Something I have neglected, as of late, is Okinawan sunsets. July is the greatest season but the sun sets far too far in the West from where I now live, necessitating a longish walk or bike trip to take photos.
From my balcony, at this late period of the year, er, situation, I can get great shots.
I am happy here.
Hooray! I have a beautiful new cover for the boat. It is a thing of beauty and therefore a joy forever.
The cover was hand made by yet another Okinawan boating personality, the charming Mitsuda san.
The cover is very tough canvas and, after much discussion and several fittings with Mitsuda san, he speaks no English, it does not matter, I now have what I think is a very typhoon proof cover.
The cover has many little design details that come from Mitsuda san’s rich creativity.
The boat is delighted. She wriggles with sassy glee as she sports her new handmade coat before the neighboring boats. She is so happy. So she should be. I never spent this kind of money on clothes for myself !
Thank you Mitsuda san for doing such an outstanding job. It is true craftsmanship. He is now making me a sail cover. The boat will be the best dressed Norfolk Gypsy in the Eastern Hemisphere!
An aside. Next to my apartment building is a beautiful vegetable garden. https://thequietripple.com/2018/01/20/torpor/
November is planting time in Okinawa. I have become friends with the couple that work the land. They speak not a word of English. It does not matter.
This blog is a record of my time in Okinawa. Last night Shuri Jo burned down to the ground. This is the most awful thing. I have to mention it.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201910310034.html
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/10/31/national/shuri-castle-fire/#.XbuxBkUzYUF
Okinawa is a small island. Shuri Jo represented the history and culture of Okinawa to all inhabitants and also to newcomers like me.
Too awful. So sad.
Jeremy and I head off to Zamami Jima for a few days of fun. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Zamami,+Shimajiri+District,+Okinawa/@26.1978192,127.2473818,22282m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x34faacb90bb22d49:0x681887c9961eb8b9!8m2!3d26.2286041!4d127.3032561 It is a 50 km sail across the wild and wistful ocean and the Norfolk Gypsy has been trembling with anticipation since I mentioned the voyage to her a few days ago.
We started well but soon the wind shifted and as usual ended up right on the nose and we labored over with many tacks before giving up and firing up the trusty 1GM. What a joy to have a reliable diesel motor. The boat also seemed sluggish into the wind and the sail sagged in a strange way. The reason will become clear later.
Are we downhearted? No! It is late October and we are in shorts and t-shirts. Amazingly we are the only boat out there apart from ferries and stray fishing boats. Best sailing anywhere and it is our private domain.
We get to Zamami harbor just as it is getting dark and tie up to a convenient pontoon.
The first day’s project is to sail over to neighboring island of Tokashiki to track down a reputed Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter that I have been told is gently rotting in the harbor. As soon as we set off, the forestay tangles with the jib roller reefing set up. I cannot work out how this could happen until I look up to see a big split in the top of the mast. Disaster!
Back to the harbor and down comes the mast.
I put 4 lashings around the mast head that close up the split very nicely. Many thanks to Mr Pritchard for teaching me knots when I was 12. I also put on large washers under the rings to prevent the bolts from pulling through.
Getting the mast up again was very difficult as every possible rope and wire got hopelessly tangled. No time to go to Tokashiki. The pilot cutter will have to wait.
Two dives the next morning.
Zamami is the best place to dive. The water is as clear as Bombay gin. So many turtles. Thanks to Yoishi san for the photos.
The Kerama islands are the best places to sail. After the dives we take the boat out for a test run to see if the rings and lashings will hold. . Beautiful sub tropical islands, white sandy beaches, blue, blue sea, stiff breeze, not a single other boat. This was one of my best sails ever. The Norfolk Gypsy loves wind and she galloped around the islands like a colt, er that does not work, like a filly.
Home again on Saturday to watch England versus All Blacks. We leave at dawn and surge over to Okinawa in bright sunshine. No trouble from the mast repair.
Back home, we eat a huge goat stew, drink beer and fall asleep at the beginning of the 2nd half!
