The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond

Off to Chubu Hospital to get the result of the pathology on my late lamented polyps and have the usual deep scrutiny blood test. As soon as you arrive you nip up to the blood test place on the second floor. They are super efficient and the throughput is very fast.

Down stairs to wait to see the doctor. This is usually about an hour but I enjoy the wait as there is a big screen TV. This is only time I get to watch Japanese TV. It is wild! In fact I haven’t watched Tv for over 13 years.

The doc gives me some disappointing black and white shots of my intestines. They used to be colour!

Anyway he reassures me that there is no evidence of cancer.

He also goes over the blood test results in detail and remarkably there seems to be nothing wrong.

Well. not quite true, as my torn calf muscle is painful so I stumble and hobble around. I go to the Sports Health Clinic twice a week and they plug me into the strong ju ju electrotherapy machine and make me do exercises,

You will remember that every 3 years the boat must be inspected for safety equipment and general seaworthiness. https://thequietripple.com/2021/07/19/an-inspector-calls/

That time has come again. The Inspector calls on Monday morning, I ask Kiyuna san if he can be there in case of language difficulties. The Inspector is a hilarious person and the inspection, which I imagine would be fairly formal in most places, soon becomes a party.

The next day I go down to the JCI office in Tomari Harbor to pick up my new stickers.

It is so cold – 14C! We go for a winter meal.

I went to an English boarding school from 1965 to 1970 where, unless you were actually dead, you had to go out on the frozen fields in the driving rain to play rugby. Any attempt to shirk was the lowest form of human behavior.

This has left its mark. When I am vaguely damaged I just suck it up and expect it to go away.

Arisa san is not of this ilk and insists that I have my painful calf seen to. She makes an appointment for me at the Ginowan Sports Lab, which is just across the road from my place.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ginowan+Sport+Orthopedic+Clinic/@26.2887786,127.6117802,12z/data=!4m10!1m2!2m1!1sginowan+sports+lab!3m6!1s0x34e56d9a6c862333:0x8d2fcb96786f720c!8m2!3d26.2887825!4d127.7559669!15sChJnaW5vd2FuIHNwb3J0cyBsYWKSARFib25lc2V0dGluZ19ob3VzZeABAA!16s%2Fg%2F11hzjg4kb6?entry=ttu

They are wonderful. The doctor, whose name I have forgotten, prods around a bit and then does a scan.

I am then plugged into a machine for 30 minutes and administered to by the genial Mizaki san. I do various manipulations and am taught how to wrap the bandage,

I am so relieved that they found something wrong with me. I dread being called a skiver. Public school education.

The time has come to raise the mast. Kiyuna san and I set off with great purpose.

I experience pain in my left calf. I ignore it for a bit until to my great surprise, I can no longer walk!

We were just strolling along with a not heavy mast but I have done myself damage. “Dai jo bu, Neil san I will call Wantanabe san.” 5 mins later he turns up – he is another wonderful Okinawan boat personality. He lived out of a van for 7 years but last year graduated to a live-in boat that is moored in the Itoman Fishing Port. He is currently restoring a beautiful 40ft ketch which went down in the same typhoon that did so much harm to my boat. Kiyuna san refers to it as ‘The Underwater Boat.’

I am out of the game. Kiyuna san, Wantanabe san and Jigen san take over.

We hit a road block. The eye splice on one of the halyards makes the rope thicker and it will not go through an essential block. We need a bigger block. I am all set to go down to Island Boat https://www.island-boat.com/index.php to buy a bigger and probably very expensive block. My friends have other ideas and wander around various boats looking to pirate a suitable block. I am not sure what is going on but I think one or the other was working on these boat and borrowing seemed quite in order. Wantanabe san finds the perfect block!

Jigrn san has to leave so we agree to meet next morning to finish the job.

Incredible! All the rigging is done. I did nothing except get sunburnt in January. The boat boys of the marina rallied round as I lay on my stretcher. What wonderful people.

The following day, not having much on, I have a colonoscopy.

The usual intensive intestinal cleansing ritual prior to the intervention.

