The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

I have to spend the day at the university. There are matters unsettled that I have to contribute to. Yay, the lake in front of the university has attracted duck that I have never seen before in Okinawa.

Gadwall!

Eurasian Teal

I love birdwatching. I am  delighted that the thrill has not gone. I mean a lot of sensations are blunted by old age but my excitement of seeing  birds when I do not expect to see them is as intense as when I was 20.

Near my crib, there is a retirement home for old fighting bulls. Touchingly, Egrets hang around the old bulls to pick off ticks and stuff.  On the way back from OIST I watch a very gentle Egret nurse an old bull.

Intermediate Egret framed by old fighting bull

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 here, it is a good idea to raise the rudder plate and this is done by pulling on a thin rope that goes up inside the rudder and is cleated on the tiller.

My plate. Notice that there is no hole or any other method of connecting the rope to raise the plate.

Hmmm, how to connect the rope? I consult the excellent Neil Thompson Boats who make the Norfolk Gypsy http://www.neilthompsonboats.co.uk/.  They send back detailed instruction with each step illustrated by photos. Thank you.

First I drill a hole in the top of the plate.

Green thing is a drill.

I then mix up some epoxy glue.

Araldite

Nice colors

Next I drench the rope-end in glue and force it into the hole.

The rope goes right through the plate and just protrudes on the other side.

I then clamp, using some plastic so that the clamp does not get stuck to the plate.

Such fun. Of course I should really have sanded off all the old antifouling paint  and repainted with new before doing this. But you know how it is, all my life excitement has always got the better of me.

The boat has several non standard features. One I particularly like is the  cockpit cocktail table, which was in a terrible state but has responded well to care and attention.

This will come in very handy when anchored in beautiful remote cove  and you need somewhere to put your martini.

Extra joy as a tin of Brasso arrives in the post, sent by brother Alan.

Watch out brass work. Thanks Alan. Notice the weather.

Beautiful day at the end of cherry blossom time. Okinawan cherry trees are a different variety from the classic cherry trees of Tokyo.

Yay Kawazuzakura!

The Okinawan trees are named Kawazuzakura and the first to bloom in Japan, exploding in late January, early February. This morning I am out early on the top of a hill, looking through cherry blossom down to the blue, blue sea and the startling white of the waves breaking of the reef. I am unable to take a good photo. It is beyond photography.

The Japanese are very fond of cherry blossom, ye ken

Prince Charles drinks Cherry Brandy

And so down to the boatyard where I have a long chat with Sato san about the restoration. He is a very wise and experienced man so I give him a bottle of Islay Mist in the hope that he will like me.

I set to to clean the fuel tank. I unscrew 30 screws and slice through all the sealant with an Opinel that James gave a decade or so ago. I undo all the fuel lines, which submit very satisfactorily to the power of the spanner.

It takes a long time to take out the screws.

I lever off the lid.

To my surprise, the tank is full of diesel. I do not know why but I had assumed that it would be empty.

Golly

How to remove the diesel? I feel very pleased with myself when I realize I can bail out the fuel with an old water bottle and pour it in the jerry can that came with the boat.

Experimental set up.

It works very well.

I am elated. I have opened the tank and am now draining it all by myself. I had never imagined that there was more diesel in the tank than the jerry can could hold. This was however the case, which I realized when the funnel, which  was jammed in tightly,  shot out of the filler hole with a loud pop. I do not think I have been more surprised but manage not to shriek.

The diesel was full of muck and water.

Hooray!

I am very pleased with myself.

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.

Today I determine to open up the fuel tank and clean out inside sludge, supermarket chariots, old bikes etc.

This is the tank lid screwed down by lots of screws and sealant. Very dirty and rusty.

I persuade myself that it would be much better to soak all the potentially moving parts in WD 40 before trying to unscrew. I mean you would not want to snap copper fuel lines , er would you?  So I avoid doing big boy stuff for another day and get on with the usual.

A box full of cleats, fairleads, pulleys, and boxes of screws. All of these I will have to use I suppose.

I clamp on the hatch cover trim.

It is very cold.

