The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

Foul bottom. Well, yes, I know, but I am actually I am talking about the Scaffie. She has been in the sea since April and her bottom has attracted a lot of attention.  It is befouled with weed, slime, parasites, limpets, and stuff.

Ben and I try to capsize her to get at her bottom. This is reassuringly difficult to do. We manage to fill her with water and Ben sits in her but she will not sink. Yay Scaffie!

Nice to know when one worries about being swamped on the high seas.

We finally manage to overturn her and the full disgrace of her bottom is revealed.

Scrub

It is warm and cloudy. The sea is very calm. Ben and I spend a delightful couple of hours scrubbing  the Scaffie’s bottom.

November

We use a scraper, wire wool, sponges, face cream etc.

Boat therapy

We take the opportunity to fill various holes, divots, scrapes that she has accumulated in the high season.

Lo and behold!

I don’t know, but I think I would rather clean a boat’s bottom with one of my sons, on a warm day in November than any other activity that the world has to offer.

“No sun—no moon!
No morn—no noon—
No dawn—
No sky—no earthly view—
No distance looking blue—
No road—no street—no “t’other side the way”—
No end to any Row—
No indications where the Crescents go—
No top to any steeple—
No recognitions of familiar people—
No courtesies for showing ’em—
No knowing ’em!
No traveling at all—no locomotion,
No inkling of the way—no notion—
“No go”—by land or ocean—
No mail—no post—
No news from any foreign coast—
No park—no ring—no afternoon gentility—
No company—no nobility—
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member—
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,
November!”

Well actually in Okinawa November is the best month of the year. That’s what I think anyroadupwards. The weather has been glorious but without the oppressive heat of high summer. Also the humidity is like not. One of the wonderful things about November is the flowers.

Let’s Boogey

What the hell is that?

Grunt

Smells good

A lot of birdies also show up in November.

Golden Plover

This one has lost a leg

Kentish Plover does yoga

In Okinawa you cannot buy gasoline in a plastic container. You have to have an expensive metal tank. This used to annoy me but what can you do?  As this narrative continues the logic for this will be revealed.

The Scaffie has been abandoned in Seisyun san’s dock in Zamami. The year wears on. The weather can only get worse. I have an exceptionally busy week but Saturday promises to be a good day to get the Scaffie back to the happy mooring in front of my house.  This is problematic as it means getting to Zamami on Friday evening to allow for the early start on Saturday that needs must light on getting back to the happy mooring in front of my house before it gets dark.  There are no boats to Zamami that remotely fit my schedule.

This is what we do. I sprint from last meeting on Friday into a cab that takes Ben and me to Tomari harbor from whence a ferry goes to Tokashiki, an island adjacent to Zamami. We catch the ferry with minutes to spare but I leave my IPhone and house keys in the cab amid the  general fluster.

We thunder across to the island on the most beautiful evening. Once in Tokashiki, we take a bus across the island to another little town on the west coast, Aharen. There Seisyun san is waiting in his fishing boat and takes us over to Zamami as the sun sets. Wonderful trip. Thanks Naoko.

The last leg to Zamami

I was in a suit and meeting only a couple of hours ago!

We stay with a wonderful lady who is the quintessence of wonderfulness.

Tatami mats and futons

We then go to Seisyun san’s house for an unforgettable evening. There are two young women working at the guest house, Emi and Sakura, who both speak good English and are the best fun.  We sit around the kitchen table, which is covered in fish hooks, spanners, beer cans and the like. We drink beer until I present Seisyun san with a bottle of Islay Mist, which incidentally I can buy in my local corner shop for about $20. The girls produce a series of dishes that they place amid the hooks and spanners. Wonderful food. We drink Islay Mist and swear everlasting friendship. We slash our wrists and mix our blood. I promise that Seisyun san can moor his boat in my bedroom. He swears that my mother, brothers, sister and ancestors can use his berth whenever they want. Whisky is amazing stuff.

Next morning we are in the Scaffie at 6:30, just as it gets light. The engine starts! We motor out into the November sunrise.

In russet mantle clad.