This is my third colonoscopy, all in Okinawa. https://thequietripple.com/2016/06/03/nobody-has-ever-done-this/ I find the whole thing fascinating. I watch the screen and point out polyps to Zakimi sansei, who is nominally in charge. 4 polyps! Not a bad score.

Ichiro san has a 3 day exhibition in a very posh space on Yagagi Jima. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Yagaji+Island/@26.6623327,127.9936413,10380m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x34e457a3c6bc8387:0x16929e23f2e116a3!8m2!3d26.6705839!4d128.015522!16s%2Fg%2F121vrgr_?entry=ttu

Here is the invitation.

I go on the last day, 11 January. On arrival, I find Ichiro san packing the last of the artworks into a big van! Apparently the exhibition closed at12:00. It is 1:00. Dang!

No worries as it is beautiful drive and I see some nice birds.

Disturbing noise from the back of the car. I pull over and find a completely flat rear tyre. No worries. Take it off and put on the spare. I open the back and lift the cover. No spare! I weigh various options and decide to drive home on the punctured tyre. Route 58, one of Okinawa’s main roads. I am driving at 20 kph. No one hoots nor flashes nor shouts as they go by. Some people switch on their emergency flashers in recognition of my difficulty. It is a pretty stressful journey, especially changing lanes, and by the time I get home the tyre is destroyed.

I arrange to meet Wataru san, the guy who rents me the car, at 9:00 the next morning.

It is only a 20 min walk to Wataru san’s workshop but in the heat of Summer it is an ordeal. This time it was a very pleasant early morning stroll. He has a spare and we drive back to the apartment. He changes the tyre.

He also points out that all Japanese cars have a small air compressor as standard equipment. I could have repeatedly re-inflated the tire as I drove back. He also shows me an emergency rescue number amongst the car documents. They would have come and fixed everything. I rather wish he had shown me these things when I had picked the car up. I think he thought that this was general knowledge. I know now.

Kiyuna san has been at his eccentric best over the last week or so. He talks to me seriously about the necessity of having an eagle on the boat. His argument is that bad weather at sea is caused by dragons and that an eagle would drive away the dragons thus ensuring smooth sailing for my little boat. I think he sort of believes this. Anyway, a couple of days later I go down to the marina to attach the last halyards and find an eagle on top of the mast!

Back to Kiyuna san; he has great respect for mothers, in particular mine. You will remember he made a collage of pictures of my Mummy after she died. https://thequietripple.com/2019/12/02/urn-burial/

He came around a couple of days ago with a collage based on a picture of Mummy as a young woman.

Arisa san comes back from Imari and gives me a package of high quality mentaiko, which is salted and spiced cod roe, a speciality of the Fukuoka region.

I make baked salmon with a mentaiko sauce.

Next is mentaiko and cheese toast and then mentaiko pasta. Thanks Arisa san.

Happy New Year everyone!

I am afraid this is mostly rambling about boat restoration.

We have a picnic on the boat. I go down fairly early to take off the cover and generally clean up. It is the most beautiful morning, bright sunshine and warm, thus picnic perfect.

By lunchtime the clouds gathered. Nonetheless we have a wonderful time.

Suddenly the weather gets much worse! High wind and driving rain. We scuttle into the cabin and keep eating.

So Christmas Day is a day like any other in Japan. Everyone goes to work and all the shops and stuff are open.

Nonetheless, I celebrate.

I go to Hamada san’s shop to get some fine bottles. She gives me a 2014 Sancerre as a Xmas present.

I give myself a Xmas present of a visit by the cleaning lady. She kicks me out of the appartment between 9:00 and 1;00 during which time she really goes to it.

I go to Tomari Fish market in search of seafood joy. I am not disappointed.

I go to the boat. I attach new yuletide mooring lines. I pump out any water in the bilge and start up the motor. I sit in the sun, it is a beautiful warm day, and listen to the calming throb of the Yanmar 1GM 10.

A distant corner of the marina is used to stack up boats that died valiantly during typhoons. It is a chilling sight.

When I get back, the apartment is sparkling! Very morale boosting.

Early on Boxing Day, Kiyuna san comes by with Jacko and the new masthead.

Later that day, I take a friend to the airport. I like this as the airport is close to a stinking pond that birds love.