I reinstall the lamps.

Where can I get glass bits for these lamps?

I rush down to the boatyard to listen to the diagnosis from Dr Kiyuna on my sick little engine.

The engine has been through an serious examination and many tests are at the lab.

A few minutes later Dr Kiyuna makes a dramatic entrance stage left on his Harley.

He wears a Driza-Bone coat from Australia and US Army helmet.

Kick start 1300cc Harley with coke can exhaust. He has 8 Harleys – all vintage.

He is more than reassuring. He has excellent bedside manner. He insists that there is nothing seriously wrong  and he will start ordering replacement stuff such as alternator, starter motor and stuff and get on with the job. What a relief! I ask if I can help in the rebuild as I feel it is a good thing to know as much about my engine as possible.

Kiyuna san is a find.

With head off. Cylinder bathed in WD 40

The afternoon was more somber. I first came to Okinawa in August 2010 to reconnoitre possibly working at the OIST. Gil and Betty Hoffman invited me to their house, gave me lots of champagne and took me out for a fabulous meal. Their hospitality, energy and love of the island was an important argument in my decision to come to OIST. They continued to invite me around, although Gil was beginning to suffer badly from Parkinsons. A remarkable couple who came to Okinawa in, I think, 1961, Gil built up two very successful construction companies, whilst Betty became involved in a bewildering number of social, cultural and academic activities. Good people. Gil died last December and today there was a memorial event.

RIP Gil

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?  I can get a rebuilt 1GM from Osaka but that in itself would be complicated and costly.

I ponder all this as I spend the morning cleaning the engine compartment from many year of fuel spillages, oil leaks and general grime.

Not a pretty sight. I am in fact quite far on with the clean up before I remembered to take a photo

Better now.

As I have said before, I enjoy this kind of work. The results are immediate and there is no agony of “Am I doing the right thing?”

I also give all the wood work yet another coat of varnish. This is less rewarding, The first few coats of wood treater and varnish were fun as each coat made a difference but now it is just another coat. It takes about 2 hours to do a coat on all the  external wood and another hour for the cabin.

Two guys come up and ooh and aah.  They love the boat and are both seasoned sea dogs.  I show them around. They speak little English and I actually thing my Japanese comprehension is getting a little better.  They repeat ” Kulnishuskrimpelu” several times and I finally realize that they are referring to a similar English boat, a Cornish Shrimper.

One of my guests also says “Arthur Ransome.” I realize he is talking about Arthur Ransome, an English children’s novel writer who produced a series of great books about kids having  adventures in gaff rigged sailing dinghies, written between 1930 and 1945 ish. These books had a big effect on me and I have read each several times. I think my need to have adventures in gaff rigged sailing boats  is directly attributable to Ransome.

My new friend  says that he also read all the books when he was a kid and has the complete collection that he continues to dip into. Amazing. So we slash our palms with sharp knives and become blood brothers.

Great guy.

I also explain my problem with engine diagnosis,  10 minutes later they return with a gentleman who I had noticed riding around the yard on a huge 1940s Harley. This is Kiyuna san, a mechanic.

He is a very funny guy. I said that I had just left OIST to which he replied “So you graduated?”

Anyway, he says there is no way of telling if the engine is post thunka without taking the head off and having a look around. He says he can do it. “When?” ” I will do it now.”

Agonizingly, I had to leave before he set to work so I will only get the answer tomorrow morning.

Fingers crossed.

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.

This is what I see

The engine is out. Like a diseased molar, it has been levered out and now lies beside the boat.

Hmmm

What do you think?

This indicates a massive acceleration in the restoration timeline.

Now my decision is;  this engine, although on the surface shoddy, will she be able to  be restored to powerful throb? On the other hand, should I buy a restored version and ship it down from Osaka?

Retirement is so stressful.

People in the street have been asking me why I have been treating my woodwork with sump oil.

Dark

Well, all the wood was so dried that sanding it down  to a level where you could have appreciated the beauty of the original teak, would have taken forever.   Forever and maybe a little bit longer, I have gone for the African Blackwood option.

