by Timothy Langley, posted on 10/16/23

The Tokyo Sail & Powerboat Squadron hosted it’s wonderfully-popular annual Fall BBQ this last Saturday (10/07/23). On the top deck of Yumenoshima Marina 34 Members & Guests joined for an open tap with lots of grilled meats, vegetables and even yakisoba! As the photos reveal, a robust time was had by all with magnificent Fall weather and blue skies.

The leadership of the NPO also took the opportunity to hold their monthly organizational meeting just prior to the BBQ. For the first time, in fact, Members of the USPS (of which TSPS is the largest squadron in District 13) also joined-in virtually. This was open to all TSPS Members. Of note was the Tony Whitman recognition for 50 years of devotion to TSPS and for his instrumental involvement in setting-up the Club under the leadership of George Purdy and his magnificent wife Midori forty-five years ago! What an achievement & legacy!

Attached below are photos of the BBQ event but in closing, please remember that the Keelhaul for November will be (always First Wednesday) November 1^st at the Devil Craft in Jiyugaoka. The Keelhaul is our most regularly-attended social event, over beer and pizza, and is open-door to sailors & guests alike. Photos and descriptions can always be found at https://tspsjapan.org/skuttlebutt/.

Also, please visit the revamped TSPS webpage to register (https://tspsjapan.org/our-events/social-events/) for our annual end-of-year party: December 6^th, at the Intercontinental Hotel next to Tokyo Bay Bridge! Last year’s Event & Awards Ceremony extravaganza can be viewed at https://tspsjapan.org/the-tsps-bonenkai-of-2022-report/!

The Yumenoshima Marina location right inside Tokyo (Imperial Palace upper left)!

The green building (bottom corner) is the marina & facilities.

The deck overlooking the yachtdocks was our venue of the TSPS Fall BBQ of 2023.

Commander Bill Van Alstine logging-in and preparing the monthly Bridge Meeting… this one, an open invitation for TSPS Members to join as Observers.

Bridge Meeting before BBQ, video-conferencing USPS Officers from sister-squadrons in the US, too: John Kratoschvil, Gary Thomas, Brendan Morris, Ash Smart, Claude Strobbe, Commander Bill Van Alstine (Observers: Laurie Wesselhoff, Bruce Reinhart) (Timothy Langley out-of-picture)

Three grills… ladden trays-of-food .. delivered & replenished throughout the afternoon. Beer keg replaced twice!

Andy, Brendan, Bill…. swashbucklers.

Captain Sherwin and big-streetbike riddin’ Colin.

The Man, The Legend….

Free-flowing wine and beer-on-tap! Commander Bill extended the cut-off time for an additional 1.5 hours, so we went long and everyone stayed late!

Captains Jiro Fujiwara and Strobbe.

Jiro, with half-empty/half-full Claude Strobbe

Andy, Brendan (Kaoru & Chris in the background slavin’ away!)

Bridge Secretary & Legal Officer Captain Timothy Langley slaving-away, Education Officer Captain Claude Strobbe in background.

Chowdown

Chris taking on BBQ duties: with appreciation Chris! (…didn’t burn things half as bad as Langley did… this year & last!)

Vlad, John… a competition for a bottle of the highly prized Myers’s Rum! John pointing-out a fine bone of contention, hotly contested….

Colin, Vlad, John (great reflection from the storm-windows!)

John, Freddie, Brendan, Colin, Vlad (Laurie & Bruce in the background)

Little Michael Staley: Kent

Cloe & Keiko (only just barely tolerating us…). Another good reflection in the window revealing the Tokyo skyline in the distance.

High Tension Andy in the background with Michael, Dominique

Max Ziurin

Kaoru, Andy, Chris (Michael and Max in the background)

Kaoru (and guy looking out the window)

Captain Freddie Snoxal, Administrative Officer Brendan Morris (sorry new Member with the shades… can’t make out your name~!).

Bruce Reinhart

Squadron Webmaster & IT Head Ash Smart, Commander Bill Van Alstine

Commander Bill Van Alstine, Colin Sheldon, Boating Activities Chair Vlad Legeza, Membership Chair John Kratochvil

Administrative Officer Brendan Morris

Captain Jiro, Captain & Mrs. Darren Halliday.

