Firstly a correction, I have
been reprimanded – we in fact finished a respectable 2nd place in
the Club Quiz night, not 3rd as previously stated, sorry team!!
Great excitement, we have
finally managed to get both the fiberglass and stainless steel professionals to
our boat, much convincing and coercing and tongue biting on our behalf, so
utterly frustrating trying to get service here, anyway, looks like everything
might be coming together enough to be ready to haul out just after we are back
from Japan to get started on the work.
We were introduced to an
Organic Market, not far from us. This
one has the feeling of a proper Farmers Market, everything made/produced by the
vendors, some delicious food and their draft cider well worth the effort.
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| Starter |
We had a “travelling dinner”
at Eileen’s house, Bernhard and Ulrike made the starter – yummy scattered
sushi, Eileen made a scrumptious tuna dish for main and I brought up the rear
with desert and Frangelico liqueur. Lots
of wine and champagne added to the festivities and a great evening was had by
all.
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| Main |
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| Desert |
The new outdoor table has
been installed, replacing the freestanding one that had a tendency to shoot
across the deck spilling its contents when put under pressure, with a solid
mounted one. Kevin has very cleverly
modified the top of the old table to fit snuggly on top of the new one giving a
bigger more stable surface which rotates and can be removed when passaging
leaving the smaller one with drinks holders. |
| Trussed up |
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| Photo courtesy of Internet |
01:28 on Monday 2 March saw
Kevin valiantly pulling the lines on our boat to tighten them and adding
fenders on the side as, in 49 knots of wind, even though we are trussed up like
a Christmas Turkey and fendered to the hilt, the boat was still bashing against
the walk-on. That was when we saw the
orange and red glow, highlighting the top of the mountains spreading from Hout
Bay to Fish Hoek and beyond, the dreadful “Fynbos fire” that began on Sunday
afternoon and by the early hours of Monday morning had a fierce hold on much of
the natural vegetation and was indiscriminately consuming everything in its
path.
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| Photo courtesy of Internet |
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| This house at the bottom of Ou Kaapse Weg was lucky only minor burning of its roof |
Throughout the next two days
people rallied around calls for help and offered accommodation to the expelled,
food and drinks were dropped at strategic points for firemen and volunteers and
people who were cut off. NSRI were
amongst the volunteers who, along with the fire fighters, put in a valiant
effort hosing and beating the flames, whilst helicopters carrying buckets of
water flew continuously overhead.
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| Into the Atlantic |
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| Photo courtesy of Ulrike |
On Tuesday the wind had
dropped significantly and to beat the heat (fortunately as it turned out to be
the hottest temperature recorded for Cape Town, ever) we decided to go sailing,
to remind ourselves why we do this (all work and no play – we are starting to
feel decidedly dull). Eileen came along
for the ride and off we went, motor sailing to Cape Point. Whilst sailing we came across the divers
searching for the fallen mast from Inish, sadly with the currents and strong
weather we have experienced it was no longer at the position marked when it
dropped and after conducting as wide a search as they could the mast could not
be found.
According to the Two Oceans
wine advert (and many Capetonians), Cape Point is where the Indian and Atlantic
Oceans meet, so officially we rounded Cape Point and sailed for a short while
in the Atlantic Ocean at last, what a feat, and what a beautiful sight the Cape
Point is from the sea, wow. On our way
back we spotted a whale and close to Boulders a little squeak from the front of
the boat alerted us to the presence of a little penguin, it went through
between the two hulls and even though we did a sharp u-turn, one more glance
and he was gone, bet he had big stories to tell when he got home.
Our membership application
for False Bay Yacht Club has been successful and we were introduced to all club
members at the weekly Friday night draw, good excuse for a little celebrating.
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| Our bags packed, we were ready to go |
Then there we were, back in
Atsugi, Japan. Strangely enough things
are different the second time around, its more familiar, shopping and ordering
are still as confusing but I am finding it easier to find what I want, for
instance I have gone from being grateful for finding milk and yoghurt to
specifically buying low fat versions of both.
My first trip here was a true voyage of discovery, this trip is more
like a holiday, that change of scenery that I think Kevin and I both needed.
