The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

You will remember that, as part of the original restoration, I had a grating handmade from exquisite Okinawan hardwood.

Grating

It is a very fine grating but also extremely heavy. To remove it I have to lie walrus like on the cockpit seats and lift one side up until I can get it vertical. There is usually means fouling with the throttle lever and it is generally a pain. Kiyuna san hates my grating and urges me to cut into two pieces. Lift out one piece whilst standing on the other. This makes complete sense but I kicked against the pricks, not wanting to spoil such lovely carpentry.

So I attack it. I use the saw I bought to slice up poor Dileas. https://thequietripple.com/2015/01/11/cutting-up-dileas/

I do a terrible job. I cannot seem to cut straight.

Anyway, it works. It is now relatively easy to remove the grating.

Tomomi and I go for lunch. It is an exceptional lunch. It is a beautiful day; from our table we look out onto the blue, blue East China Sea with Ie Jima in the distance. Tomomi is looking even more elegant than her very high standard of elegance and is the best company. This all happens at https://okinawa-hiyoriocean.jp/en/ a new hotel close to OIST.

A very large salad, a perfectly cooked fresh fish with simple white rice, excellent coffee. Simple but so well done. Thank you Hiyori, wonderful presentation and service.

Things get significantly darker from here on in. Those queasy about dentistry might want to change channel.

On Friday I have to have a molar ripped from the right side of my jaw. On Thursday morning I awake to significant pain and swelling on the left side of my face. I wait for Kinjo sensei’s prognosis on Friday. Er, it is not good.

This means that in addition to the right side molar I will soon have to have two left side molars extracted. Falling like flies!

The extraction is grim. Once the tooth is removed, much scraping and grinding is needed to remove all the slime decay from my jaw.

On a gayer note, Japanese dental nurses are absolutely the best, we have a lot of fun.

I talk to Kiyuna san, who has no teeth, about my upcoming treatment. “Teeth are not necessary, very high maintenance. Just get a very sharp knife to cut your food into tiny pieces. .”

The weather has been excellent – blue skies, sun but cool. In fact it was so cool one day last week that I actually put on a woolen shirt thing.

I am invited to a 2 day Forum on Science Communication.

I am at least 20 years older than any other participant. I write KYMS, Keep Your Mouth Shut, on a sheet of paper which I place in front of me. It is actually great fun and I succeed in saying almost nothing. Congratulations to the OIST Media Team for organizing the event.

I regularly have afternoon tea on Kiyuna san’s boat, the “Marie”. She is a big motor cruiser that has not cruised for a long time. I think she was given to Kiyuna san by the previous owner to get her off his hands. Kiyuna san keeps the boat impeccably clean and uses it as a club. I have had many memorable afternoons on the “Marie” with Okinawan boat people. We drink tea and crack jokes.

Two pontoons behind Kiyuna san’s boat were badly smashed up in the typhoon that did so much damage to my boat. We drink tea and watch eight guys go about repairs. Kiyuna san is disparaging, “Eight workers! I could do it with two in half the time.” He explains a system of slings and cables that he has worked out. I am sure he is right.

We go to an Izakaya that is about one minutes’ walk from my place. It was closed throughout the corona virus period and we have never been there. Turns out to be a fantastic place. https://www.google.com/maps/place/竹馬/@26.2895857,127.7555579,166m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x34e5132df97e8aa1:0x86dcd4dbac6d60f0!8m2!3d26.289313!4d127.755977!16s%2Fg%2F11bbx0ynhf?entry=ttu

We take the menu for 2500 yen, which is about $16.50..

We start with excellent sashimi. I forgot to take a photo.

I also forgot to take a photo of the stewed aubergine and beef course that fitted in there somewhere. We drink lots of ice cold beer.

The room is tiny. We sit at the bar and watch the owner cook up magic in front of us. $16!

I geta gift of Shark Jerky from Miyako Jima!

Not much happening really, especially on the boat front. I have to wait until Kamiya san fits the sleeve on the top of the mast before I can rig the halyards, shrouds and forestay. Once that is done I can raise the mast, attach the boom and gaff; then bend on the mainsail. I have also tracked down a Japanese sailmaker who can make me a new jib. Good friend Mitsuda san was going to do this but could not get hold of tan sail material. The new place also say they can get me and new furler, https://www.yuukoumarine.jp/collections/smart-collection-120/products/sel549-100-12

Chatting to Kiyuna san about why he never gets tired. ” Easy Neil san, I never work, I only play!” At the moment I pretty much serve by standing and waiting.

I do a few things.

I mostly bumble around and gently enjoy living in Okinawa in November. It is now reasonably cool but still sunny with blue skies. I no longer use the A/C.

Komesu san from the Ginowan Health Service contacts me. She explains that she is a Public Health Nurse and has been looking through my health records and would like to talk to me. We have a special appointment and she spends an hour going over my potential health problems as an old timer.

She sets up a series of tests for my arterial health and other stuff. Everything is free! She explains with the help of Google Translate, which has changed the world, that Japan takes preventative medicine very seriously and they keep track of the health records of everyone in Ginowan over the age of 40.