How can I fall asleep in an historic game? Age probably.
Here is a short video:
Off we go! It is early in the morning and our destination is Nagannu island.
Everything goes perfectly as we dip our way across the East China Sea to an uninhabited sub tropical island. What could be better? It is 28 degrees, bright, sunny and the water is warm. We are sailing a lovingly restored Norfolk Gypsy, who behaves immaculately; breeding don’t you know.
We anchor just off the island using my brand-new, tailor-made, coral anchor. https://thequietripple.com/2019/06/23/now/
We snorkel over the amazing coral. Jeremy sees a White Tipped Shark!
Oh dear, time to head home. Oh dear, things start to go wrong. We raise the anchor, in fact we raise the rode and chain as the anchor has mysteriously detached itself ! Jeremy dives in and heroically rescues it. I would have been very sad to lose my beautiful anchor on the first time I used it.
The chain was attached to the anchor with a stainless steel carabiner, which I thought would do the job nicely. Obviously not.
Anyway off we go, expecting a pleasant broad reach back to Okinawa. It is indeed very pleasant until we get close enough to recognize buildings. I do not recognize any. I then realize that I had not lowered the center plate when we left the beach and therefore the boat had been drifting south at about the same speed as we were sailing east. I felt very stupid. We now had to beat back up against the wind for about 15 kms. This she did valiantly but time ran out and we had to motor the last 5 or so as the sun went down behind us. God bless the mighty Yanmar 1GM.
We finally got back to the marina in the dark and I completed the display of incompetence by crashing into our mooring pontoon. Could not see anything.
Here is a video:
On the way back the apartment, much blasted by sun and wind, we stopped off to celebrate the opening of ‘The Bacon Bar’. This is an business started by 2 young people from OIST who are going to make bacon and all kinds of charcuterie. There is no tradition of charcuterie on an island that is obsessed with pork. Strange. Go there!
Japan was hit by a ferocious typhoon, many died and there was vast damage. My very sincere best wishes go to all who suffered.
The rugby match between Japan and Scotland was threatened with cancellation. I knew it would be played as the Japanese were so determined to win their matches in front of the world but also to demonstrate their resilience in the face of natural disaster.
Japan have never beaten Scotland.
Scotland started very strongly and scored a try early in the first half. There was an inevitability about it. The Scots bigger, more experienced, would crush the spirit out of Japan. Not so, there followed the best 40 minutes of rugby I have ever seen. The Brave Blossoms, what a great name, played with such intensity, such ferocity, such speed that they scored three wonderful tries and had 80% of possession. Scotland were not in the game.
Japan scored again at the beginning of the second half. 28 -7 Japan had the game.
I was so pleased and proud for the team and the nation. Japan needed good news.
Scotland came back strongly and scored 2 tries in 5 minutes; great credit to them. 28-21. Japan looked tired, Scotland looked strong. 20 minutes to go. Oh no, Scotland were going to win. How can I have said that? I am Scottish.
Japan held on for a historic victory. Best game I have seen in years. I was almost in tears.
Japan have won all 4 of their matches beating the giants of Ireland and Scotland.
Well done Japan! Sorry Scotland for your defeat and the fact that I supported the other team. Japan has that effect on people.
I mentioned in a previous post that I had received a notification from the Japan Pension Service that I was going to get a state pension. It has been a complex business but is now sorted out.
Here is a sub plot. Mitsuba san is a sailmaker and boat cover maker and he is going to make me a tailor-made cover for the boat. He comes by on Monday and starts measuring up the boat for its new set of clothes. There will be several fittings before the bespoke cover is finished.
We have a lot of fun. The next day the estimate comes and it is a lot of money, about $1000. Oh dear, in my diminished circumstances I try to avoid expensive stuff but I really have no alternative and, although I have no bespoke suits, my boat will have one.
This morning, I get a letter from the Japan Pension Service saying they will deposit 120,000¥ in my bank account, apparently for back payments.
