Author Archives: spikekalashnikov

The boat has a big slab of steel called the rudder plate. This can be lowered to give the rudder more depth, thus more purchase. It also acts as a mini center plate. At times, too complex to go into … Continue reading →

Beautiful day at the end of cherry blossom time. Okinawan cherry trees are a different variety from the classic cherry trees of Tokyo.   The Okinawan trees are named Kawazuzakura and the first to bloom in Japan, exploding in late … Continue reading →

Frankly most of the work I have been doing has been cosmetic – cleaning, sanding, treating, painting, varnishing. The big boy things, for example, the skegg and the engine have been handled by people who know what they are doing. … Continue reading →

I rush down to the boatyard to listen to the diagnosis from Dr Kiyuna on my sick little engine. A few minutes later Dr Kiyuna makes a dramatic entrance stage left on his Harley. He is more than reassuring. He … Continue reading →

Another day full of surprises down at the boatyard. You will recall that my engine was extracted at lightning speed by China san. The next dilemma is: are this engine’s thunka thunka days definitively over or can she be rebuilt?  … Continue reading →

It is the most miserable day of the year. North wind driving in, squalls of rain, I mean the temperature is 11 degrees. This is as bad as Okinawa can get. Notwithstanding, I go down to the boatyard. The engine … Continue reading →

Saturday morning and I go down to the boat. I have things to discuss with Tabata san. My main concern at the moment is the engine. Clearly if I am going to spend the rest of my life voyaging around … Continue reading →

Good day as my boat got her papers. She is no longer an illegal immigrant but an official Okinawan resident. To be frank I am not sure how it happened as the excellent Tabata san sort of took care of … Continue reading →

So, the engine is a concern. My seafaring friends from Japan lift the engine cover and jerk backwards in horror. As you know the Japanese are typically inscrutable but even the most hardened seadog’s inscrutability is dented when they see … Continue reading →

The suffix -ness denotes the quality or state of something, for example happiness. Well today I am in Skegness. As I mentioned in a previous post, the skag, or more commonly skeg, on Kanusha was much corroded. I took it … Continue reading →