This past Saturday (May 17, 2014), long-time member and Fuji Seven skipper Fujimoto-san opened the doors of his wonderful waterfront home, Kinnosuke Besso, to TSPS members for the first TSPS barbeque of 2014. The home is iconic and a Misaki city and Miura peninsula landmark and was once owned by the famous Kabuki actor Yorozuya Kinnosuke.
The weather was fantastic and Commander Mall and his wife Suzuko prepared a fantastic feast of fresh vegetables, sashimi and fruit and filled coolers with a variety of wines and beers. Past Commander Per Knudsen and his wife Anne Bille sailed into the harbor, through the waters off the end of the Kinnosuke Besso pier and tied up at Seabornia Marina across the bay. Everyone attending had their fill of wonderful food and beverages under a beautiful blue May sky. One couldn’t really ask for a more enjoyable afternoon.
Many thanks to Fujimoto-san for welcoming us into Kinnosuke Besso and to Commander Mall and Suzuko for their hard work delivering and preparing the feast.
If you’re a TSPS member, why not take advantage of these events? Invitations go out to all members and every member is most welcome.
Slideshow below, or a link to bigger photos from the event:
Thanks to TSPS member Tatsuo Fujimoto the first BBQ of the year will be held at his waterfront house across the water from Seabornia Marina near Misaki, Miura Hanto, on Saturday May 17, 2014 from 12 Noon until the drinks are gone. The cost will be Yen 5 000 per person. We have enjoyed Mr. Fujimoto’s hospitality before and always have a good time. For more information and how to sign up for the barbecue, go to the event announcement.
Our Annual Hayama Marina Outing and Barbecue– Saturday, October 19
Again this year TSPS members have been invited by the Hayama Marina Yacht Club and HMYC’s International Relations Committee member Akihiko Kobayashi to enjoy a day of sailing on the waters of Sagami Bay and a barbecue in the marina boatyard. This has been an annual event for many years and is always a most enjoyable time. It starts at 10 AM with us meeting at Hayama Marina and being assigned to an HMYC-member boat. We then go out on the water for about four hours. We typically sail till 12-ish, anchor together for lunch off the Hayama coast, then return to the marina at around 3 PM to ignite the barbecues, unlock the drink coolers, and relax with friends on the hard till 5:00PM.
By the way, if you or your friends and family are unable to attend the sailing portion of the day, by all means come for the barbecue. The food and drink is good, and if this event is consistent with past ones, there will even be live music and an open mic, should you care to belt out a favorite song.
The date this year for the event is Saturday, October 19.
This is one of our more popular TSPS events, so if you would like to attend, sign up here.
We prefer you sign up online, but if necessary you can send an email providing your full name and the full names of any guest(s) to commander@tspsjapan.org
Final date for sign-up is October 15th. Slots will be filled on a first-come first-served basis, with a limit of 40 participants. Please, no cancellations after October 16.
The meeting place is next to the Marina office, the yellow building near the boat launching facility, at 10:00.
Weather: If it rains the event will be cancelled and not rescheduled. HMYC will advise before 15:00, October 19, if the event is cancelled and TSPS will notify those who sign up.
Time schedule:
10:00 – all get together at the Marina office (the yellow building)
Take Yokohama-Yokosuka Road, get off at Zushi-Interchange, take left road to Hayama, pay ¥100 at toll gate after driving through tunnel, drive about 4 kilometers, go straight under overhead bridge for pedestrian with signal, drive through tunnel, turn left at next crossing with signal (AM-PM shop right side), go straight at next signal and Hayama Marina is 50 meters ahead of the signal, right side of the road. Parking is available, cost is ¥2,000.
By Train / Bus
Train time is around 1 hour from Tokyo to either station
If by JR to Zushi
Take bus no. 11 or 12 from bus stop no. 3
Get off at “ABUZURI HAYAMA MARINA MAE.” Travel time is about 10 minutes.
Proceed about 100 meter along the road the bus is on to Hayama Marina on right side of the street.
If by Keihin-Kyuko (to Shin-Zushi) station.
Exit the platform from the exit nearest the front of the train, Go to bus stop no. 2. Same bus no. 11 or 12 stops there.
TSPS Bridge Officer Tom Proctor has put his sailboat on the market. Below is information provided by Tom. All enquiries regarding Tombo must be addressed to Tom directly.
Tombo was launched in June 2010 and is fully equipped for local and long-distance sailing. Her homeport is Shimoda at the bottom of Izu peninsula, which is the gateway to the best sailing grounds for those living in the Kanto and Tokai regions of Japan and only a few hours cruise from the Izu island chain to the south and east. Under a fractional ownership plan, Tombo will be moved to a port of the ownership group’s choosing.