Yay! This covers the cost of my, er, cover. I have always been tremendously lucky.
A huge typhoon is roaring towards mainland Japan, which will certainly mess up the Rugby World Cup. It will miss us, but even at the edge, we are starting to feel the effects.
I predict bad weather by bird behavior. Golden Plovers and Kentish Plovers suddenly congregate on grassy space near the shore.
I hope Scotland can play Japan despite the typhoon. I do not know who to support.
The propeller shaft passes through the stern tube and in the stern tube there are bearings that allow the shaft to spin freely, er I think. The tube has to be packed with grease. To do so, I use one of my favorite systems on the boat, the stern tube greaser. It is very Victorian article made of brass which, when you turn the handle on top, forces grease through a pipe into the stern tube.
The cylinder only contains a tiny amount of grease that is probably 20 or more years old. I take great pleasure in refilling the tube with brand new grease.
Safe in the knowledge that my my stern tube greaser is in tip top condition, I go for a wonderful sail. Nagannu Island is the biggest of a collection of sand islands that lie about half way between the Kerama Islands and Okinawa. This is my destination. It is a glorious day, blue, blue and 30 degrees.
On the way out the wind is light but all the same we manage a steady 3 knots. There are quite big swells but the Norfolk Gypsy is in no way concerned. The only things that concern me are the huge cargo ships and ferries that thunder up and down the main shipping lane off Okinawa.
When you see them approaching, it seems inevitable that they will smash right into you but by the time you get close they always seem to miss.
It takes about 2 1/2 hours to get to Nagannu and there the wind says goodbye and we flop around for a while. Expecting a long slow journey home I turn around and head back to Okinawa. Immediately the wind gets up, the sea gets up and off we go. The wind has turned and is now blowing pretty much from where we want to get to. I expect several tacks, but to my delight, the Norfolk Gypsy points much better into the wind that I had anticipated and we hurtle across at 5 to 6 knots. It is an exhilarating sail and the stuff that I have dreamed of for the last couple of years of restoration.
It takes 1 hour 15 minutes to get back to the bouys at the entrance of Ginowan Marina. There, mysteriously, the wind disappears and I fire up the mighty Yanmar 1GM. What joy to have reliable and reasonably powerful engine to take you home.
A wonderful day at sea. This is October. Notice the flag in the video to see how close she is sailing to the wind, I mean for those sailors amongst you.
Er, this is a pretty technical rigging post, feel free not to read.
The shrouds on my boat are steel cables that are attached to the top of the mast. One goes to the port side of the boat, one to the starboard and one to the bow. The one to the bow is called the forestay. They hold up the mast and are under great stress when sailing. They are attached to the boat by lashings, in my case super strong dyneema cord. The badly missed Nick set up all my shrouds expertly in May. https://thequietripple.com/2019/05/08/shroud/
I have now done quite a bit of sailing and the boat has behaved impeccably with no breakage. However the shrouds have become increasingly sloppy, they flap around like anything. This has to be fixed.
I am baffled as to why the shrouds have become so floppy. Can steel cables stretch? It is true that they have been lying around inactive for maybe 15 years and have only been put under tension in my last couple of weeks sailing. I can imagine them stretching a few millimeters but not the several centimeters needed to induce the existing slack. Maybe it is the dyneema lashings that have stretched.
Anyway I re-lash, I think the first time I have used that verb, all the shroud lashings.
I hope they stay tight.
I went to a dinner last night with great trepidation. That afternoon, whilst I had been sailing, Japan played Ireland in the Rugby World Cup. I was terrified that someone would blurt out the result before I got to see the game. No one did and late at night I watched one of the best games ever. Ireland are one of the top teams in the world, Japan are not. Japan won. This is a huge upset based on courage, skill, endurance, teamwork, you know, the right stuff.
Sometimes a sporting event is a wonderful definition of national character. Japan be proud. Gambatte!
During the day, I went sailing but there was little wind. Great to be on the water.
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