Atsugi is not a tourist town
and pretty much everything there is to do I have done. No problem, days are spent walking and
learning lots about photography and camera settings in the “Ball Park” using
the gorgeous pigeons and local residents as models, having a great time and learning
heaps. 
I even got to play with and
photograph a little dog, a major feat as most people will not even acknowledge
you much less let you harass their pets.
Much to Kevins horror, my yoga mat made it in and I have found yoga
lessons on the internet which I download and do every afternoon, fabulous.
Walks along the river are still awesome, the
squatter made it through winter, in fact his shack seems to have had a bit of
an upgrade, including plastic insulation on the windows. Unfortunately all the birds seem to have
headed south for the winter – clever things – so only ducks and wagtails and
one or two herons around right now, lovely setting anyway.
The day before St
Patricks Day we popped into the Green Bud bar for a couple of draught ciders,
really enjoy this pub, on the surface a truly Irish Pub, underneath a truly
Japenese affair.
We have arrived at the end
of winter, thank goodness – there is a large amount of snow on Mount Fuji still. The sun shines quite a bit and its warm when
the icy wind lets up. The rain makes it
really miserable but shopping centres and stations and trains, in fact anywhere
under roof are heated, majorly. The
train seats are really warm, so are most toilet seats lol.
Last week I witnessed a
peaceful protest in my favourite park, a large crowd had gathered and were
holding their banners high. Next thing 5
police officers arrived with batons – around 1.5 meters long, figured they were
expecting trouble so got the camera ready.
After observing and listening to the pretty songs being sung the police
moved off shortly after they arrived and the protesters headed off down the
road a short way before disbanding.
Still have absolutely no idea what that was all about….
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| Have to be careful not to get into the womens only carriages on the trains |
Weekends are a cause for
great excitement, we get to go explore.
First weekend we headed for Yokohama, where, right on the marina, there
is a centre – Mitsui Outlet Park, that houses many brand name factory outlet
stores, even selling shoes our size (the Japanese have small feet!!).
The
marina is huge, the biggest in Japan and can accommodate up to 1500 boats. It has a very modern, well equipped service
centre with travel lift, diesel and petrol pumps and vacuum pumps for waste
tanks, a laundry and lovely ablution facilities only depending on where you are
moored you are sure going to get fit using these! We had unfortunately just missed the Japanese
Boat Show the week before which was held here.
We trundled around but in true Japanese style all access to the walk-ons
is access controlled and if you don’t have access you aren’t going down
there. We found the marina office
eventually and the nice lady offered to take us around but by then it was
getting late and dark and wet and rainy so we promised we would be back. The trip there from Atsugi by train (4
different ones) takes around 2.5 hours and we had left a bit late.
Sunday saw us off to Odawara
Castle. A beautiful structure, built in the
mid 15th century, renovated in 1633 and rebuilt in 1706 after it was
destroyed by an earthquake in 1703. It
housed and served as the battleground of three families, the Hojo, the Okubo
and the Inaba and right through the castle were various warrior suits of
armour, chain mail in varying dregrees, samurai outfits, beautifully manufactured
swords and sheaths, all sorts of artifacts and beautiful carpets and material.
Interestingly enough some things don’t seem to have changed much, eg. mortar
and pestle and saddles have very few changes on today’s versions. 
Unfortunately no photographs were allowed
inside, but the 360° view from the top was
amazing. Although it is winter the
gardens still look beautiful, the moat covered in grass and the blossoms
starting to flower. On the way out we
stopped at the flea market going full tilt in the parking lot, to grab lunch
and watch the locals having fun. A great
day. |
| Not happy having his photo taken! |
On the way back to the
station, we stopped at a patisserie for a snack and I whipped out my camera to
capture the contrast between the fully French name and marketing and Japanese
everything else, got me in a bit of bother as I was reprimanded for taking
photos in the shop!!
We have had two major
successes this trip, firstly spare filters for our little washing machine are
necessary. Off I went to the shop where
we bought the washing machine and the poor little salesman who sold us the washing machine and who still speaks not one
word of English saw me coming and his little face was a picture. Using gestures and brochures we managed
enough that he was able to phone and order one of each filter from the supplier
and let me know price and delivery date and I now have spare filters, big pat
on the back for me. Kevin had to go one
better of course and he managed to order, by phone (no gestures or hand
signals), 4 new engine mounts, for Maxscene, from Yanmar.
