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Paul
katsuro77
rob-thomson
Timbah Bell
TommyMay
Shun Saito
teppei uetsuka
John H
Please consider registering
If weather conditions are exceptionally kind, and nothing major goes wrong, then it might be achievable to windsurf round Japan in 6 months. I think that 6 months to a year is more realistic. That might mean that at some point I may have to leave Japan for a while to renew my permission to be in the country. Many things are uncertain!
What is certain is that much of the time I will be tired and hungry. Staying fuelled with sufficient calories, and finding suitable places to overnight, will be major parts of the challenge. To overcome these difficulties I am appealing to the good nature of the fellow human beings such as you! Please do consider registering as a Local Contact - you'll be supporting a bid for a windsurfing first and, indirectly, the conservation charity associated with this challenge.
Please note that registering carries no obligation at all! In fact, it is most likely that it won't work out to meet up. If I do contact you there is no expectation that you will be able to help. Remember that I always have a plan B (A?) which is to sleep under my sail.
Route
I will begin near Tokyo, on the Pacific Ocean side of Honshu, are sail northward toward Hokkaido.
[Map image modified under creative commons license]
Route: anticlockwise from the Chiba Peninsula
Timing
It is theoretically conceivable that the journey timing could go something like this:
| Start at Onjuku (on the Chiba Peninsula) | May 2024 |
| Honshu - north-east coast | May / June 2024 |
| Hokkaido | July 2024 |
| Honshu - Sea of Japan side | August - September 2024 |
| In theory I expect to get 6 months visa free (3 months extended by another 3 months) but let's see what actually happens. If a short trip to South Korea is sufficient to top-up my permission to be in Japan then that sounds like a good plan. | |
| Kyushu | October 2024 |
| October is the tail end of the typhoon season. I would be better to avoid the south and west facing coasts until then. | |
| Shikoku - Pacific Ocean side | November 2024 |
| Honshu - south coast, Pacific Ocean side | November / December 2024 |
| Finish at Onjuku | December 2024 |
| The above timings are highly speculative. I would be surprised if they were accurate! | |
| When the journey has started the tracker will show my current location | |
Types of help
These fall into 3 categories. If you are in a position and have the inclination to help out in any of these, it would be great to hear from you. Your contribution will likely be afternoon/evening time and I'll be sailing off into the distance the following morning.
| Type of help | Example |
| Somewhere secure for board and sail | - a garden or garage near the sea - port/harbour - sailing club |
| Access to food / water | - a hot meal - a few supplies to restock the barrel - café / pizzeria / equivalent place that sells or serves food |
| Somewhere to sleep | - a tent in a garden would be more than adequate - as would a berth on a boat - or a sofa, shed, camper van, etc... |
Challenges
This map gives a rough outline of a plan and explains some of the challenges. In theory, if each coastline is sailed at the time of year shown, that might work quite well!
Thankyou to Megumi for the map :)
Japan Windsurf Challenges. Map by Megumi San.
Register as a Local Contact
Registering is very simple, you'll be done in about 2 minutes. Please remember to zoom the map to a high level of detail so that you can be as accurate as possible with your marker position.
Preparing to sail. Picture from the Round Europe journey.