GSSR 2010 no. 4 – Life on a boat is never boring!

Greetings all!

I am very pleased to report that the GSSR group has FINALLY departed Osaka and this year’s cruising is underway!

I don’t know about the others, but neither Roberta nor I slept much the night prior to departure. We had forged a comfortable life in Ashiya. We know the bus schedule, the train schedule, the restaurants, where to shop, and have somewhat settled in, and even planted a few roots. Once we leave the dock, we’ll be starting all over again.

Our excitement about departure was dampened by the need to say goodbye to several friends at the marina.

Kokoro, from the marina, is an amazing person. She has her captain’s license, and was a big help to us. She presented Sans Souci with an inscription, that she said translates as ‘Leader.’

Olivier Verne is a french baker who was walking his dogs along the dock, when he befriended our group. Why am I not surprised that a Frenchman wanted to pose with all the girls?

Our last view of Ashiya

For the next few weeks we’ll be cruising Japan’s inland sea… 

The Inland Sea is 200 miles long, and averages about 20 miles wide. It is called the Seto Nakai in Japanese. There are over 3,000 islands in the Inland Sea! On a map, it is reminiscent of the cruising we’ve enjoyed in the Pacific NW.

That said, there are major differences. I looked up the Inland Sea on Wikipedia and noted this comment:

“…Today the Inland Sea serves its coastal areas mainly for two purposes: first, international or domestic cargo transportation, and second, local transportation between coastal areas and islands on the sea….”

In addition to a huge amount of freighter traffic, the inland sea is heavily used for fishing, and ferry traffic. We constantly have to be on the alert for nets and other fishing gear, in the water.

Here’s a typical scene from our radar display. This is covering only a four mile radius, and if you look closely you’ll notice that there aren’t many boats with AIS (a system that lets us know what direction other boats are going, and how fast they are moving). You can see our four boats at the center of the radar display, and also see the freighter on a collision path with our group.

To further complicate the cruising, we don’t know the ‘rules of the road.’ We know the rules we were taught in Captain’s school, but the USCG rules and the Japan rules seem to differ.

Seabird nearly had a VERY serious incident…

Our boats were running a very narrow channel, with a 2 knot current, between two islands. We were running single file, with Grey Pearl in front, then Sans Souci, Starr and then Seabird. As I went through the nearly one mile long channel, I was concentrating on sticking to the center of the channel, and thinking about how lucky I was that there were no other boats around.

As Seabird was in the channel they were passed by a passenger ferry on the starboard (right) side. Steven (Seabird’s captain/owner) was ‘amazed’ that a passenger ferry would pass in such tight quarters, but then it got much worse.

As the ferry passed Seabird, it suddenly made a sharp turn to port crossing directly in front of Seabird’s bow, to enter a harbor on Seabird’s port side. To avoid a collision, Steven had to immediately slam the boat into reverse. The two boats came within about 20 feet of each other. It was a VERY close call, and completely unwarranted. Had the ferry captain relaxed a few  minutes he easily could have entered the port without endangering anyone.

This is an extreme example and I do not mean to imply that anarchy exists on the Inland Sea. This is a very busy waterway, and my sense is that there are very clear rules for conduct. We just don’t know what they are. In particular, we’re trying to understand how we know who has the ‘rightaway’ in varying circumstances.

Overall we had nice weather for our first day at sea. That said, the wind has been high. Also, the current and the wind are directly against each other, which adds to the likelihood of choppy seas.

Here you see Grey Pearl running, and you’ll note that the seas are flat and we’re running comfortably. This is with running DIRECTLY into a 30 knot wind. I’m not completely certain why we’re getting such a good ride. Steven said that it is because the fetch (the distance the wind moves across the water to stir up waves) is limited, and I’m sure he is right. However, at home in Seattle, the Puget Sound is roughly the same size, and when moving straight into 30 knot winds, it can get ugly.

