someone on shore where you are likely to go and when you will return. It is advisable to have a support boat operator's number on your phone on speed-dial so that he can be contacted quickly in an emergency.

Support Boat

For any sailing event organised by the club we have safety / support boat coverage. At those events the club both organises and pays for that coverage. If you get in to difficulties when sailing outside of a club event (eg midweek) you can still call our safety boat operator and he is usually able to come and help you or arrange for another boat to come. In these instances you need to pay for a tow back to Discovery Bay yourself - usually HK$100 - HK$200 depending on where you are.

Support boat operators can also ferry equipment to Hong Kong Island for repair - negotiate directly with them for this.

For the support boat operator's contact information, email the Commodore or Secretary.

Phone numbers

• Discovery Bay Medical Centre: 2987 0200
• Marine Police: 2803 6247
• Marine Department Operations Centre: 2385 2791 - also for reporting speed limit violators
• Marine Department Vessel Traffic Centre: 2233 7801
• LBC safety boat operator: Contact the Secretary or Commodore for this number

Speed Restriction

There is a legally enforced speed limit of 5 knots for all vessels within Tai Pak Bay. This is effective between 8 a.m. and midnight of any Saturday, Sunday, or Public Holiday, and on all days between 1st July and 15th September. The area covered by this restriction is marked as SRZ (L1) in the map below:

The full legal terms of this restriction can be found on the Marine Department Website here.