Tannowa bike ride

Hello All,
Yesterday Stefan asked the Harbor Master if he could borrow one of the many bikes here. He said no problem so I got my bike out and we went on a 4 hour bike tour of the area. There is a very nice coastal road to the south right along the beach. We took that trail 5 miles to the next town where we explored all over then returned along the main road inland. When we returned a few of the local boat owners came by to visit. I think about 20 people came aboard to take a look inside. One of the yacht club members named Kakihara invited us on his boat where he showed us a chart of his circumnavigation of Japan 6 years ago. He also keeps a Yacht book of passing foreign yachts and asked me to sign it. I will put together a picture to put inside and my travels. He also gave us some information about the area and places to see. Tannowa sees a few more foreign boats than Suma because it is a little cheaper and is closer to the Pacific Ocean for departure.

Today we have been invited up to the Yacht club for a late afternoon beer. Allot of the boats went out today across the bay for a picnic. They should be returning this afternoon.

The weather is not looking promising for a next weekend departure so we are in hurry up and wait mode. Tomorrow we will take the train into Osaka to see an ancient park and a castle.

It has been very nice here the last 2 days and is suppose to hold till Tuesday, then we are going to get some rain.

Thats all I know for now.


PEACE

Tannowa Harbor, Osaka Bay

Hello All,
We made it across Osaka Bay to the south this morning. It was overcast but was not raining. The wind was light so I got to see how the new transmission worked by motor sailing. Not a great day for a crossing but we had to get out of Suma. It was also a little foggy which made it fun dodging all of the shipping and fishing boats. This place makes Long Beach California look deserted. We found the Harbor with no problems and tied up. The staff here are very nice and I get to stay here one week for free. I hope that's all I need to stay is one week. I have been watching the weather and there maybe some wind in our favor in 4 days or so, we will see. I also contacted another boat that I have never met. They are a Canadian couple that toured the Solomon's and Guam last year and are now in Japan looking to cross to Alaska this year. They wrote some very good cruising notes for both, Solomon's and Japan and I found them searching the Internet. They are a few hundred miles North of me but we will need the same weather to move East then North. We will keep in touch with each other and study the weather to figure out the best time to leave. I was hopping I would meet this couple here in Japan as they stayed a whole year but I have been a months behind there movements. Nice to know there is a few boats heading my way.

In the mean time I will try to be patient and enjoy my stay here. The harbor is and hour South of Osaka by train and is very rural for Japanese standards. I even heard birds chirping while we were looking around the very small town. There is a Post Office and grocery store pretty close by and just past that is the train station. As usual everyone is as nice as they can be.

Its late and pouring down rain so I will go now.


PEACE

Awaji Shima bridge tour

Hello All,
I had a visit with the harbor master this morning and after the Typhoon had passed last night he asked me when I was going to leave and came with the bill. I looked at the numbers and thought, wow this is allot and I kind of said so, but I said ok and got on the internet for the exchange. As I was looking it up he came out and said I messed up and here is what it is going to cost. It was much cheaper and I was very relieved.

The weather still isn't really in our favor yet but I don't want to wear out my welcome here so we will move on to a marina across Osaka bay. It will get us closer to the Pacific and will give a chance to see more of Japan. I hope something is in our favor by next week. We plan to leave out of here on Friday morning and make the 21 mile crossing to the other harbor.

After all of the business was settled this morning we took a train to the big bridge that crosses over to Awaji Shima Island, It has the longest single span in the world and was amazing to see up close. It looks similar to the Bay bridge in San Francisco Bay but much bigger. We were just doing the tourist thing looking around and finding little shops to go through.

Tomorrow we will get the boat all ready to move on to the next place and my friend Toshi will come down in the afternoon to help us get a little more fuel for the trip. This place has been so amazing and the people are the best you could find anywhere. Since the news paper article came out I have had so many people come down and give me the news paper and also translate it for me. One of the boat owners that I have been visiting with actually laminated the article and had it translated it for me too.

Japan is an amazing place and if you don't speak the language I would recommend a trip here anyway. Of coarse coming by boat gives you a few extra cutos.

That's all for now , talk to you soon.

P.S. Stefan got some good pictures, I will post when I get them from him.

PEACE

News paper article

Hello All,
Kinny, the guy from the paper that interviewed me a few days ago came to the boat tonight with the news paper. It will be circulated tomorrow so I have the first one. I will give the address but you will have to copy paste it or you can google it by writing Rick Morris Kobe. You will also have to translate it with bing or something of the like but its pretty cool.

Here is the web site.

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/shakai/0005111363.shtml

The battery is almost dead so must go.

PEACE

Sailing day

Hello All,
Yesterday we got the boat out sailing. The wind was pretty light at first so we practiced reefing the main sail and tacked the boat a few times to miss all of the ships coming and going. We spent about 4 hours out on the water in total. On our return the wind had picked up and had a great sail back to the harbor. After we got the boat tied up two gentlemen came over to say hello. One of the guys has a boat in the harbor and after visiting for a few minutes he invited us both to join him for dinner at the yacht club restaurant. I have never had dinner there before because it is very expensive but he insisted to pay for our dinners and we had a very nice visit. They both spoke pretty good English so it made it much nicer for conversation.

It looks like the Typhoon will be passing off shore by tomorrow night so I will get back to figuring out the best time to leave. For now we will do more exploring and show Stefan around town.

That's all we are doing for now so I will talk to you soon.


PEACE

Typhoon tracking

Hello All,
I thought I would add a link of the Typhoon tracking center web site. It should reach full strenth by tomorrow and they are predicting it to to start tracking away from the Island. Mind you that is only a prediction. The Harbor where I am is Typhoon proof or at least very protected so this is a good place to be. We will not see any of the wind for 3 days or so and I hope it tracks away from the Island as predicted.

Ok here is the web site but as usual I never did figure out how to link so you will have to copy paste it.

http://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/warnings/wp0412.gif

Talk to you soon.


PEACE

Crew Arrived

Hello All,
Yesterday my new crew arrived here, Stefan from Germany. we have been visiting and getting him familiar with the boat. We met in New Zealand last year right before I left. He was crew on a boat heading for Australia. We have kept in touch since then and he wanted to make this crossing with me. He is a very experienced sailor and I am really glad to have his knowledge on the boat for this crossing.

We have a Typhoon that will be passing here in the next few days so we are just waiting for the right time to leave. It looks like Thursday but I will keep you posted. We will just sight see for the time being and hope to do a sea trial when the Typhoon passes.

Today my friend Toshi gave us a ride to the gas station to get the jerry cans full of diesel for the boat. He has been a great help and really appreciate his help.

For now we are waiting for a weather window then we will head out. I will let you know what's happening in the mean time.

Talk to you soon.


PEACE