Braun added another thought to the conversation: “Don’t forget guys. Our perspective of rough seas has been forever changed by crossing the Aleutians.” True!

And on a different topic…

Here’s an interesting picture. It’s a scene from Navnet 3d showing us cruising the islands.

There’s a couple of items to note on this display.

1) I’m using Navnet’s 3d mode with the satellite images overlayed. I always thought of 3d as a silly gimmick only good for selling chart plotters. However, having actually used it on this run, I like it! I wouldn’t use it as my primary mode of navigation, but it does add value. I run three displays while running the boat. The monitor on the port side is dedicated to radar, the center display to Nobeltec, and on the starboard side I have Navnet 3d.

2) The pink splotches you see are the radar overlay. Once again, I’ve never used this mode, considering it a gimmick, but I’m also ready to say that it seems to have value. At a glance I can see that the chart is correctly aligned, and also get a quick reference to the location of other boats around me.

And, while you are looking at the chart above…

You see to our right a nice bay inside the island. We saw this on the charts and it seemed like a perfect place to anchor for the night. Prior to our trip Roberta had researched anchorages on the internet and found a Japanese government site with the location of all the designated anchorages in the Inland Sea. This bay was on the list. Thus, we entered the bay and dropped anchor.

The winds were still high and we wanted to find a location within the bay that would give us some protection from the wind. This put us into a small corner of the bay where we had problems getting far enough away from each other

With the anchors dropped, it was time to celebrate our first night at anchor. On all of the boats the barbecues were being lit, and dinner started, when…

I had just poured myself a glass of wine, and was relaxing when we heard someone knocking on the boat. It was the Japan Coast Guard!???

I went to the back of the boat and there were two coast guard agents in a tender. They didn’t speak much English, but asked me, “American?”. I said “Yes. American.” They were smiling and friendly. I thought they just wanted to say hi. But, instead one of them said, “Do you have Japanese crew?” I explained that I was the captain. He said, “Must move. Closed Port.” Ouch! We had been up most of the prior night, it was getting dark, and we were exhausted. I asked, “Move where?” He said, “Other port.” This wasn’t looking good. The nearest other port was 12 miles away. We’d be exhausted, entering a strange port, in the dark, in high wind. It would be a much different evening than planned.

Grey Pearl has on board, as a guest, a Japanese businessman whom we met in Yokohama last year. I realized the situation was becoming serious, and swapped tactics. I pointed at Grey Pearl and said, “We have a Japanese person on that boat. I don’t understand you. Can you go there?”

As the Coast Guard was moving to Braun’s boat, I quickly explained the problem on the radio. We are cleared into Japan as domestic boats. My assumption was that the Coast Guard didn’t know this and that we’d be able to resolve the situation by showing them our paperwork. As Braun and his Japanese guest went down to speak with the coast guard, all of us on the other three boats sat by our radios tensely waiting for news.

After what seemed an eternity, but was only about 45 minutes, Braun came on the radio to say that it wasn’t going well, but that they were working on it. I phoned the agent who we use in Japan to see if he could help. He said that he had already been contacted by the Coast Guard and was on the phone with them. He sounded under pressure.

Our wait continued while our agent, our Japanese businessman friend, and his contacts, all pleaded on our behalf so that we could stay there at anchor for the night. For some reason we had created quite a stir!

Finally, Braun was on the radio. A compromise had been reached. We could stay the night, but could not go ashore or leave the boats.

I asked our agent what happened, and still don’t completely understand. Apparently some Japanese ports are ‘open’ and some are ‘closed.’ True Japanese boats can enter either. Our boats have been cleared into Japan as Japanese domestic boats, but this apparently didn’t qualify us to enter closed ports.

And, the fact is…

We had no idea whatsoever that we had entered a port. As far as we knew, we were anchored in a pretty little bay, with no commercial port in site. Now, we’re totally confused about where we can and can’t go. What’s a port?