Governor Gary Thomas

Captain Jeremy Sanderson, Jerry Brady

Captain (& exalted Former Commander) Mike Snyder, Renowned MC Andy Lawson

Susanne Schierok

Self Evident: The Sherwin.

THE Famous Fuji Jake!

Laurie Wesselhoff, Naoko Staley

Mr. Yaki Soba

Boating Activities Chair Vlad Legeza, Squadron Webmaster & IT Head Ashley Smart, Captain extraordinaire Darren Halliday

Steve Bettnick, Nikolay Gritsenko

Captain Demir Sadokoglu, Captain Michael Staley, Captain Sherwin Faden, Colin Sheldon

Captain Michael Snyder, Captain Sherwin Faden and Hollywood star Andy Lawson

Max, Dom & Claude looking at boats they covet…

Kent, Michael, Naoko!

Famous Nijima Island resident Freddie Snoxall getting a lift after a laborious day of drinking and carousing at the marina….

… while John Kratoschvil, on the other hand, receiving of a different kind of lift.

————-end————

This event was another success due to the planning, preparation and involvement of many people. A special thanks, however, goes out to Svetlana Ilyushechkina and Claude Strobbe for making the arrangements for food, venue, the roster and payment administration. Claude also brought in several boxes of swag, which was a bit hit! A great time was had by all!

Next up: November Keelhaul in Jiyugaoka (11/02) and the End-of-Year Blowout & Awards Ceremony on December 6 at the Intercontinental Hotel.

September ’23 at Pizzakaya in Nishi Azabu

By Timothy Langley

The second Wednesday of September found our monthly Keelhaul at Pizzakaya in Roppongi. Although the Notice wasn’t well circulated due to webpage revitalization and laziness in getting the word out, this turned-out to be one of our largest Keelhauls of the year!

TSPS Commander, Bill Van Alstine, held court and generously ordered pizza for the assembled masses. Typically, TSPS orders the first few and afterwards, you are on your own. Pizzakaya is a well-known and frequent haunt for salty sailors, but we don’t go here EVERY month. The Regulars know to pay your own way and in this area there was plenty of craft beers jostled about!

Bridge Members John Kratochvil (Membership), Timothy Langley (Secretary & Legal Officer), Svetlana Ilyushechkina (Administrative Officer), Claude Strobbe (Educational Officer), Ashley Smart (Squadron Webmaster & IT Head), Vlad Legeza (Boating Activities Chair) were likewise present but, wow: there were about 30 other people! TSPS totally dominated the entire shop!

I was not successful in getting the names of everyone but outstandingly we had 4 guests, 2 new Members, and the rest diehard Keelhaulers! Apparently, the guests were curious about sailing lessons but due to the finicky webpage, decided to join the group over beers and pizza. Since then, I am told the issues with calendar and access to Lessons has been addressed.

In any event, this Keelhaul was loosely organized: no speeches, no introductory round-the-table runs, no save-your-ass lessons from John Kratochvil. But it was great fun with lots of comradery, particularly due to the fact that so many old salts showed-up including past Commander Mike Snyder!

While the Keelhaul is TSPS’s most regularly-scheduled social event (1^st Wednesday-every month), we also host two annual barbeques and lots of on-the-water opportunities to sail or motorboat.

On October 7th, in fact, (13 days from this writing!), an always fabulous BBQ happens at Yumenoshima Marina on Saturday afternoon. Details elsewhere on the webpage but sign-up deadline is approaching so please hurry.

Also, the next Keelhaul approaches for October: Devil Craft in Jiyugaoka; the lessons for passing Class I and Class II tests are ongoing now.  Fall sailing season is here!

And finally, make sure you are on the Mailing List to receive Announcements directly and bookmark the webpage to register. 

Here are some photos of the event:

by Timothy Langley, May 15, 2023 Tokyo (revised September 26th)

Overview: The following describes two hearty sailors setting out over the long Golden Week to outline the boarder of their licensed area, Region One, in Japanese waters. This journey took 7 days.

Vessel: Yamaha ‘26C sailing yacht (1983) Santana.

Crew: Timothy Langley & Evan Burkosky.

