Log

Some postcards from Honshu and Kyushu. Lots of support coming my way. At Kohaman port, I was particularly grateful to Hironori Arai-san for a lift to a konbini and provision of a shelter on a rainy night.

The following morning took me out to (yet) another impressive exposed headland. The steep slopes a patchwork of countless trees. So many trees... The different greens painted in blotches like an oil painting.

I think that every mile since the last update, six days and four hops ago, has been upwind. For two days it was a pure headwind, fresh at times. Then a north swell rolled in and the wind was entirely absent. Yesterday, it was cross offshore from the left. Today was cross-onshore from the right.

The Shimane coastline has become a favourite of the journey. There are many sandy beaches, and the rockier outcrops are not particularly high or cliff-like. These more gentle features (sometimes, in theory!) encourage stable wind and agreeable sea conditions.

I have just completed the Shimane Peninsula section. This isn't a standard sticky out bit, but rather a sausage of rugged terrain that is connected to Honshu proper by a low plain. The sausage is 36 nm long, in some places indented, and elsewhere with straighter coastline where a side wind can have a decent run. With no konbinis until back on the plain, I stocked up on Cup-Noodles and went off round the corner:

Midway through yesterday this post was going to be called "The Magic Day" but the wind continued to build until it was Tarifa style windy and I was forced to come ashore a little short of my target. Time to rethink the title. The wind had to moderate eventually, and with 30 minutes of sun left (now low and glaring, reducing my ability to see fishing line trip hazards) I finished the job and arrived at Yonago city, having moved the tracker position by 36 nautical miles. That equates to at least 100 km sailed in downwind zigzags.

I posted a video last week  where the board was racing downwind over a flat sea. Everything was in balance, it was effortlessly fast, and it felt glorious! The real deal about windsurfing round Japan, right? Erm, not exactly...

At zoomed-out scale (from space! Wakasa Bay is an indent on the Sea of Japan coast. Having not previously zoomed-in, I'd assumed it would be a continuous bay and easy to sail. In fact, it is an indented coastline with many peninsulas and deep inlets. That's much more challenging. It was a rewarding section and one I will look back on fondly.

There is a joke that Norwegians share about their summer: they say that it falls on a Tuesday. The day doesn't really matter of course. Here in Japan (west coast Honshu), winter has been reluctant to release its grip, and within an eye-blink it will be summer. That doesn't leave long for cherry blossom. Hopefully, when spring does arrive it will stick around a while - a full weekend would be nice.

March 27th - to Shinbo

Windless AM. Around midday I give up waiting and make some miles with the paddle. It soon gets rather choppy, so I am thankful for the faint trickle of breeze that also arrives. The chop continues to build, and rebound with interest from reflective shores. The most perfect mirrors are port walls. Around me, white horses tumble in defiance of Lord Beaufort's mandate. Despite the absence of wind, clearly it is blowing hard nearby.

The last 4 days. Progress coming not from gigantic leaps but from sustained effort. If I applied this to learning Japanese, I would be near fluent by now!

Moving again after two days waiting for very strong south-westerly headwinds to ease.

I sailed out of Itiogawa port and the wind promptly died to nothing. Rather than wait for wind in the confused chop, I switched to paddle mode to claw my way beyond the Himekawa River estuary: the boundary between turquoise river water and the deep blue seawater a sweeping curve. Later, a tailwind arrived and stayed with me until a sunset landing at Ecchu-Miyazaki port. That is Niigata-ken (prefecture) cleared, and the first landing in Toyama-ken. 

Apologies for the delay.

It's been a mixed bag of weather this week: rain, some snow flurries, and then yesterday glorious sunshine! The wind also switched to the south, which helped to flatten the sea because of the shelter afforded by the Noto Peninsula, about 40nm away.

The original Windsurf Round Japan sail (Loft Switchblade 8.5, sadly no longer with us) lives on in the form of a camber inducer turned into a camera mount, and I used it to grab some video. I sailed about 15 nm and retired for the day at Itoigawa with the wind strength already beyond sensible.

We are are useful chunk (70 nm, 130 km) further south than a a week ago! The Sea of Japan was calm for a few days, which allowed for stress free passage past some industrial zones and the city port of Niigata.

Just a heads up that I am back moving after the winter pause. Yumiko has the car with the tent and she will be with me for the next 3 or 4 weeks. Then, in April, she starts a job, and I will be on my own again sleeping under the sail in hopefully warmer conditions.

It was an excellent day for the restart: very flat sea and a breeze that was helpful. The wind died away at a convenient place to check out a stream over the beach that was sending plumes of steam into the air.

Then the wind came back to allow a few more (nautical) miles bringing the day's total to 13.

The latitude of my last landing is similar to Lisbon, in Portugal. That’s about a third of the way down the coast of Honshu. I’m trying to go south, but currently going nowhere.

Since the beginning of the winter, winds have been blowing from the NW on to the Japan Sea coast. 9 out of 10 days are windy, with rough seas and a dangerous lee shore. The cloud base rarely lifts, and most days bring rain or snow.

The exploratory mission in January allowed for 3 days of sailing. Days 1 had very light and unreliable wind. Day 2 a meagre headwind. Day 3 there was more breeze and a few good miles early, but then a thunderstorm with heavy headwinds and a building sea. My hands were too wet and cold to operate the phone (in it's wet case), which meant I had to pull-in when I reached a decent size port in order to make some navigational checks... and there I stayed because to continue was most uninviting.