One thing we have discovered is that the word ‘anchorage’ as I interpret it, and the word ‘anchorage’ as Japan interprets it, are completely different. To me an anchorage is a pretty bay, offering protection from the wind, where one drops the hook to barbecue, hang out, swim and sleep. I’m coming to understand that there isn’t much recreational cruising in Japan, and when the charts refer to an anchorage, they are referring to a place where commercial boats can seek protection from typhoons.

I pushed our agent (our representative in Japan) for a description of the difference between a closed and an open port, and in particular whether or not ports were closed for military reasons. It was apparent from how everyone was behaving that we had found ourselves in the center of a big controversy. “No. Not military, “ he said, and I do suspect he was right. So…I just don’t know. We’re now not certain what we can, and can’t, do.

As we went to sleep, still monitored by the coast guard, Braun came on the radio to say, “I’d like everyone to forget about the events of the day, and spend a minute just watching the sunset. It will remind us of what’s really important in life.” A perfect comment to end the evening.

When I awoke, the Coast Guard was sitting behind the boat. Our agent had already received a call asking when we’d be leaving. As we departed, the Coast Guard followed us from the marina.

So that no one misunderstands, I want to be very clear… 

I am not complaining about this incident. We are guests in Japan and thrilled to be here. We’re working hard to understand what the rules are, and want to represent the best of American tourism. We’re hoping that our visit will encourage others to cruise here, and want to figure things out, in hopes of making it easier for those we hope will follow. At times, it is easy to forget that we are guests in their country, and that it is us who must adjust to their rules and customs, not the other way around.

As I type this we are sitting at port at Takamatsu…

Our Japanese businessman friend was able to arrange moorage for us at a nearby commercial port, in the town of Takamatsu.

Tying up at Takamatsu was a bit of a challenge, although easier than I expected. We had 30 knot winds blowing us off the dock. Sans Souci has big beefy thrusters and twin engines, so I can’t say that it was pretty, but we had no trouble getting to the dock.

The tricky bit was tying the boat to deal with the tides. We arrived at high tide, and knew the water would be dropping by two meters (about seven feet). With the wind blowing us off the dock, I needed the lines tight enough that Roberta and I could get off the boat. However, if the lines were tight, then when the tide started falling, Sans Souci might find itself dangling in space. Not good.

Steven from Seabird showed me the trick. The lines can be tight, if they are kept long. I ran a couple of long bow lines forward, plus a couple of stern lines back, and we were about as good as could be.


We went into Takamatsu for lunch…

Takamatsu is famous for their udon noodles, and we wanted to give them a try. Our Japanese friend said that there are even “udon taxis” which regularly escort tourists to tours of five noodle houses in an afternoon. The noodles were indeed excellent!

The noodle house makes their own pasta fresh as they see guests walk in the door. The noodle-chef was slaving away working hard on his noodles when I walked over with my camera. Immediately, he picked up the noodles, and within seconds adopted a perfect smile.The way he did it busted me up. It was the act of a man who has had his picture taken thousands of times by tourists. He knew what to do, and nailed it on the first take.

And to close out this overly long blog, here are a few pictures from the beautiful Japanese garden here in Takamatsu which we had the pleasure of touring today.

Lastly, one more item….

Many of you have been responding to my blog postings by hitting reply on the email. This sends your comment ONLY to me.  PLEASE do not do this. Especially, do not send me back my own blog as part of your response. It takes a lot of expensive bandwidth to download. Instead, please use the link to go to my blog and post your comments at the bottom of the blog entry, OR click ‘reply to all’ in your email program, which will cause your comments to be posted directly onto the blog.

Your comments are the best part of my blog, so please comment – but, avoid sending the comments directly to me. Posting them publically will be more fun for all of us.

Thank you,

Ken Williams
Sans Souci, Nordhavn 68
www.kensblog.com
And, if you are interested in my books, check out : http://www.lulu.com/kenw