I go to buy some wine from Hamada san for my stomach’s sake. She looks different and we realize it is the first time I have seen her without mask! She gives me a Xmas bird.

On the less positive side, my face swells up horribly again. I look like a monster and little children burst into tears when they see me. I go to see Kinjo sensei.

He discovers rot in the jawbone. This means losing another tooth. Boo!

Childhood memories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqwq4AgMiik

My principal occupation over the last weeks has been trying to please AMFIE, https://www.amfie.org/en

This lot look after my pitiful pension from CERN. They are dreadful. Apparently it is time to update my file. They demand a slew of documents amongst which are: a notarized copy of my passport, a gas bill, my last tax return in Japan, letter from OIST stating I have retired, my last salary at OIST, my end of contract letter from CERN, 23 years ago!, my U.S. Social Security Number, Japanese My Number, and so much more. They are insane. Do not go near them! I run around from office to office of confused Japanese administration, who are very suspicious. It is pure Kafka.

The boat resurrection has slowed somewhat as big business has to be done. The metal sleeve has to be placed over the top of the mast, not under my control. The new rope for the rigging has not arrived yet. Let’s not talk about the new jib and roller reefing system . I have faith in Mitsuda san.

The copper wraps around the mast to prevent wear from the gaff jaws, if you see what I mean. The copper sheet has a mind of its own and does not want to be wrapped. It springs away. It is happy laying pretty much flat and it is a struggle to get it wrapped tightly around the mast. It is a job that needs six people to keep the copper from springing away.

As the needle for my annual free flu jab slides into my upper arm, I mention to the doctor that my family in England seem to have had 7 Covid jabs. I have only had three. I feel inadequate.

“You want more?” the doctor asks a bit incredulously. Tomorrow I go for my fourth.

Son James comes over to get the lovely, little boat back on her feet again after near sinking and severe damage in the last typhoon. I am old, stiff, rib damaged and generally poor at manual things. James is young, supple and amazingly good at manual things of all varieties.

This post will be essentially narrative free. There is far too much to write about. We have had ten days of restoring the boat in blazing sun and torrential thunderstorms. You will have to get the gist through lots of photos, videos and runic captions. It has been the best fun!

We take the boat out of the water and set to a major clean and refurbishing.

Once the grime, seaweed, shells and crabs are removed we move the boat away from the lifts to get on with the work.

The plan is to strip out all the rotted wood, slide a copper tube down the middle of the mast as a central support, loads of epoxy mixed with sawdust and finally a titanium or maybe gold sheath.

One of the strands of the forestay has unravelled. Oh dear, I need a new forestay with eye splices at each end. Kiyuna san turns up with a good length of perfect wire cable that he had hanging around. Next day a man called Teru san shows up to make a new forestay!

Kiyuna san repacks the stern gland. This is a job that I have failed at over the years but Kiyuna san makes mincemeat of it. We have a hilarious trip around Naha boat shops trying to locate packing rope.

I still have to replace the halyards. I need a new jib and jib furling system. We have to epoxy and sheath the mast head. It will get done.

So, many thanks to Kiyuna san and all the other Okinawan boat people who have been invaluable. Above all thanks to James who spent a 2 week vacation sweating it out in a scorching Okinawan boatyard. Maybe I could start an adventure holiday business.

A foundation of meaningful pleasure is contrast. I mean if you drink Champagne all the time, it becomes mundane. In the last two days I have had meaningful eating.

Arisa’s birthday – we go to a tiny restaurant that has seven seats. The owner does the cooking, the serving the chat, the drinks and I imagine the washing up. Wonderful man. It is a set meal and crikey it is so Japanese and so good!

We have the best time. A guy sitting close to us understands that it is a birthday party and buys us high quality Shochu. “I am a Shochu sommelier!” he proclaims. The set meal is 2500 yen or, as friend Greta points out, the price of a sandwich in Geneva.

The next night Ichiro san, Tomomi san and I get together for the first time since the wedding of the century. https://thequietripple.com/2023/07/07/fairytale/

About seven years ago I meet a young couple hanging around the OIST entrance. Evan is American, Maki is Japanese and she is finishing her degree in Marine Science at the University of the Ryukyus. I encourage her to apply for a doctorate position at OIST.

Maki got her doctorate earlier this year – yay! She has also had a child – yay! Evan studied the art of charcuterie and has won several prizes for his produce. They opened The Bacon Bar Japan, which has become one of the most successful restaurants in Okinawa. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bacon+Bar+Japan/@26.387351,127.8256247,17z/data=!3m2!4b1!5s0x34e50fca3b2f8629:0x1e4af3f159917673!4m6!3m5!1s0x34e50f04ba150bc9:0xdbfbc6e1d957e09b!8m2!3d26.3873462!4d127.8281996!16s%2Fg%2F11h5k_xv1v?entry=ttu

I am so pleased for them.

It is an excellent restaurant, go there!

Two great nights out – so different but both so much fun.

