I cannot stop thinking about Norfolk Gypsies. These are boats made in England, one of which has turned up on the dockside of Miyako Jima, an island a couple of hundred kilometers from here. I yearn for her tragically.
Phoarr!
The narrative goes like this. If I get permanent residence in Japan, then in my dotage I can spend long periods in Okinawa. The idea of sailing around the Ryukyu Islands in a Norfolk Gypsy stops my breath. Therefore I should do something about it.
My Darling asleep
I need to buy the boat and have her transported to Okinawa at great expense. Once here she needs to be placed on a trailer and pulled up to my house to undergo months of massage with perfumed oils. I do not have a trailer.
Once restored to her full beauty, I have to trailer the boat to a slipway and launch her. After dirty fun times at sea I have to get her back onto the trailer and pull her up the slipway.
My much beloved Hi Jet truck, despite her mighty 600cc motor, does not have the grunt to achieve the above. So clearly I have to get a bigger, more powerful boat puller.
This leads me to purchasing a Nissan Xtrail that has 4 wd and a big motor, er like, by Japanese standards.
My future
Click to see the hook
It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
So do you get it? I have neither permanent residence, nor a boat, nor a trailer but I have a truck.
Living the dream.
Blawearie
Kinraddie
The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond 
Hello Robert… 60 year old English Bill in Kamakura here. Fell upon your blog while researching gaijin who have visited the Ryukyu islands. Love your Scaffie. Would sell my Grandmother (if she were still in the land of the living) for a Norfolk Gypsy. It’s quite similar to my 60 year old Swedish built fishing boat that I used to own when I lived there for 25 years. Google “bohusjulle” and you’ll get the idea. Would have sailed well in the Ryukyus as designed for the West coast of Sweden into the North Sea but had to sell because it has a very deep keel and can’t be easily beached from these typhoons. (I avoid calling my ex-boat a “she” as bohusjulle are male). I am part owner of two sabani’s. One close to here in Hayama and the other on Zamami from where we returned last week following the annual sabani races to Naha. Fifth annual race in a row for me. Maybe we should sail your Scaffie to Zamami one day and then you can sail back with me in the sabani. Bit of logistics to work out though… might have to sail ’em both back. Ordered your book today. Let’s meet sometime. Always welcome to visit (and be a guest at) my house in Hasse, Kamakura by the sea and try our sabni here. Thanks for a fun blog. Kind regards, Bill Dykes
Dear Bill,
Thanks for message. Let me know when you are next in Okinawa. Bohusjulle look like great boats and the Scaffie definitely has a Viking heritage. Glad you enjoyed the blog.
Neil