The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

I have been wallowing in the pleasure of attaching  final bits of trim to the boat.

Tim sensei comes down to lend a hand.

There are long strips of trim that attach to the gunwhale, bits of which have gone missing over the years.

The end of the line. Notice the elegant profile of the trim.

One lacking strip is short  – 15cm

The other lacking bit is much longer – 128 cm

What to do? I go to the little hardware, carpentry, woodworking shop hard by my house. I have written about this place before. https://quietripple.wordpress.com/2018/08/15/succulents/

I explain the dimensions, profile and length of the missing pieces to the old gentleman who gave me the succulents.We ponder strategy. We have hardly a word in any common language. It does not seem to matter that much.

He gets straight to it.

He knows what he is doing.

He explains that he cannot reproduces the exact profile of the existing trim but he can get pretty close. I will have to spend a couple of hours wielding the rasp to get it more accurate but the main job is done.

His wife with the product.

The whole thing took an hour, just a couple of hundred meters from home.  It costs 1000 yen. Every thing is easy in Okinawa.

I decide to replace all the old rigging with new rope, halyards, topping lift, sheets and that sort of thing. I go to Yomitan to buy rope. For 7 years I have made  bizarre requests in sign language  at this hardware shop and the owner and I have become friends. He cuts me a great deal.

200 meters.

So, although rigging frenzy is very much on my mind, Kiyuna san and I huddle over bilge pumping.

My friend Natori san has contacted previous owners of the boat and they have all complained of  engine compartment flooding.  Rain here is ferocious rather than gently permanent as in the Western Highlands. A few hours of rain, during which there is no tarpaulin nor cockpit cover rigged, results in flooding of the engine compartment. Er, you guessed it, the engine compartment is where the engine lives,. You do not want your engine to be submerged.

We conspire to set up the ultimate solution.

Meet Gulper. She is a pump that Kiyuna san pulls out of his saddle bag. She is appropriately named.

Gulper is wired onto a switch so that, as soon as water creeps into the bilge, she blasts off.

I can sleep easy at night.

A short octopus diversion.

Back to rigging. I attach the jib to the roller rigging set up with the help of a couple of guys who were in the vicinity.

Jibbed

Loops at the ends of ropes are important..The classics loop at the end of a rope is the eye splice.

I cannot tie it

What is more, I need an eye splice with a thimble.

Thimble is the metal ring.

I start trying to do this by myself. Kiyuna san is horrified.

He says, “Miyagi san will tie the eye splice”. 2 minutes later, Miyagi san shows on a scooter.

These friends are eye splice experts

I love the Ginowan Marina.

So, now I come to rigging the sails. The boat came with many lengths of rope, many blocks, many shackles and from these I have to reconstruct the set up of the sails. It is a complex job.

I finally unpack the new sails.

!992 sailbag with 2018 sailbag.

Will I ever be able to fold the jib like this again?

Jib halyard, throat halyard, peak halyard, topping lift not there yet.

To raise and lower the sails you use ropes that are called halyards. To make the halyards work efficiently there are complex arrangements of pulleys. I try to figure it all out. Once I have understood, I will replace all the rope.

Reefing a sail means making it smaller. This is very important as you do not want to have too much sail up in strong winds or else the boat will blow over and you will drown. The Norfolk Gypsy has a sophisticated method for reefing the mainsail. This is predicated by the existence of a plate  attached to the gooseneck pin with two small double blocks attached to it, which the reefing lines go through. Are you with me?

Anyway, I do not have this plate and so I have to make a new one. What a great sense of security to know that Nagahama san is on my side.

This is a wonderful place. These people can make  anything from metal.

Nagahama san is the boss here. He is young but has obviously got it. We discuss making a new reefing block support plate. You would think that this would be difficult seeing that I speak limited Japanese and he speaks limited English. I have worked with him before. https://quietripple.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/skegness/  It makes me happy that complex design questions, how long? how wide? what weld? what bracket? what diameter fixing hole? can be resolved  through common excitement rather than advanced language skills.

He is a star!

When he is not making reefing line pulley support plates for Norfolk Gypsies, Nagahama san builds high precision wave turbines for Shintake sensei. He is going back to the Maldives in November. https://www.oist.jp/news-center/news/2017/9/20/sustainable-future-powered-sea

Alack, another minor typhoon is passing over. This I know by flocks of Pacific Golden Plovers and Kentish plovers sheltering from the wind at Shioya harbor.

Kentsish

Notice how the Pacific Golden Plover is already in winter plumage in August.

Plover discusses Brexit.

