34 d 24.483 N
133 d 12.191 E
We arrived right at slack tide. The wind was manageable and we had old rally friends to help catch our lines. We were also lucky as the outer pontoon was open so no dramas today. We also had all four sails up and the engine off for the first time this season. Only for an hour and that was just before the winds started, but it was nice to see the old girl in all her glory. She is looking a bit neglected as she needs new varnish which is too costly here in Japan. After we tied up, a bunch of locals shouted down at us, wondering where we were from. They said we had a very beautiful ship. Of course we know that!
We were then whisked off to an onsen and then followed by a fantastic Italian dinner courtesy of our friends here in Onomichi. We have decided to delay our departure from here until Sunday morning. Right now it is deceiving as it is glassy calm outside but sometime tonight the winds are supposed to start and make it rather nasty for moving for a day or so.
About Me
- SY Sari Timur
- Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
- I am owned by Pauline and Mark Blasky. My hull was built at the Duncan Marine Yard in Taiwan and launched in Dec of 1980. It is a William Garden design based on the Pixie Design and called by Duncan Marine a Freedom 45. They are the fourth owners and have owned me the longest. They have done extensive refitting to me including replacing my entire deck structure and rig. My masts are roughly 10% taller than original and now are made of aluminium as opposed to the original wood ones, which, though pretty, were always problematic. You can read more about me under "MORE ABOUT SARI TIMUR"
April 16, 2015
April 15, 2015
Shiraishijima
34 d 24.503 N
133 d 31.443 E
Apologies for not posting more on Naoshima. Will add some pictures later. We have limited internet here and we pulled a very quick departure out of Naoshima. We saw a very brief weather window and we moved the boats out in a hurry between squalls to get a little closer to Onomichi where we are trying to meet up with friends.
We did a post on Shiraishijima during the rally as it was a stop there. Actually all of our stops now to Hiroshima are return stops. This one was to sit out the gale that was coming through yesterday. Basically we just stayed below, nursed the fire, and rested while the wind and rain blew. The crew from the other boat did a walking tour and found the main town and said it was quite pleasant but we were not that excited to brave the cold and wet.
We hope to make Onomichi this afternoon. It is a short distance but the currents for entering and departing there are very critical so it has to be done on slack tide. And of course the wind is not supposed to die down until about 2-3 hours after slack tide. This should be interesting!
133 d 31.443 E
Apologies for not posting more on Naoshima. Will add some pictures later. We have limited internet here and we pulled a very quick departure out of Naoshima. We saw a very brief weather window and we moved the boats out in a hurry between squalls to get a little closer to Onomichi where we are trying to meet up with friends.
We did a post on Shiraishijima during the rally as it was a stop there. Actually all of our stops now to Hiroshima are return stops. This one was to sit out the gale that was coming through yesterday. Basically we just stayed below, nursed the fire, and rested while the wind and rain blew. The crew from the other boat did a walking tour and found the main town and said it was quite pleasant but we were not that excited to brave the cold and wet.
We hope to make Onomichi this afternoon. It is a short distance but the currents for entering and departing there are very critical so it has to be done on slack tide. And of course the wind is not supposed to die down until about 2-3 hours after slack tide. This should be interesting!
April 13, 2015
Naoshima
34 d 27.456 N
133 d 58.406 E
We almost missed this stop. It is only 21 miles from where we were in Shodoshima but the weather forecasts were playing havoc with our schedule. We thought we were going to be stuck in Shodoshima for another day. Not a bad place to be stuck, but we do need to kind of keep moving towards Hiroshima before our permit runs out. Anyway we woke up yesterday to near gale winds and very cold rain so we stayed put. Then about noon we got a break so off we went. Motor sailing with just a partial Genoa between 7 and 8 knots. The wind lessened but the current behind increased so some forces wanted to make sure we came. Anyway we arrived to find a lovely little island.
This island like many in Japan was going through a serious population drain. One of the residents turned benefactor decided to promote an art culture here. It has worked and become a "must see" by visitors to Japan. And from what we saw last night the word is out. We haven't seen this many gaijin in all of Japan! Our first foray around last night was very interesting and we will do some more exploring today. Let's hope for a good forecast for the next couple of days so we can spend a few more hours here. Watch for an update and some pics to this post.
We did the Art Houses Project. Six houses with 'art'.
133 d 58.406 E
We almost missed this stop. It is only 21 miles from where we were in Shodoshima but the weather forecasts were playing havoc with our schedule. We thought we were going to be stuck in Shodoshima for another day. Not a bad place to be stuck, but we do need to kind of keep moving towards Hiroshima before our permit runs out. Anyway we woke up yesterday to near gale winds and very cold rain so we stayed put. Then about noon we got a break so off we went. Motor sailing with just a partial Genoa between 7 and 8 knots. The wind lessened but the current behind increased so some forces wanted to make sure we came. Anyway we arrived to find a lovely little island.
