Not much to report really, mainly dentistry and sailing.
Former colleague, Natori san, who now works for Medecins sans Frontieres in Tokyo, sorry can’t find accents.comes back for a visit. We go for a very bracing sail.
The weather is perfect, blue skies, er, blue sea, 30 degrees. However perhaps too much wind, gusting to 15/16 knots and the seas, although blue, are broken. I am concerned that this might be a bit much for Natori san as this was to be her first ever sail. Is it a good idea to go out?
It was a dramatic sail, rough water, high speeds, plenty of heeling with the combing very close to the water. I need not have worried. She took to it like a duck to water. In fact all the Japanese women I know are intrepid sailors. Well done Natori san!
The next day Arisa and I go for lunch in a Mexican restaurant that is about 5 mins walk from our respective apartment buildings. Very handy thing to have.
Not the real thing but a lot of fun. Arisa is the best in all things.
Let’s switch to dentistry. Monday, I go to have the semi permanent crown put on my implants. Great fun as always; they take the best X-rays.
I will be leaving Okinawa for 5 months soon. The final, permanent, crown will be welded on when I get back. It is a long business.
Today, I went to the other dentist to have what I thought was to be the final stage of months of root canal work, the welding on of the permanent crown.
In France and the U.S. my crowns were glued on after maybe 15 mins of adjustment. It is not like that here. It took 2 hours of repositioning, fine tuning until they were finally satisfied. Amazingly scrupulous.
The nurse places colored paper between the crown and the upper teeth. “Tap, tap, tap.” then grind, which in Japanese is “Giri, girl, girl.” They must have done this 50 times. They take delicate grinders to the crown and the crown seat so many times. I feel like saying, “You know, I think that will be OK.” but they have such high professional standards. By the way, this is State medicine. I pay next to nothing.
Anyway they finally glue on the crown but, thanks Google translate, explain that this temporary glue. They want me to spend some time with my crown to see if we, you know, bond. I have to go back next week to get a dose of permanent adhesive if my crown and I have not fallen out. State medicine.
The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond 
No toffee, no Mentos, not even a chewy steak! That adhesive really is only temporary!
But looks like the end is in sight… what a journey!
AMAZING (on all counts)!
On Tue, Sep 28, 2021 at 1:01 AM The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond wrote:
> spikekalashnikov posted: ” Not much to report really, mainly dentistry and > sailing. Former colleague, Natori san, who now works for Medecins sans > Frontieres in Tokyo, sorry can’t find accents. We go for a very bracing > sail. https://videopress.com/v/6ZfUSrr5?resizeToParent=t” >
Interesting; and good luck with the dentistry.
The sailing looked enjoyable. Drascombe Cruiser, is she? Or one of the Norfolk series?
Personally, in addition to still occasionally sailing cruising GP4s, after almost a lifetime with the class, my primary sailing these days is my gaff-cutter Privateer 20; that is my second gaff cutter, which I have owned since 2009, and including my previous gaff cutter I span nearly 30 years with the rig. I have long ago developed a love affair with the gaff cutter rig as a cruising rig; very stylish, immensely flexible, low-stress, and also arguably the most seamanlike of all rigs for cruising.
But, oh dear! That mainsail! With a monstrous crease from throat to clew! Peak halliard much too slack!
Agreed, you may occasionally need to slack it off temporarily in order to scandalise the sail to cope with a sudden squall, or for that matter in order to heave-to for a lunch stop; but that is not what it looked like.
Otherwise, choose the amount of reef you need, then set up the throat halliard as taut as you can; then set the peak halliard to set the sail without creases. A diagonal crease from throat to clew indicate that the peak halliard is too slack, and a crease along the other diagonal (tack to peak) indicates that it is too tight.
Sailing a gaff-rig boat is partly an art, and part of the joy of it is that there are plenty of “bits of string to pull” in order to get the sails setting to perfection. But it is well worth the (minimal) effort; it looks great, it is immensely satisfying, and it is also the most efficient use of the rig.
Oliver L. Shaw
Thanks for comment. The mainsail is a disgrace but windy and choppy with a first time sailor. I decided to let it be. We were charging along anyway. The boat is a Norfolk Gypsy that I restored in Okinawa.