You will remember that Jack Aubrey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Aubrey has to bring his badly damaged ship to Desolation Island to make repairs. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Grande+Terre/@-49.187292,69.3142365,82938m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0xb36b481ca16fd0e7:0xb9964abcebd3657f!8m2!3d-49.3948275!4d69.3544625!16s%2Fm%2F0lc9n1w?entry=ttu

I am back in Okinawa and, having more or less recovered from the major bash I had, can get on with repairing my poor boat that has been much distressed by typhoon damage.

However, Okinawa is not Desolation Island – far from it!

There are two major problems to be fixed; the jib is ripped to shreds and the jib furling equipment is smashed beyond redemption. The beautiful cockpit cover has had big chunks torn out of it. Who are you going to call? Mitsuda san of course. https://thequietripple.com/2019/11/07/a-cover-up-2/

He is a cooling stream to a panting hart. We have very little language in common but we understand each other. He will repair the cover, cut a new jib and track down the best furling system that will certainly be different yet probably much better than the original. Hooray!

Those are the big jobs but there are many, many other things that need to be done. I plead with son James and he agrees to come over for some time to help me out. Thanks James!

Laughing, coughing and sneezing are still very painful but I am on the mend and now look forward to a period of fun boat repair.

Okinawa is not Desolation Island.

I am invigorated!

Friend Eli gets me a first class ticket on JAL for less than the Expedia economy price! I do not know how he does it but if you are going to fly internationally always contact eli@jetnsave.com. Drop my name, it will make all the difference!

Anyway, once home, I set off to get a rental car. I trip on a manhole cover just outside my place and wham down on my ribs. It is a very heavy fall. I have no time to break my fall with my hands nor knees nor head. I go down like a felled Giant Redwood, but faster. Ouch! I do not feel too bad but definitely shaken.

The pain does not go away, in fact it gets much worse. I cannot take deep breaths nor move easily. The next day, I go to the doctor who refers me to a nearby orthopaedics clinic. No good as nobody speaks English. I am downhearted, very jet lagged and in pain. I am rescued by Arisa san who makes an appointment for me at a great clinic. Thanks Arisa.

I went to this clinic years ago when I had meniscus problems. https://thequietripple.com/2014/07/17/i-bury-my-heart-at-wounded-knee/

I think all clinics and hospitals Japan are private businesses. Doctors and nurses are employed by the clinic not the Government. The clinics bill the Government and the patient pays a small percentage. I pay 1,160yen for my treatment.

Lots of X-rays and thorough examination by Wantanabe sensei. He says that nothing is broken but there is severe deep bruising and there is nothing he can do do about it. He suggests painkillers but I explain that I am from Scotland. He says the pain should go away in a week or so and that I should take it easy.

I like taking it easy! It is my hobby.

My journey North and back was dominated by my swollen face. It was very bad and made it difficult to talk, to eat, to whistle etc. I also felt miserable. A pity. As fate would have it, lots of old friends were clustered around the Port Townshendish area and I did not go to see any of them due to my shame, vanity and overall discomfort.

So I gently trundle South through Washington, Idaho, Nevada and finally back to California. My cheek gently deflates as the days pass. I feel ever more gleeful as we bumble through incredible ountryside .

I camp in amazing places and spend 2 or3 days in some particularly fine spots.

I avoid all major roads and zig zag my way through thousands of miles of empty country.

I cook every night over a camp fire with the trusty skillet.

I am away for 15 days of boy scoutery and drive 2,600 miles. Good way to pass the time. Thank you North West for your incredible countryside.

The truck gallantly shepherds me back to San Francisco.

I go down to Stanford to make sure everything is Ok now they have a new President and Provost.

I try to fight it off but it is no good, I have to snuffle around in the undergrowth pretending to be a Bear or an Eagle. I set off to drive Highway 101 from San Francisco to its terminus in Port Angeles, Washington. There I will catch a ferry to Victoria Island where a friend will give me local knowledge on snuffling. Thence East through British Columbia to emerge somewhere in Montana. If I and the truck are in good Nick we will then make our way back to San Francisco. There is no route planned.

The drive up the pacific coast takes about 3 days and is fabulous.

I eat a lot of fish and chips.

Unfortunately I wake up one morning with a grotesquely swollen face. At first I think this is a prelude to more major dental surgery but as time goes on I have no pain in my teeth just my jawbone and face. I now realise that a rattlesnake something similar must have slithered into the camper during the night to embrace my cheek. Anyway it is a huge drag as I both feel and look monstrous. It is even difficult to open my mouth sufficiently to gobble fish and chips.

Just before I get on the ferry to Canada, I check my documents. Oh no, I have left my green card in San Francisco. I can go to Canada but getting back into the States will be very difficult and definitely wildly expensive. I am so stupid.

I drive to nearby Port Townshend where an Englishman, Leo, is rebuilding a classic sailing boat. If you are one of the few people that does not follow his YouTube channel, you can start now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oET1gNnK73I Watch from the beginning of the project a couple of years ago.

So I decide to explore Washington and Idaho.

After 10 days of camping I get a motel room so I can post on the blog.