So we start the epic voyage home. Coming out from the Keramas the sea is very agitated and the Scaffie demonstrates all her viking heritage. I cannot see how she would ever be in trouble at, like, sea unless a huge wave curls over very high and unloads into the boat.

Leaving Port Askaig

Yay! Sun, wind, blue

So off we go on a reach home to Zampa. The wind is coming in from the North East and we hurtle of on a very productive beam reach.

See what I mean?

Time when sailing is strange. In the Scaffie, you can’t really do very much or move around very much due to her diminutiveness. You sit there with the sun blasting against one side of your face dreamily watching a far beacon draw closer.  Suddenly six hours have passed.

Our only technology

We become aware that there is a strong smell of gasoline and indeed everything is coated with a layer of 2 stroke mix. Lo, the plastic gas tank has split due to too much exposure to sun and wind and has emptied most of its contents into the boat.

Go metal

Eventually we draw level with Cape Zanpa. There is a big hotel on the cape, which we first see as a white blob. It then focuses into a rectangle and then the shape of a hotel. Soon we can see windows and balconies. Now we can read the sign. Unfortunately we are 5 miles out at sea and we will will have to beat into the wind, which is coming directly off the land, for hours to reach home.

We install mighty Tophatsu and after many prayers try to start her up. She goes!

We motor in and tie up at 3:00, eight and a half hours after our departure. This period of time in wild elements, in blazing sun, in an open boat, takes its toll.

Check the video of the early part of the voyage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HexGJkI2t3Y

A huge moth is there to welcome us.

This 3 or 4 ins across

Next day I am up early to do this.

http://www.oist.jp/news-center/news/2015/11/10/more-5000-people-oist-open-campus

We have to get back to Okinawa. The holiday is over. All that lies between us and Okinawa is 40 miles of ocean, which incidentally seems to be in an extremely bad mood. The wind also is pissed off and so blows against us.

We are in the boat at 6:30 and I am confident that, after a night of unflooding, that the mighty Tophatsu will start. Not so. Setting off into the wild East China Sea with no engine is like foolhardy. I have to be at work. I am a long way from work. It is 7:00 in the morning in a tiny, remote harbor in the East China Sea.

We go to the shop from which I bought an expensive-bottle -of -whisky- gift yesterday. I mime an outboard not starting and moan, ” Mechanicu arimaska?” He is on the phone and after two shakes of a lamb’s tail, a truck arrive containing Captain Seisyun and Emi. Seisyun sensei will figure  in the continuation of this narrative.  He first tells us to move the Scaffie to his personal dock. Let it be said that he is a man of the sea. He understands and once safely tied up, tries to start the engine.

Captain Seisyun a ses ouevres

No start. OK, leave Scaffie in Zamami, take ultra hi speed ferry back to Okinawa, cab back to house, go to work.

I would employ Emi.

However before the ferry leaves we have some time. We repair to Seisyun sensei’s house and drink coffee. He also runs a kind of low key guest house. If you want the real thing in Zamami, go here:

http://www.z-nansei.com/

They drive us down to the harbor. By this time we are family. When things go wrong you always have much more fun. The car, boat, plane, plan , which works leads to isolation and no fun. You have to push it.

Emi san and Sakura san take us to the boat. Are n’t they beautiful?

Scaffie stays in Zamami. Will I ever see her again?

Safe in Seisyun san’s berth.
Will I ever see her again?

So we have to flee from the Keramas. The wind is against. The sea is furious. Discretion is the better part of valor.   Check this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXeMME_0hpE

Big week at work coming up.

So, well rested after the party, we spend Monday on sailing adventures around the islands. The weather is warm and sunny, the wind is kind, the sea is graceful, the scenery is fairytale.

Ben likes to build sand castles. Accordingly, we anchor off a totally deserted beach on one of the uninhabited islands.

The beach on the bottom right corner.

These beaches are more less unvisited.Big conch shells lie around, lots of other exotic shells lie around including US WWII artillery shells.

Exotic shells

Ben goes snorkeling, no wet suit, it is November, the water is still pleasantly warm and crystal clear.

Hooray! We are standing on unexploded munitions.

We then set off on an epic sail. You can try and follow the route on the map below.

Our route around the Keramas.

