Akita to Iwaki

Team Effort

Recently, this solo round Japan journey has become a team effort. That started in Setana (in Hokkaido) where Shino-san and friends looked after me up until the crossing of the Tsugaru Strait. Then, since making landfall in Honshu, Yumiko has been following with a car and a tent and a big bowl for cooking hot food.

With land based transport available: my stopping locations no longer have to prioritise proximity to a convenience store, we visit an onsen with such regularity that I have never been cleaner in my life, and I am also eating like a king. I feel healthy! My weight has also recovered to about 70 kilos, which seems perfect as a sailing weight for the board (with gear, I am up at nearer to 90 kilos).

Without this support, the colder weather and shorter days would be much more challenging. Back on the Sea of Okhotsk the water temperature is already down to 8ºC, but here on the Sea of Japan it is currently a toasty 18ºC. If I were still up in Hokkaido, perhaps I would have already conceded to the weather and hung up my harness for the winter. As it is, the miles are still falling, and the coastline orientation means that the distances won are in a southward direction. My hope is that all gains now will be exponentially rewarded in terms of making for a shorter winter pause.

A note about the sail. I started on an 8.5 Loftsails Switchblade HD and used that until it had an unfortunate end on a fence a month or so ago. There wasn't an 8.5 available as a replacement, so I took a 7.8 instead. As it happens, I couldn't be happier with the change-down for winter conditions. Cold air is also heavier and more powerful for a given wind strength and the 7.8 certainly doesn't lack grunt. I really am very happy with this sail, it is deep and powerful, reassuringly Heavy Duty but still light enough to not be overly tiring to use.

Akita to Iwaki

Yesterday was a sailing day that delivered a reminder against complacency. I sailed from Akita Marina, which is a port within the much larger port of Akita city, and slipped out of an opening for small craft that provides a shortcut to the open sea. There was a cross-offshore wind, and sailing close-hauled on port tack I could make distance in the desired direction while only gradually losing contact with land. I was happy with that to begin with, because any time now the wind was due to switch to a cross-onshore headwind. After the switch, being "far" (about 3 km) out to sea would mean that I could sail close-hauled on starboard straight to my target. That was the theory. Unfortunately, the onshore and offshore winds were in perpetual stalemate. I sailed into and became trapped in the no-man's land between them. The wind swirled, went dead, puffed hot, puffed cold. Meanwhile the chop built, and turned the sea into a surface that would defy my efforts to paddle should the need arise. Blankets of cloud piled above me: low and smothering, a palette of greys, spitting rain.

Wind turbines along the coast gave clues to what was happening, but I couldn't quite figure out what they were telling me. Wind turbine blades appear to rotate clockwise when viewed from upwind. But some turbines were going the wrong way when compared to their neighbours! WTF! [In fact, it turns out, that these turbines were of a "downwind configuration", with the blades on the downwind side of the tower, and that these do appear to rotate "the wrong way". I had been fooled into "seeing" the switch when in fact it had not yet happened.]

Sunset was 2.5 hours away. I decided to abandon my objective and prioritise getting back into contact with land wherever that may be. Hooking into helpful puffs was reassuring and soon the exposure level felt more acceptable. I took a break near to the beach to chew a Snickers and consult landing options on my phone. And then the day cleared itself. In a moment the blanket was swept away. A 15 knot headwind rescued the day. I punched upwind for 6 nm to the port of Iwaki. Job done!

Not a major scare, but a wake up call to stay vigilant. Onwards!

Regarding onwards...

My current permission to be in Japan expires on 20th November. My plan is to visit South Korea and hopefully re-enter Japan with a renewed permission to keep going. Fingers crossed they let me back in.