A partial list of equipment includes:
• offshore sails • gennaker with sock • autopilot • GPS • AIS with Wifi to iPad/PC • dodger • bimini • hot/cold pressure water to galley and shower • central heating • propane stove with electronic solenoid at tank • water-cooled refrigeration • LED lighting • solar panel and charger • electric anchor winch and bow anchor with all chain rode • stern anchor with davit • mooring lines and fenders • 110 volt a/c charger and hot water heater
Additional options to get you to Australia, South-east Asia, or where-ever else in the world you’d like to go include:
• six-person life raft (2012) • charts • galley equipment • loads of spares • back-up GPS • autopilot • two Rocna anchors with rodes • vhf radios • lee cloths • jacklines • tethers • preventer • &etc
Hallberg Rassy boats are widely considered among the best-built passage makers for long-distance cruising. They’ve enjoyed a reputation for sea-going stability, safety, speed, and ease of operation for over forty years. That’s why I bought one.
If you’re interested in purchasing Tombo outright or participating in a fractional ownership arrangement, send me an e-mail at thomashproctor@yahoo.com.
By Jerry Brady, TSPS member with photos from Masayo Wertheimber Saturday, August 18, 2012 9:45a.m.
I’m 15 minutes into a battle with a marlin, and I am losing, damn it. Sweat streaming down my face, clothes soaked right through, arms cramped and cramping. I’m receiving instructions tersely delivered by Diva’s Captain Francis. Masayo is mopping my brow, and Vassili is at the helm enquiring politely whether the fish is still on the line. Yes the fish, the bloody fish, is still on the line, and it’s going on yet another run. His eighth I’m pretty sure. I switch hands to give my cramped left arm a brief respite. I’m exhausted. Then my mind begins streaming questions as the battle renews… “Why is this fish making it so difficult?” “Why doesn’t it just give up and give me and my arms a break?” “Should I ask Francis if an Automated External Defibrillator is aboard? “How about we janken (rock, scissors, paper) to see who wins and call it a day?” “Hmm. Can a marlin show only ‘paper,’ or can it curl a flipper into ‘rock’? “What about that A.E.D.?” “How did I get here?” “Who was the wise guy that once said, ‘If you don’t want a fight, don’t slap a bear.’”
This all began two weeks ago when TSPS member Francis Wertheimber and his wife Masayo invited another TSPSer Vassili Ermakov and me to go fishing for marlin off the coast of Chiba before the start of theTSPS barbecue and fireworks party at Velasis Marina. I figured physically this would be a cake-walk. In years past, I considered myself an athlete. I played many sports including snowboarding, scuba diving, rugby, racquetball, and did some physically demanding commercial tuna fishing in Vietnam. I’d always thought physical activities were easy. I’d do anything, regardless of difficulty, and then drink beer and talk about it later. That was until a few years ago. Training didn’t seem important when I retired from rugby, so I hadn’t worked out in ages. Oh, silly me. Aboard Diva I was about to be worked over by a fish, a 170-kilogram taskmaster of a fish, but a fish nonetheless.
When the marlin took the hook, I was told to take a seat in the fighting chair. We strapped the rod and reel to the chair and listened as the line sang off the reel as the marlin ran out more than five-hundred meters. We watched as it then engaged in fish aerobics by jumping clear of the water several times. Clearly this fish had been working out. Bah! Show off! I reeled it in, but then it took off on another run. This was to be expected and so the fish and I did this several times in succession; it would get close to the boat, take one look at me and then bolt on another 300 – 400 meter sprint. Can’t blame the fish, really. I had quickly lost my usual saintly expression and and was fearsomely grimacing in shades of red and blue. The battle continued and I was losing hope of landing the marlin, but just when I was thinking of cutting the line the fish decided to stop showing off and instead ambled over for a visit. I was ready to offer my nemesis a congratulatory beer, but then remembered marlin are big-game fish loaded with machismo and prefer stronger drink.
Masayo took a load of pictures, and exchanged family photos with the marlin as I mentally prepared to deliver the coup de grâce. In spite of my respect for the fish, I was looking forward to eating it, dining on barbecued marlin steaks with coconut milk and lime juice. Francis got out the boat hook, stepped to the stern and then paused to take a long look at the fish. He then slowly turned to me, Masayo, and Vassili and told us that even if we provided one steak each for the thirty-five TSPS members at the barbecue, we would consume only a quarter of the fish, and that since nobody had any way of transporting the leftover meat, we would have to pay for the rest of the carcass to be commercially disposed of.
Reluctantly, we all agreed to release the fish. But as it slowly swam away, it turned on its side exposing a raised flipper. Did that fish just flip me the bird? When we headed back to port, my arms were so tired that Masayo could have beaten me in an arm-wrestling match. For some reason, I was reminded of something a friend once told me. We had worked together on a construction site in New York before I moved here. He’d said, “When I was younger, I was a real bad-ass. Now that I’m older, I’m just an ass.” It took a fish to drive the point that I was out of shape home. I vowed to myself that I would resume training this month so I would be ready for the next fishing trip. You know… pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, squats, the whole home-training routine. But today, meh… It’s so hot and I’m so tired that I’m going to default back to my usual training regimen; fridge sprints, speed email finger work outs, and flip-fop curls.
