This is where Kanusha lives and thus where I spend most of my time. It is a great place. That said, all marinas have a certain sadness about them brought on by the large number of unused boats who have been neglected by their owners and are gently decaying. “What did I do wrong?” they must think. It reminds me of Black Beauty.

Eyes left

Check out big lifts in background.

Eyes right. The big building in the background is a mega San A shopping mall.

Anyway it is perfectly suited for boat restoration. There are huge lifts for when I have to work on her bottom. Indeed there are elevated cradles on which you can place the boat for long term work. This will be very useful as I will have to apply many coats of anti fouling paint. I also foresee problems with the center plate that appears to be heavily corroded and will probably need replacing. There is electricity and water but more than anything there is Tabata san.

Tabata san is my new hero. He is the harbormaster and a finer a guy you could not meet. He is a fixer. His phone is constantly ringing, he is running 25 different projects at the same time. He is undaunted. I mention my anxiety about shipping the boat from Miyako to Okinawa. He phones a friend. It is all fixed. I anguish about paperwork, inspections and registrations. He fixes all that. I look at my engine with grave doubt.

Would you trust this?

He says, “Don’t worry Neil san, we can lift it out and overhaul, if it is dead I will find you a good second hand GM1.” I tell you, this is all like grease on the boil of my worry.

Yay! Tabata san

A short walk from the Marina is a shopping mall.

You can get anything you want in the San A .

A big bag of hot deep fried fish for $2. I have eaten half of them.

Just next to the huge supermarket is a shop endearingly called a coffee farm. It is a find. They sell couscous, cardamon, fine wines and incredible choice of coffee. The staff are joyful. Japan how much do I love you?

Alladin’s cave