We try to beat up the sound between our island and Tokashiki but get bored with all the bashing against pretty determined waves coming in the other direction.

We swing around and head for the port of Aka and sweep majestically under the bridge that links Aka to the island like next to it. Beautiful scenery, wind behind as we thunder west. Next we try to beat up the west coast of Aka with the intention of rounding the top of the island and zipping back into Zakimi. We try very hard but the Scaffie is not at her best against the wind in high seas. Eventually we give up and decide to run back down the coast mount the engine and motor home.

The engine does not start. Oh, Tophatsu what have I done to upset you so ? We have no option but to beat back to Zakimi. No great mischief you may think but the problem is that it is now night and we can see nothing  and frankly do not know where we are going.

We beat up the Aka channel and finally pass under the Aka bridge. We then head in the general direction of Zakimi. The sea is  full of islands and rocks  and coral. Ben stays up front and shouts, “Go about!” each time we are seconds away from a beach, a rock and that sort of thing. It was very hairy and in fact Ben and I still disagree on the route we took to get back to Zakimi, illustrating that we had no idea where we were. The night was exceptionally dark and even when we saw the lights of Zakimi, I was not convinced that it actually was the harbor rather than a smaller settlement. Luckily Ben was adamant and we finally tied up after 4 hours of beating through hazard in the pitch dark.

We went back to our shed and slept in preparation for the 6:00 start of the return trip to Okinawa.

Eheu!

So, to fortify himself for the voyage Ben fries up big lumps of last-night’s greasy mutton and adds a few eggs fried in mutton grease. I pass.

The weather is fine but windy and the sea is very lumpy but the wind is coming more or less from behind. We nearly wreck trying to get out through the reef as big waves explode all around. We finally get out out but er, like, just. This stiffens our sinews for the rest of the crossing.

Destination

There is a serious swell.  As our course takes us way out to sea and then a run down into the Keramas, I am vaguely concerned that the Scaffie might get swamped. We are OK but the movement of the boat is unsettling. I can see the mutton and eggs begin to stir in Ben’s stomach as he goes very pale and does not say much.

We overtake a steamer. Big sea.

After not very much time poor Ben starts discharging the contents of his stomach into a red bucket. He then lies down and suffers for the next 6 hours.

Dizziness, nausea and vomiting,

I am Ok thanks to a breakfast of dry toast. We set off at 9:00 and bash out from the coast until we are about 4 miles out. Then we go on a broad reach down to the islands. Hey, this is November but we are in shorts and Tshirts. What a great sail!

Topher’s hat

The hours pass. We see only Flying fish, Boobies and one migrating Grey Faced Buzzard. One fish flies across our bows about 2 metres above the surface of the sea. A Brown Booby is so suprised to see us that it circles us  a few times before heading off to Djakarta.

Finally we spy the islands.There can be few finer sights than watching an archipelago of sub tropical islands loom when you are in a small open sailing boat.

Land ho

An outlier. Still a pretty heavy swell.

We get to Zamami about 5:00 having rowed a fair way due to lack of wind. Lack of wind! As usual  after a day of  40 kph wind, just as you are about to enter the harbor, all wind disappears and the last mile is flapping sails and oars.

As night falls, we stumble around the tiny town trying to find somewhere to sleep. We are turned away from the inn several times – very courteously, we are in Japan. Feeling a bit downhearted; will we be sleeping in the ditch again?,  we suddenly crash into the Zamamia Guest House.

http://zamamia-guesthouse.com/

The owner Paul is a good guy. He sees 8 hours of the open ocean on our faces and says, “We have no rooms but if you want, you can crash in the staff shed.”  Thanks Paul!

Yay!

Paradise

Zamami is a tiny harbor, on a tiny island, off the coast of Okinawa, which itself is lost in the East China Sea. We anticipate quiet. How wrong!

There is a mega party going on to celebrate the fact that it is November. The port is crowded with hundreds of people intent on celebrating November. There are food stands, drinks stands, a raffle, and a series of acts put on by the village folks. It reminds me of similar community craziness in Scotland when I was a boy. It is a really good party.