Yeah, better to start training in September. It’ll be cooler then and the fish will be smaller… Many thanks to Masayo and Francis Wertheimber and Vassili Ermakov for a truly unforgettable experience.
TSPS member Jose Puppim de Oliveira invited current TSPS Sail Class members to the Marine Box 100 Open House Day in Zushi on May 13 from 10:00 to 15:00. Two members of the sail class, Janice Rimmell and Graham Bell, took up the offer along with instructor Randy Erskine. We arrived in Zushi and met up on the beach and were duly joined there by Jose. A short time later we were joined by David Rasmussen and friends.
It was an open-house day, so the club was looking for members. We took ‘The Grand Tour’ and a got a full explanation about membership, fees, etc. We then sailed in a Sea Lark at midday, but could only use the boat for one hour as there were quite a few people wanting to sail. This was Janice’s first time in a boat and I think she grinned from ear to ear all day. Prior to going sailing we had lunch, smoked chicken burgers, on the roof of the club. Also available were curry and other assorted snacks along with hot and cold drinks.
After sailing the Sea Lark, Jose offered us the use of his Laser, an offer we readily accepted. Randy took Janice out for her first experience in a boat nearly big enough for two and with a very low boom. We were joined by Jose’s nine-year-old son Fernando for his first sailing experience. This was a lesson in how to get wet without trying. We returned to the beach where Graham and Jose then went out for a sail. The day finished up with washing all the equipment down and stowing the boat, sails and mast away. After sailing had finished the cold beer machine was a welcoming sight. The weather was perfect for an introduction to sailing, sunny with blue skies and a nice breeze. Marine Box 100 is very good, with changing rooms, good showers and toilet facilities. The club was very happy to lend us two buoyancy aids. Normally there is no food available, but there are plenty of restaurants nearby.
A big thank you to Jose for the invitation.
Randy Erskine
TSPS member Warren Fraser explains his bucket.
The weather this season in southern Kanagawa has been wildly unpredictable- warm and sunny one day, then cold, wet, and miserable the next, followed by sun, then rain, then wind. Spring winds from the south have been ferocious, rolling through at speeds of up to 55 knots (27 meters per second) making sailing, well, improbable. And so I, we, my fellow Tokyo area sailors, wait for fairer winds.
This past winter I spent a lot of time working on Voyager doing mostly big little things– installing ratlines to climb the shrouds; making, then installing new three-strand lifelines to replace standard wire ones; mounting bronze Murray winches on the mast, and scores of other odd jobs. It got to the point when everything that could be done in a few hours got done, and all the items on ‘The Quick Jobs List’ were checked off. What was I going to do with the remaining ‘few hour’ bits of free time I had available?
One rainy afternoon while leafing through a book on gaff-rigged cutters I noticed a nicely-aged canvas bucket in a photo of a boat’s cockpit. The sun and the salt water, and perhaps the years, had turned it gray. The canvas was crumpled to one side but the brim remained round and firm, with the fibers of the three-strand line standing proud under the canvas. It looked quite dignified and then it occurred to me a bucket would make the perfect little project. So I bought a couple meters of #8 canvas at Yuzawaya in Kamata and began planning my work flow. I came across a fairly detailed description in Lin and Larry Pardey’s book ‘The Cost Conscious Cruiser‘ and listed out the parts I’d need. I made the decision early on to do it all by hand, which for me was the beginning of the adventure. I’d never sewn anything before. Ever.
Having gathered up the materials, I began by making an 8” circle, or grommet, of 3/8” three-strand rope. Then using a sailmaker’s palm (a thimble worn on the palm of the hand), I sewed the canvas to create a 20” tube and then folded it over on itself to get double-sided bucket walls. I slipped the grommet up in between the doubled walls to create the rim. Next was the doubled bottom made of two 9” canvas circles sewn together 3/4 of an inch from the edge I’d selvaged to stop any fraying. The bottom was sewn on with some difficulty as I had to get it to fit the tube walls without too much puckering. That completed, I turned it all inside out and had the beginnings of the bucket. To keep the three-strand brim in place between the walls, I sewed all the way around the underside of the brim using a sewing awl. Next came small grommets sewn under the bucket rim to form holes through which I spliced some rope to form the handle. I added the BCC sail mark by rubber cementing on letter cut-outs I‘d made from a length of leather. Finally, I spliced on 12’ of rope to form the line the bucket is hung from when scooping water, adding Matthew Walker knots every 12” to help with grip under load. In the end, my ‘few hours’ project took well over 15 hours to complete. And to be honest, it’s the best boat bucket ever built. It better be.