This island like many in Japan was going through a serious population drain. One of the residents turned benefactor decided to promote an art culture here. It has worked and become a "must see" by visitors to Japan. And from what we saw last night the word is out. We haven't seen this many gaijin in all of Japan! Our first foray around last night was very interesting and we will do some more exploring today. Let's hope for a good forecast for the next couple of days so we can spend a few more hours here. Watch for an update and some pics to this post.
We did the Art Houses Project. Six houses with 'art'.
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| the toilet in one of the 'art houses'. note : it is only for display |
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| The most photographed art pieces on Nao. Note the boats tied up at the pontoon on the right |
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| Lots of houses have images like this. It is drawn with twine |
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| the steps of this shrine is made of glass that went all the way underground |
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| lots of pretty tulips, all over Nao |
April 10, 2015
Shodoshima Uchinomi Ko
34d 28.743 N. 134d 17.893 E
Well we made it. Sari Timur was flawless. The weather was a precursor for our Alaska crossing i.e. Cold wet and miserable. But we now know some of the things we need to be prepared for. We made it just over 10 hours. We will tuck in here for a couple of days and do some sight seeing, this is a tourist island sort of with a Mediterranean atmosphere. We will add more to this post as we explore.
Last night we decided to head to the local onsen and warm up. After a half hour in the various baths we were rather toasty and it was time to eat. We were in bed before 9 and slept all the way until eight this morning. Then today we hired a car for six hours to explore. We went to a soya sauce museum and worked our way up to an old abandoned temple. We were on a back coast road oohing and aahing at the various scenic views when we came to an abrupt end of the line as the road had washed out in front of us due to the heavy spring rains a few weeks back. We ended up backtracking almost to where we started in order to catch the main road which we used to circumnavigate the rest of the island. We sorted out some of the must see sights for tomorrow and used the last of the time with the car to reprovision. Look here for an update tomorrow.
Well we made it. Sari Timur was flawless. The weather was a precursor for our Alaska crossing i.e. Cold wet and miserable. But we now know some of the things we need to be prepared for. We made it just over 10 hours. We will tuck in here for a couple of days and do some sight seeing, this is a tourist island sort of with a Mediterranean atmosphere. We will add more to this post as we explore.
Last night we decided to head to the local onsen and warm up. After a half hour in the various baths we were rather toasty and it was time to eat. We were in bed before 9 and slept all the way until eight this morning. Then today we hired a car for six hours to explore. We went to a soya sauce museum and worked our way up to an old abandoned temple. We were on a back coast road oohing and aahing at the various scenic views when we came to an abrupt end of the line as the road had washed out in front of us due to the heavy spring rains a few weeks back. We ended up backtracking almost to where we started in order to catch the main road which we used to circumnavigate the rest of the island. We sorted out some of the must see sights for tomorrow and used the last of the time with the car to reprovision. Look here for an update tomorrow.
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| In the Cablecar |
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| Looking into the Gorge |
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| Almost to the top, a few more steps |
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| From the Highest Point in the Inland Sea |
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| A Panoramic of where the cable care stops |
April 9, 2015
Time to Shake Off Winter
Well it is 05:30 and in a few minutes we will be disconnecting the power cord and dock lines and head away from Tannowa. We are only going as far as Shodooshima but that is 60 miles and a fairly long day with some currents to pay attention to. We will miss Tannowa tremendously. We will post what we wrote in their visitor's book a little later. So many people here have became such a part of our lives and it is hard to say goodbye but it is time to hit the road again if we are going to make it to Hokkaido in time.
March 30, 2015
March 26, 2015
Progress
For those of you who read this yesterday. Here is an update. The chain is on board and so are the new sails. We arrive in Mishima and the beer is still good!
Well the port side cabin top is now painted. The window re varnished and ready to put the storm window back on.
The wind instruments are up and running. We haven't tried out the new display we ordered just in case the instruments were not compatible. We are actually not sure where we want to mount it or if we are going to, so that is on hold. One thought is in the aft cabin so when those middle of the night storms blow we can monitor wind speeds easier.. But no rush on that.
The new chain arrived, so we took the old chain off, saving 10 metres of it for the stern anchor. The new chain will be marked, spliced on to the short piece of rode we have in case of emergency and loaded back into the locker today.
So tomorrow it we are off to Shuzenji and Gotemba with the Toroa crew for a cherry blossom visit and to drink some good beer.
Mark's dad was scheduled for gall stone surgery yesterday their time so we are waiting to hear how that went. The doctors are being cautious due to the aneurism problem area he has. So a little apprehensive but hopefully he will feel better soon. Pauline's mom went through that a couple years back.
Anyway we have kind of mapped out our passage back to Hiroshima. Not cast in stone yet i.e. We have not applied for our closed ports permit yet. But we are down to just the final provisioning and loading the new sails on board, and of course clearing a space for them. We hope not to use them until we get to Alaska. But just in case we have a new set of everything except the Genoa which is in pretty good shape.