School teachers

We stagger back through the  warm, scented alleyways to our shed. A 5 star hotel could not have served us better. Thanks Paul

So tomorrow Ben and I go on a raid to the Kerama Islands. We have been spending our evenings eating lamb, drinking, and watching the Vikings.  We are full of fury and ancient Gods.

Sparrows eat the rice crop. Is this a sign?

The weather is terrible. Strong winds and high seas. Would Ragnar have cared?

Ragnar

So tomorrow we set off to new lands. The boat is strong. She comes from Viking heritage. However, I am scared. The sea is wild, the surf is high, the seabirds scream on the skerries. Ben is young and fearless. I sit on the cold shore bemoaning the loss of my Ring-giver.

Eagles scream

It is November. Is this the right time to sail 40 miles over the furious ocean? Did Ragnar worry about these things?

Before the sacrifice.

Hey,  what the hell. Valhalla sounds pretty good.

When Roger was over he much impressed me with his FitBit. This is a device that measures all kinds of bodily functions. One of which is how many steps you take each day. Roger would see a staircase and cry, “Oh good, a staircase this will add to my stairs data.” He would then stumble up the staircase grinning. I think that FatBot is a great motivator for the scientifically inclined as it allows you to collect data.

I now have one and it has added greatly to the excitement of my life. At any moment of the day I can consult; how many steps I have taken, how long I slept last night, when I woke up to pee over the balcony, the altitude I climbed, how many calories I have like burned, my blood pressure, the time, CO2 emissions in Canada, my favorite colors, and my bowel movements.

Wow!

I’m so fat

Ben is here – hooray!

Ben eats fish

We walk a lot because I am obsessed by data. We see all kinds of things.

Broad Billed Crows squabble over lamb bones. A first for Okinawa.

Ben clears undergrowth

Osprey dries its wings post kill

We sail a lot in pretty extreme conditions but forget to take photos. Ben is good crew.

Then we eat and go diving.

Soba in the sunshine

Laura is the best science writing dive instructor in the world.  She takes us out for a spin.

Laura is something else

Ben goes under

Sunday afternoon

Welcome Ben! Much adventuring to come. Stay with us!

This blog purports to be about life in Okinawa. So, here is a little cameo of life in Okinawa. It is nearly 2:00 am, I am, at 2:00 am, staring  at my computer screen with wild surmise. My mouth is open, my lips drawn back over my gums and my teeth have become oddly fang-like. I notice that I am howling and slathering.The cicadas and crickets are making a tremendous racket. Geckos dart around the ceiling and walls gobbling creatures lower on the great chain. Scotland have just scored a converted try against Australia.  There are only 5 mins to play.

We are going to win a match that has been immense and, although not given a chance, we  are going to beat a team that many speak of as the favorite to win the competition. It all unrolls before me. We go on to marmalise Argentina  next week and subsequently the All Blacks. Scotland win the World Cup!  I can’t believe it!

I get my prescription filled

I have rarely felt so elated.

The rest as you know is history. We lose in the last minute.

This guy had quite a lot to do with it.

I walk down to the sea and stand silent on a beach in Okinawa.

Does it matter?

Well, yes and no.

So, Roger drifts in for a few days. It is very good to see him and we have lots of fun.

Beached

We have to do a bit of work stuff.

Caroline Kennedy

Indeed Roger gives 2 talks but most of the time we galivant.

Rats!

It is very windy and the sea is angry. This puts the kybosh on our boating plans. No worries as, as faithful readers will know, Okinawa offers many delights.

Amazing and big moth

Roger on the right

So, Roger has a device called a Fitbit that records how many steps you have taken and all sorts of other interesting data.  He, already, and I, contemporaneously, become fascinated by this device and do whatever we can to increase the steps luminosity. This means going on long walks. This is what we see.

Flutterbye

Kingfisher

Big Boy Egret

It is cooler, which makes walking around in the sun extremely enjoyable.

Why do I bother going to work?

Indiana Cashmore

We also have a historic dinner. Four of the people around the table met at CERN in the 80’s. All, excluding me, went on to great things. When I think about it, I am taking the photos, thus you see me not.

Here we are in Okinawa.

Good fun.