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 remote Japanese islands, then a trustworthy engine is essential.

Imagine the calm before the storm. A mega typhoon is coming and, as is fairly typical, the wind drops beforehand. I am out of sea with a engine that does not start.

The first step is to take the engine out of the boat. This a big job with tools and cranes and stuff. How can I find someone to do it?  I explain this to Tabata san. He casually cast his gaze sideways to the guy sitting close by and utters the magic words,  “China san.”

China, pronounced Cheena, san comes over and we bow and introduce ourselves. He grins and between his English and  my Japanese, which are similar, I find out that he is a mechanic, that he is 70 years old, that he does not like sponge cake, that he will take out my engine!  I ask when he can do it. He says, ” Today.”

This causes a turmoil of emotions. First, joy but then conflict as I have told my dear friend Naoko san that I will come to a cultural event that she has organized at the university. I have to go, but this means missing my engine being banished, a milestone in the history of restoration.

Strong Juju

At the boat, I talk, sort of, to China san. I lay bare my soul er like, let it all hang out. I tell him about propeller shaft alignment anxiety, wiring worries, support stress. To each whimper he says, “It’s OK, I can do that.”

My trailer is very fine but does not have any  support structures other than the uprights. This means that the boat will alway be tilted without complex wedging with wooden blocks.  This will be a nightmare when taking the boat out of the water. I need nice guides that will set the boat perfectly onto the trailer. China san gets it immediately and will build these onto the trailer.

Anyway, we get on famously and  slash our palms with sharp knives to become brothers.

China san

Anyway, I go to the talks and miss my engine being taken out. Probably a good thing as I would undoubtedly have got in the way. Cannot wait for tomorrow when, all being well, my engine will be parked beside the boat.

Once again my luck holds strong. Enterprise of great pith and moment can be fixed by being in the right place at the right time to meet people like China san.

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 it with the minimum of fuss. I now have the registration document and all the necessary stickers for Kanusha.

Aregato Tabata san!

It was another very social day down at the boatyard.  First my new buddy Sato san  and I discuss new engine prospects. He has tracked down a 1Gm10 in Osaka that has been fully overhauled and what is more the people there will take my motor in part exchange. So next priority is to get the engine taken out of the boat. The organizational skills that I have honed over the last 40 years are under test, but once again the most important feature of getting things done is proving to be – make friends with people.

Sato san – he is a very funny guy.

I sand, I varnish, I clean.

All the wood was so desiccated  that endless coats of wood treater and varnish are needed. The black bits have had 4 coats of the former and two of the latter.

I also rebuild the floorboard thing for the cockpit. Many planks were broken, so these I replaced with new wood.  Somehow all the screws had become loose, which I attribute to  wood shrinkage due to intense sun exposure. I tighten and drench everything in wood treatment stuff.

My foundation for years to come

As I am about to leave, two guys pass by. They know my boat, they know Tagushi san, the former owner. They talk a lot, I understand little. I think they were somehow involved in transporting the boat from mainland Japan to Miyako Jima 6 years ago. Anyway they are clearly delighted to see the restoration underway and we slash our palms with sharp knives to become blood brothers.

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 my engine.

OMG

I have buddies,principally Ichikawa san, who in two days turn up 3 GM10s, er the engine that is in the boat. The plan is to remove my blighted Yanmar and replace with a better one.  I imagine that this will cost some money but my dreams of island travel are only possible with a very reliable engine, so I feel this is something I have to invest in.

Meantime I roll in skeg fun.

The new skeg is a perfect fit. I will cover in anti fouling before I finally fit with loads of silicon adhesive gunge.

Okinawa is remarkably short of marine chandlers. This is strange on an island where each time you turn your head to the left or to the right, you see a boat.

So be it, there is only one and you find it in Tomari.

I feel I could help them with marketing

I have ordered yacht varnish named Tropical Schooner.  What other varnish could I buy?

The lady who runs the place is typically Okinawan delightful. She always makes me a cup of coffee before we talk business.

So, I return to the boat and start the lengthy process of varnishing.  5 coats for everything.

First of five.