I am now at the stage of screwing on lots of bits and pieces to make the boat both pretty and sailable. It is very rewarding after months of sanding.

The boat has a fan club. Every day Japanese sailors pass by for a chat. They start the conversation by cursing the dullness of their own mass produced boats. This is polite behavior.

I glue the nameplate onto the back of the cockpit.

A moment away from the boatyard. I live in village called Onna son. There is a very strong local culture that I have been lucky enough to have been involved in. One thing I did not know is that Onna son has a flourishing choral society. My friend Chinen san turns out to be a member of the choir.

Yay Chinen san. She is a scream!

She sends tickets for Saturday’s concert.

Chinen san in back row. Spot red hair flash. Click on photo.

I am so pleased to have been invited. The place was packed, there must have been 250 people there. Two hours of Madrigals, Russian stuff, Japanese stuff, Okinawan classics, Vivaldi and stuff. I love to hear people sing. They finished with the Hallelujah chorus. Onna son is full of surprises. Aregato Chinen san.

On Sunday, elegant ex colleague Tomomi san came to visit.

The water at the boatyard is crystal clear and full of fish.

Tomomi on boat.

Tomomi makes exquisite Ikebana arrangements.

Tomomi has prepared a delicious lunch, all of which she cooked herself. We sit in the shade on the harbor wall.  Kiyuna san shows up and is hilarious. It turns out that in addition to his engineering skills, he also built all the tables that line the harbor side. Each uses driftwood as the main support structure. They exploit the strange shapes of the driftwood and are thematically similar to Tomomi’s Ikebana.

Notice driftwood fish biting the table.

Go fish!

It is raining very hard. After my weekly early morning root canal fun, I rush down to see if the boat is OK.

I had  rigged the tarpaulin so I was not too worried but as it is also very windy, there is always the possibility that the tarp has blown away.

The boat fills up very quickly. The water fills the bilges, the cockpit, the engine compartment and the cabin. It is a major drawback. I am trying to think of a way to drill some kind of drainage system through the hull that could be open when the boat is on land but can be shut off when she is at sea.

It really rains here.

After only a couple of hours, the cockpit space is full of water.

I had set up a ridge pole for the tarpaulin. This was a long piece of gunwhale trim that I had sanded for hours, given many coats of wood treater and then varnish. The weight of the water snapped it like a twig.

I am so stupid.

I spend 2 hours re-rigging the tarpaulin in the pouring rain. This is actually fun as the rain here is warm. It is a bit like a  2 hour shower.

I also fitted some lateral slats and stretched the tarp very tight. Fingers crossed. The horizontal white line half way up the cockpit is the engine hatch cover. Rain like today would fill up the cockpit in 2 hours and flood the engine.

We will put the engine in soon and I cannot allow it to be submerged every time it rains.

.

Just beside my apartment there is a family-run Do-It-Yourself store. It is run by an old couple and I think their daughter.

I have got to know them because I pop in a lot to buy odd screws, bolts, rope and such for the boat. They are very Okinawan. They greet me with “Haisai!”

The business is actually divided into 3 parts, like Gaul. First, is the DIY store, second is a carpentry shop and third is a small nursery, specializing in succulents and cacti. All three are run in an offhand, disinterested but very welcoming way. I mean I really don’t think they care if you buy anything; they just like to have you there.

I buy about 6 loose screws and wander around the succulents.

Succulent

Red flower

Yellow flowers

Choose your color

Skin disease.

Anyway, as I am wandering around the old man wanders up with a wooden box containing a cactus and some succulents.

He says, “Presentu.”

Okinawa is such a nice place to live.

I have reached that glorious stage whereby, after months of washing, sanding, wood treatment, sanding, varnishing, sanding, undercoat, sanding, compound, sanding, painting, sanding, anti-slip paint; I can now start to put everything together.

I replace the inspection hatch covers in the cockpit well. Please God make them watertight!

I screw down the protection strips on the engine hatch. Thank God for electric my screwdriver. I have screwed in hundreds of screws so far.

Nice new teak cleats.

I apply my official  Japanese registration stickers. I am hopeless at this.

The weather is very windy, rainy and hot. I strip off the backing of a sticker and the wind blows it all over the place. I lunge at the side of the cabin with the sticker flapping. One, at least, goes agley. Of course, I should wait for a calm day to do this but I get too excited.

Kiyuna san passes by and gives me a palm tree fan. I need it. Aregato. My shirt is soaked with rain rather from sweat. Makes a change.

Next, I screw on the thin wooden beading that draws out the beauty of of the gunwhale, if you see what I mean.

