How I shall spend my next holidays.
I have already decided how to spend my next holidays. Usually, I wait for the holidays to come, and then make up my mind where to go, what to do, and when to leave. What usually happens is that I leave for someplace with a group of friends and then begin to wish I had gone somewhere else. This time I am going with William to Mersing.
William has a huge bungalow by the seaside in Mersing. Usually, his bungalow is crowded during the holidays because William likes his friends around. This time, however. William wants the bungalow all to himself because he wants to try scuba diving. He is new to scuba diving. He wants me to go along because he knows I have only been there once before and that I like to learn more about sea sports. William loves to show off his skill in sea sports. William proposes to stay in Mersing for at least two weeks. This means that I shall have to take quite a number of clothes and other necessities with me. I may have to take back my suitcase from Albert.
William has two or three boats. The boat that I look forward to using is his powerful twin-engine speedboat. The entire boat is made of fiberglass, and the base of the boat and the short keel is made of transparent fiberglass. When you sit in it you can actually see the water below your feet and you get the queer feeling that you are standing on water. Its speed is another remarkable feature. At times, I have seen the whole boat leap clear of the waves. But I know that at the same time that it is fun, it can also be extremely dangerous and that if you crash at eighty miles per hour, you could be killed. I shall spend most of the time in the speedboat, and learn how to control it, especially when the sea becomes choppy. I would like to try racing in circles and practice maneuvering through floating buoys.
There are water-skis in the boat too. William. who is highly skilled in sea sports, knows how to use skis? I shall spend some time learning how to ski. Needless to say, the first few attempts will tire me. I shall learn to get used to balancing. and then to maneuvering the skis through the water. William has promised that he will not speed when I am learning. I think if all goes well, I ought to be a proficient water skier before the holidays are over.
William has a larger boat, which he calls his yacht. Actually, it is a big white boat with an inboard engine and it belongs to his father. This boat can travel far out to sea. William’s father has been known to sail this boat from Singapore to Kuala Terengganu. We will take this boat some twenty miles out to sea, weigh anchor, and stay for a couple of days. The last time I was there, I caught a fish some two and a half feet long. William has a spear gun and a harpoon gun. and he intends to take them along. He has never speared sharks before, and he told me he would like to try. Probably we will shoot sharks from the boat. It is very dangerous to venture into the water when there are sharks around. William has a friend who is a fisherman who knows exactly where to find fish.
I shall probably accompany William when he sets out in his speedboat to find a place where he can scuba-dive. There is a magnificent reef in Mersing which is partly submerged when the tide is up. Usually, he brings up all kinds of weird coral. Sometimes he brings up lots of peculiar fish for me to examine and then throws them back in the water.
There will be a lot more than just fishing, diving, boat racing, and skiing to keep us busy. Apart from lounging on the beach and trying to get a tan, we might probably wander a few miles down the coastline and hike for the fun of it. I expect I shall return with lots of memories.
