Soon, soon will my jib be raised, or unrolled. I can then bend on the mainsail and off we go into the wild blue yonder. Wait a second, I also need an engine. I have, in denial, not touched the engine. When I finally press the starter button, I hear the death rattle click, click indicating jammed starter motor. It is a sound I know well!

I think what happens is this. High heat, high humidity, always a bit of bilge water at the bottom, the ,pretty much sealed, engine compartment becomes a Turkish bath. Left for six months in a Turkish bath, the starter motor absorbs the moisture and rots. No Turkish bath conditions in Norfolk but a permanent fixture here.

Who you gonna call? Kiyuna san!

” No problem Neil san, I have a spare starter motor in my pocket!”

Saturday morning, he bounces up. Five minutes later the new starter more is fitted!

The engine starts immediately but we are a bit worried by the trickle of cooling water coming out of the exhaust. Kiyuna san demands a complete flush out of the cooling circuit. This he does in about 30 seconds with the help of a magic wand and incantations.

Kiyuna san – what hero!

Sunday morning, I go to the The Moon Beach Hotel for an Ikebana extravaganza. The Moon Beach is the oldest of Okinawa’s beach resorts and has an aura. https://www.moonbeach.co.jp/en/

We have an amazing lunch.

After that, I wander off to Onna son where the annual community concert is happening. Onna son is a relatively small town on the West coast of Okinawa. The range, diversity, inclusivity and quality of the presentations is astonishing!

Unfortunately the battery in my iPhone ran out of power thus preventing me from recording subsequent performances.

I meet lots of old friends who remarkably remember and cherish me.

The other countries in which I have lived do not have this underlying sense of community.

I drive South with an explosive Okinawa sunset to my right.

Good weekend