Not very Christmassy but lots of fun!

The next big step before completion of the boat restoration is to install a new jib roller reefing system. This fills me with dread as it involves cutting a steel cable and an aluminum tube to exact lengths and finishing them off nicely. I express my terror to the boat shop on the mainland who will be selling me the equipment and the wonderful Hiromi san says “Don’t worry Neil san, I will get Jigen san to help you.”

I meet up with Jigen san and he is another in the long line of Okinawan smiling boat saviours.

” Can you install the rolling reefing and set up the new sail, Jigen san?” He says, ” Why man, that’s my hobby.”

I explain that I will need eye splices at the end of all the new halyards and that I am too stupid to do it myself. In the past, legendary Sato san RIP and Nick san helped me with this sort of thing.

“Sato san taught me how to splice. I can do the eye splices nae borra.” explains Jigen san. He is a great guy.

Today I cut my new rope to the correct length for the peak halyard and the throat halyard. I lay out the old rope and lay the new rope alongside. I cut it with a razor sharp Opinel. This works very well until I notice that I have used up all the new rope but still need new jib halyard and topping lift halyard. I have completely miscalculated the length of rope needed. How can I be be so stupid? I curse myself as I will have to go back to Island Boats and buy lots more super expensive rope.

At this point a guy working on the boat next to me in the yard wanders over. He and his wife run a Parasailing business and their boat is moored near mine in the marina. They are doing a refit. I have often passed them out at sea, we grin and wave.

He, in Japanese, speaks about rope. At first I think he wants my old rope. Thanks to Google translate I realize he wants to give me rope. He has to replace all his rope every year to comply with safety regulations. I say “Yes please.”

He hands over 80 meters of brand new high quality rope. He refuses any payment. The rope is worth hundreds of dollars. What does it mean? One minute I am cursing about having to buy new rope, the next Kaz san gives me more rope than I will ever need. Is it the magic of Okinawa or the spirit of Xmas?

There has been a lull in the boat refitting. We have decided to restore the horribly split and rotted mast head by filling the damaged area with epoxy mixed with saw dust. Subsequently a stainless steel sleeve is to be slid over the damaged area.

The wood on the mast head had subsequently rotted. A long time was spent scraping all the rot back to strong wood.

There was then a long wait. Some weeks. I began to believe Kamiya san had forgotten me. It turns out that Kamiya san’s welding equipment had busted.

There is certainly no other Norfolk Gypsy with such a robust mast head!

We decide to replace the poor original design of tiny mast splitting screws with a robust external collar. Kiyuna san has the bit between his teeth.

I buy very expensive rope for the halyards.

Island Boats is beside the Tomari Fish Market.

Good couple of days.

This post has no story, theme, or anything else. It is just a record of things that I can look back on.

The weather has been truly wonderful, warm not hot with beautiful blue skies. One day, surprisingly it rains like crazy.

I have to rig the cover as best I can. There is no boom to hang it from so it lies flat. Better than nothing.

I fiddle with the boat. I screw on new attachment points for the cover. Most of these were ripped out in the typhoon.

A diversion on Okinawan supermarket checkouts. When I arrived, 12 years ago, each item was announced and then carefully bagged by the checkout, almost always, lady. You paid with cash. Then credit cards crept in and you could use them in most but by no means all supermarkets: still the case. Then, you had to bag your own purchase on special tables. Very different vibe. Now, I find self checkout set ups in many places. This makes me sad. No human interaction.

This leads me nicely to a lunch a couple of days ago. It is a do it yourself BBQ place. It is entirely human interaction free. We go for a eat as much as you can lunch menu for 2,100yen. You order from an iPad and the food is delivered by robots.

You will remember that the town of Ginowan keeps an eagle eye on my health. https://thequietripple.com/2023/11/15/how-much-is-that-doggy-in-the-window/

I go for a series of checks. All of this is organized by the City Ginowan Health Service.

They really look after their old people . Even me, an immigrant who does not speak the language.

I think that the checks are on possible diabetes and Arteriosclerosis. The nurses are adorable and we have lots of fun. It is all free.

I celebrate at the fish market.