It looks like Toroa might tag along with us at least part way to Hiroshima so that should be fun. Present plan is to leave Easter weekend.
Well the port side cabin top is now painted. The window re varnished and ready to put the storm window back on.
The wind instruments are up and running. We haven't tried out the new display we ordered just in case the instruments were not compatible. We are actually not sure where we want to mount it or if we are going to, so that is on hold. One thought is in the aft cabin so when those middle of the night storms blow we can monitor wind speeds easier.. But no rush on that.
The new chain arrived, so we took the old chain off, saving 10 metres of it for the stern anchor. The new chain will be marked, spliced on to the short piece of rode we have in case of emergency and loaded back into the locker today.
So tomorrow it we are off to Shuzenji and Gotemba with the Toroa crew for a cherry blossom visit and to drink some good beer.
Mark's dad was scheduled for gall stone surgery yesterday their time so we are waiting to hear how that went. The doctors are being cautious due to the aneurism problem area he has. So a little apprehensive but hopefully he will feel better soon. Pauline's mom went through that a couple years back.
Anyway we have kind of mapped out our passage back to Hiroshima. Not cast in stone yet i.e. We have not applied for our closed ports permit yet. But we are down to just the final provisioning and loading the new sails on board, and of course clearing a space for them. We hope not to use them until we get to Alaska. But just in case we have a new set of everything except the Genoa which is in pretty good shape.
It looks like Toroa might tag along with us at least part way to Hiroshima so that should be fun. Present plan is to leave Easter weekend.
March 18, 2015
We Are Now International Again
Before we did the rally we were asked to convert our boat to a temporary local boat with Japanese customs. This would make rally operations easier and allow locals to join the boat from port to port with out too much paperwork. However it meant we couldn't get duty free diesel and most recently we are to receive three new sails and covers from overseas and would have to pay the local sales tax. By converting back to international a couple of months early it means we have to do a bit more paperwork as we pass through ports on our way to Hokkaido but we save nearly 160,000 yen. So it was really a no brainier. Now we can afford another side trip to Baird Brewery before we leave Osaka. Our new scheduled departure from Osaka is 3rd of April. But that is Good Friday so may be the 4th. We will then work our way back to Hiroshima and wait for a weather window in the Japan Sea side.
Updates on the wind instruments. We have finished putting the mounting bracket on top of the mast but could not get a 1 inch stainless pole with 14 threads per inch machined on one side here in Japan. So we ordered one from West Marine. Hopefully we will have it next week. Today would have been nice to have it as it was blowing pretty good. We guess about 35 knots.
Updates on the wind instruments. We have finished putting the mounting bracket on top of the mast but could not get a 1 inch stainless pole with 14 threads per inch machined on one side here in Japan. So we ordered one from West Marine. Hopefully we will have it next week. Today would have been nice to have it as it was blowing pretty good. We guess about 35 knots.
March 14, 2015
More to back on board
The main unit to our wind instruments arrived. West Marine decided to ship what they had in stock and ship the cables and display later. Luckily I had a small test cable so I could test the instrument and I am pleased to let everyone know the Maretron WSO 100 plugs in seamlessly. The only drawbacks are the head has to be mounted straight, the adjustment software doesn't work. The other one is it requires a different type of mount. But the plus on this is, that this kind of mount makes it easy to get the alignment correct.
On another front our friends here that are in the process of doing the pre season maintenance on their boats came by to hack at one of the leaks we have had all winter. I would never have thought to do it the way they did but it was a pleasure to see done. Let's hope it works.
On another front our friends here that are in the process of doing the pre season maintenance on their boats came by to hack at one of the leaks we have had all winter. I would never have thought to do it the way they did but it was a pleasure to see done. Let's hope it works.
March 12, 2015
Back on Board
We arrived late last night on to Sari Timur. We think she was happy to see us as she did not throw any temper tantrums.
For those of you who have been following our blog you know that just before we left we found out all of our instruments failed. Well this morning mixed in with unpacking we decided to do some trouble shooting. Interestingly enough the wind instruments came on for a very short while but nothing else. But then it started showing erroneous data before dying. Anyway a lot of troubleshooting proved that it was indeed the wind instruments. Once they were disconnected GPS, chart plotter and radar all work ok. Luckily we ordered a new set of wind instruments and should have them next week.
For those of you who have been following our blog you know that just before we left we found out all of our instruments failed. Well this morning mixed in with unpacking we decided to do some trouble shooting. Interestingly enough the wind instruments came on for a very short while but nothing else. But then it started showing erroneous data before dying. Anyway a lot of troubleshooting proved that it was indeed the wind instruments. Once they were disconnected GPS, chart plotter and radar all work ok. Luckily we ordered a new set of wind instruments and should have them next week.
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