Journey: traverse Region One (Santana’s registered area) over 7~8 days. Ultimately, sailed 7 days, traversed 270 nautical miles, hit islands Oshima, Niijima, Miyakejima; returned to touch Shimoda (Shizuoka Prefecture), then home-port sprint to Awa-Katsuyama. One nighttime sailing leg of 16 hours (Port Ako Miyakejima to Shimoda).

Details:

Leg One:  4/29 Saturday, depart 4:30 am from Home Port Awa-Katsuyama (Chiba Peninsula) for Habu Harbor, Oshima Island. Head-on wind required extreme tack into Sagami Bay for ~5 hours, tack back, then hug the shadow of Oshima Island to shelter somewhat from tremendous building winds and seas. Mainsail set throughout at 3^rd reefed position. Storm approaching from the south, hitting in several hours.  14 hour sail.

Leg Two: 5/01 Monday depart (one-day layover) Habu Harbor at 4:00 am for Niijima Island. Very brisk crossing and almost entirely over/through the Kuroshio current; very choppy & confused waters, lots of leaping tuna. 9 hour sail. Sail almost exclusively on Spinnaker, consistently maintaining 6 knots/hour! Trouble: when bagging spinnaker from the bow, sheet inadvertently fell into the water (unnoticed) and got immediately caught-up in prop; Captain Evan’s dive under the boat to untangle quickly achieved success… no damage but close-call.

Leg Three: 5/02 Monday arrive Niijima Port at 1:40 pm (7 hour sail). Tie-up, walk to sea-water hot springs “Yunohama Ryoten Onsen”. Drive around island care of new friend (JET Teacher assigned to Niijima Education System) Freddie Snoxall. Forced-feast at Chinese restaurant. Early next-day departure.

Leg Four: 5/03 Tuesday depart Niijima Port at 4:00 am heading for Miyakejima Island. 21 nautical miles, with new crew member Freddie. Very swift crossing over rough waters but made excellent time, arriving after only 6 hour sail.

Leg Five: 5/03 Tuesday arrive in Ako Port on the south-western side of Miyakejima at 10:00 am. Walk to nearby “Furosato-no-yu onsen”; a hearty lunch at Kairaku Hotel; puffed on cigars on the massive breakwater; walk around unsuccessfully searching for dinner (town completely rolls-up at 7:00 o’clock); brief visit to Snackbar Azabu for drinks. Next day scooter riding through winding roads, lava fields, the highest accessible points on the island (much of the island is a no-go due to volcanic activity), etc.. Lunch at yucky, almost unbearable, Chinese shack.

Leg Six: 5/05 Wednesday depart 5:30 pm for night sail (while the sun is still up): destination Yaizu City in Shizuoka Prefecture, Oi River (the western boundary of Santana’s registered sailing area). Trouble: once in open water, bowlight shorted-out (still in daylight but nightfall approaching). Captain Evan springing again into action with trouble-shooting, finding spares within Santana, repaired in the dark while underway in rough seas. Pretty tense as seas rough; head downwind at slow clip (see sailing diagram, below), Evan dangling on the Bowspirit to reattach the entire housing, with success finally. 16 hour sail (only slightly due to the bowlight issue). Navigating by the stars and treated to constant meteor shower!

Leg Seven: 5/06 Thursday arrive Iritahama Beach in Shimoda at 9:30 am, due to unfavorable winds forbidding the full Suruga Bay traverse; 16 hour overnight sail. Brief 3 hour anchor off the beach, then 1.5 hour sail into Shimoda Cove, Admiral Perry Visitor’s Pier arriving 12:30 noon. Overnight layover: lunch in-town; glorious bath at Thousand-People Kayaya Ryokan Onsen at Rentaiji Station; bbq ribs dinner; hit Tosaya Soul Bar on the warf until 1:00 o’clock.

Leg Eight: 5/04 Friday depart Shimoda Cove 4:30 am for Home Port Katsuyama (expected to be ~14 hour sail in rough seas in following 25+kt winds). Only sail 40% of jib-sail, no main-sail throughout. Turns-out to be the best day of sailing in strong winds for first 2/3rds, then extremely strong winds in last 1/3 but arriving earlier than expected at 4:30… a 12 hour sail! Averaging 6 knots the entire day on the sliver of a foresail!

End: 5/05 Friday, hit Home Port Katsuyama on the Chiba Peninsula at 4:30 pm; 12 hour sail.