Saturday 21 March was Spring
day, a public holiday in Japan, how awesome, we get to celebrate two Spring
days this year. Nissan were kind enough
to give their employees Friday off so we went to go collect the engine mounts
and, against all odds, they are right, Kevin is a genius. Yanmar is just around the corner from the
Marina so we went back for the guided tour.
The nice lady who went with us managed to convey that she was actually
in the Japanese navy before the marina, travelled to over 40 countries and
South Africa was one of them.
Unfortunately the catamaran finger was empty, at R189 000.00 per year (equating to approximately R15 750.00 per month) mooring fees |
| Awesome view from top |
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| Marine Tower |
Sunday we travelled up the
Marine Tower in Yokohama city, 30 floors up to the view point, we declined the
offer to walk, the view is endless and beautiful, even witnessing a wedding
taking place on the roof of a building in front of us.
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| Wedding in progress - balloons just launched |
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| Close up of wedding |
We headed for the Red Brick Warehouse next
where there was remote controlled car racing,
then on to the Japan Coast Guard
Museum where a really helpful guy managed to take us through the whole exhibit
of a recovered hull of a covert operations vessel, believed to be of North
Korean origin, which was self destroyed in operations off the coast of Kyushu
in 2001. The vessel was disguised as a
fishing vessel but the lack of fishing gear alerted authorities, who gave
chase. After firing warning shots, the
vessel opened fire on the authorities who then let rip, crippling the vessel. After dumping their cargo the crew pressed
the self destruct button, found afterwards, blowing up the vessel and killing
all 10 crew members. 
Afterward it was
discovered that there was another smaller vessel inside together with a semi
rigid and a dive scooter. DNA tests done
on the crew established they were of North Korean breeding. No one claimed responsibility for the vessel
and crew and it is suspected they were working for the Japanese Mafia. 21 more vessels have been apprehended by
Japanese authorities since then, the biggest concentrations of these in waters
off uninhabited areas where there are nuclear plants. Scary stuff.
The cherry trees are just
starting to really blossom, unfortunately we seem to have missed the full
beauty of this national event, probably by around a week or two.
We put in a good effort on
our last day in Japan, the Romancecar (an express train with really nice comfy
seats, that has nothing whatsoever to do with romance, it is another example of
good old Japanese direct translation) to Odawara, then onto the Bullet train
bound for Shin-Fuji, the station which takes one closest to Mt Fuji, for which
Kevin has a real fascination.
Upon arrival at Odawara we
realised we had no idea what train line to catch the bullet train from and
nowhere, as is quite normal, did any of the signs indicate travel to Shin-Fuji
or bullet train. An uncharacteristically
helpful Japanese gentleman directed us down the passage and round a corner,
with conviction, but unfortunately, as is often the case when giving
directions, they actually don’t know and just want to get rid of you and this
was no exception, off we went in completely the wrong direction. The day was saved by a really nice chap at a
travel agency who took us all the way to the right gate to catch our train,
just in time.
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| We got speeds up to 267km/h |
The Bullet train
(shinkansen) links Tokyo with most of Japan’s major cities. It reaches maximum speeds of 240 – 320km/h
and was built based on the success of the Romancecar. Japan's bullet train is the worlds busiest high
speed rail line and up to 2011 had the highest passenger ridership annually.
We only had two hours in
Shin-Fuji so walked to the top of the freeway, one of the recommended viewing
points of Mt Fuji. Mt Fuji is the
highest volcano and highest peak in Japan.
More than 200 000 people climb to the top of Mt Fuji annually,
fortunately the last eruption was in 1707 but some seismic activity was
recorded between 2000 and 2001, not one I am very keen to try scaling.
We stopped in a nice
Japanese restaurant for lunch and then headed back to Atsugi, collected our
bags and caught the bus for the airport.
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| A good beer @ Narita Airport waiting for plane Note that grin.... |
Well we are finally home,
Maxscene looking happy and content, having been well looked after by Ulrike and
Bernhard. We received a very warm
welcome from Eileen and Bernhard, Ulrike was flying back from a quick trip to
Johannesburg. Eileen spoiled us with a
scrumptious feast, topped off with good old South African champagne and wine,
there’s definitely no place like home…..