So, this is an interesting example of my advancing age. I place the beading and reach for the box, in which I have stored the screws. It is not there. I look around the vicinity, I look in the cockpit and cabin of the boat, I look in the car, I go to the toilet and drinks machine, which I had recently visited; the screw box has disappeared. I repeat all the above. Nothing.

This is so frustrating, after months of preparation I stumble. I am close to tears.

I had put the electric screwdriver, God bless her, bag on top of the screw box

Most of beading fitted. Notice jib sheet guide and cleat on the combing. She almost looks new.

Very mickle – I attach the bullseyes that guide the roller reefing line to the cockpit. You may have noticed lots of little clasps that will hold down the cockpit cover, er, when I get one.

Just a short serious note: Governor Onaga died last week. I had the honor to meet him several times. A truly great man, who cared deeply for Okinawa.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/08/11/national/politics-diplomacy/70000-protest-u-s-base-plan-honor-late-okinawa-governor/#.W3FXMZMzYUE

Rest in Peace, Onaga Sensei

I spend the first part of the morning in my second home – the Dentist. Yep more root canal stuff. I ask Mohawk Mori sensei how many visits he thinks this will take. ” Neil san, this will take months.” So be it.  My visit costs me 880 yen.

Back to the boatyard to continue the good work. I am now enabled and have made a lot of progress on the more cosmetic side of the restoration.

I stick down the Treadmaster mats. The battery is to apply pressure to the mats to enhance adhesion.

More Pollock

This is so much fun. I am making visible progress and the finishing line is in sight. The Becher’s Brook of electrics still has to be jumped  but I am feeling confident.

Treadmaster done, handrails done, cleats done, combings, er not seen much in photo, done.

All the running rigging, like halyards and sheets, is black after years of  Okinawan mildew. I put them through the washing machine.

Much cleaner but entangled

I buy more sunscreen.

I knew that it would rain like crazy the night after we had re-trailered the boat. I am fed up with the boat filling up with water, so I rigged a big tarpaulin.

The trick with tarpaulins is to get the water to run off rather than gathering in slack parts of the cover. This is a science.

During the night, it rains in a very South Asian way. I rush down to the boatyard.  It is still raining. The tarp is horribly sunken with gallons of rainwater sagging in either side of the central support.  It is still raining hard. No work today.

It is raining  and there are swimming pools in the tarpaulin, however not in the boat. One good thing is I get to wear a Breton Sailor smock that my brother Ian sent me.

Today, er like a day later, it is back to 32 degrees with 80% humility.

I am so happy to get on with stuff. I install the samson post and then the bowsprit. Neither of these steps were easy. Patience and slowness are lessons that Kiyuna san has taught me and eventually everything works out just fine.

Samson post and bowsprit

She is installed. I will replace old rope with new, now I understand how it works.

I then move on to the Treadmaster mats that will be glued to the cabin roof.

Spot the Treadmaster mats.

These mats give grip as you stumble around the roof of the cabin trying to do sailing stuff.

Placing them is demanding. There has to be perfect left, right symmetry. I mean the mats on the port side should be identically positioned in relation to the mats on the starboard side.  Also I do not want to smear adhesive all over the place. This entails lots of measuring and taping.

Only the beginning

It is so hot!  I guzzle bottles of cold, cold water from the adjacent drinks machine.  I carefully align the mats and start taping . Soon I realize that I can not do this job.  I can not concentrate. My actions are clumsy and slow and I realize that I have to pack it in and er buy a pick up.

Working in 35 degree heat is not easy.

The Kitagama kiln is I think the biggest in Okinawa. It is awe inspiring or awesome. if you prefer. https://quietripple.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/winter-in-okinawa/

Exquisite ceramics produced by craftsmen using the same techniques as their ancestors. Yes, quite, jolly good , ho hum:  what really excites me about the Kitagama, in my current state of mind, is their wood yard.

This only a remote corner

They have a field full of big chunks of wood that people have donated. The wood is eventually used to fire the kiln.

Some of the big balks are ideal for supporting the boat on the low trailer.

Thank you Matsuda sensei!

I have 4 like the above and today they come into their own. We move the boat off the high trailer!

It has been pouring with rain and there is a strong wind.

We gently lift her off the high cradle.

It is very windy and she begins to swing about.

So we move her out over the water and drop till she is nearly in the sea and very protected.

We bring in the low trailer and start to position her. Notice big balks of timber.

Final adjustments. Tabata san is of course on the phone.

Back where she belongs

So this is wonderful. I can now get on with all the jobs that have been delayed for 6 weeks. Thanks everyone at the boatyard for making the boat-move so much fun.