Voyage of the Good Ship Westward

Thursday, 26 June 2008
Kushiro, Japan
(Latitude 42 deg 59 minutes North + Longitude 144 deg. 23 min. East)

We last checked-in upon arrival at Akita on the Sea of Japan.  Our few days at Akita brought a most enjoyable side-trip to the old Samurai town of Kakunodate (locally & accurately described as a “little Kyoto”) and to the hot-springs of Lake Tazawa.  We had the pleasure of the company & assistance in Akita, and on our passage to Muroran, of an old friend from fishing days—-Teiji Ohno, a retired Taiyo Director; our time was enriched by his knowledge and companionship.  Akita Prefecture, bordered inland by a ring of alpine mountains, proved an intriguing place—-to which Teresa & I hope to someday to return.

A 30 hour run brought us to southern Hokkaido Island and the port city of Muroran—-a quiet and declining port that was nonetheless most welcoming, with fine rail connections for a visit to Toyako (site of July’s G-8 Summit meeting) and for two delightful nights in Sapporo.

We were all sad to bid farewell to Teresa as she departed Westward at Muroran for a flight to Tokyo & Seattle, opting understandably for the comforts of home (over a 2000 mile North Pacific crossing!).  It took three to replace her (all able hands with a wealth of experience in Alaska); we are well-manned for this next passage, but Teresa is, and will be, missed until she rejoins us in Dutch Harbor mid-July.

The five of us had an easy overnight passage from Muroran to Kushiro, a trip that enabled everyone to get settled-in onboard before we depart Japan for the Aleutian Islands.  Our two scheduled days in Kushiro (for fuel & provisions) have stretched to six, a consequence of a series of stark & lingering reminders that we are back in northern latitudes—-where cold, wet & windy are the norm.  A low pressure system passed slowly-by just south of Kushiro, bringing days of 30 knot & 40 knot northeast winds offshore, winds that would have been directly on Westward’s nose had we ventured out.

But the weather has cleared, the seas are laying down, and we have a favorable forecast for the days ahead; we will sail Kushiro at 1000 hours tomorrow (Friday/27th) for Adak Island.

In Kushiro we’ve continued to experience and enjoy the same warm hospitality which we have found throughout Japan; and we have been comfortable at an excellent, centrally-located moorage.  We put this unexpected time in Kushiro to good use—–we’re fully fueled & provisioned, everything onboard well-secured, and we have lexan storm-windows rigged for the pilot-house & side windows.  We are ready for whatever the North Pacific might bring our way and are confident of a safe (though perhaps, at times, cold & uncomfortable) passage to Adak—–1300 miles distant.

It is difficult to grasp that we have now been in Japan for three months (plus two delightful weeks in South Korea); every moment in this wonderful country has been memorable & enriching, we shall be sad to leave!  But we are, nonetheless, eager for the passage ahead, for the summer in Alaska, and our return home early September—–after 18 months away on our 20,000 mile journey around the Pacific.

We’ll likely not report again until we reach Dutch Harbor mid-July, but be certain that all continues well onboard

Westward

Akita

Hokkaido

Monday, June 09, 2008
Ryotsu port, Sado Island

Our northeasterly journey along the west coast of Honshu has been the unfolding of serial delights. We’ve moved away from the modern & industrial eastern coastline of Japan and discovered the charm of a more rural, and traditional Japan. There are still pockets of trade & industry here but we are now in a region where the dominant economic themes are agriculture & coastal fisheries, with modest impacts of (Japanese) tourism evidenced by modern ferries and high-speed passenger hydrofoils. 

The cities & towns on this side are smaller, the architecture more traditional, ancient shrines, temples and crafts more frequent, onsens more abundant, streets & highways more narrow and winding; there are no bullet-trains on this side!  Coastal traffic, and our passages, are no longer crowded and confused by the rapid transit of massive container-ships, bulk carriers & tankers; fog has taken their place as challenges to our navigation.

The countryside is steep, lush and verdant with spring growth & plantings.  The fabled prosperity of Japanese farmers, despite the small size of meticulously manicured individual plots of farm-land, is everywhere evident. Equally evident is the cultural modernization of Japan—–seen in the aging demographics of these rural areas. Youth has apparently taken-flight to the attractions of the modern east, leaving aging fishermen & farmers and family produce-gardens tended by stooped & wizened elders.

Hagi, Saigo on Dogo Island, Maizuru and Ryotsu on Sado Island—–each a welcoming destination.  Westward is quite a calling card in these harbors less-visited by cruising yachts.  Cruising yachts all report similar welcomes throughout Japan; but few are as large as Westward, none as distinctly classic & antique.  A larger yacht in these waters, and the extravagance that such imply, could be “off-putting”; Westward is perhaps received differently  than her newer sisters.  It is as if the commitment that bringing her across the Pacific to Japan is understood, and appreciated. 

Gifts of fresh fruits & produce, fish are oft our daily fare; smiles & halting English greet us wherever we venture. Chefs at local restaurants know from whence we come; we were hosted to a private tour, and tea ceremony, at a 200 year-old sake brewery and through the owners’ home and splendid ancient garden. School children greet us with warmth and curiosity. The extensive & efficient Japan Coast Guard has taken Westward under their wing, welcoming us at each harbor oft arranging moorage at ports ahead.

But for it all, the price in paperwork is high.  There is something amiss with a system that requires boarding party of twelve (12) officials, from up to five different agencies, for inward clearance at each new port on a coastal voyage!  We are most certainly and thoroughly tracked along our course.

We’ll sail Ryotsu today for Akita, namesake of Marley’s ancestral pack; we expect every dog in town to be on the dock to greets us!  Akita will be our last port-of-call, on Honshu, before ten-days at Hokkaido . . . and our June 23^rd departure from Kushiro to the Aleutians.  We can almost feel the bitter-sweet proximity of home, and the ending of this marvelous odyssey.

All continues well aboard
Westward

P.S. As I wrote these closing words we were visited, in reaffirmation of the preceding generosity described, by a familiar local fisherman who delivered the gift of a fish print (“yotaku”) of his own making—-a large, fresh-caught sea-bass whose image was inked and handsomely pressed onto a fine cotton cloth—-a treasure gift of skill, thoughtfulness & generosity.