Category Archives: News

Did That Fish Just Flip Me The Bird?

The Marlin Jumps

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. 

Slideshow

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Yarramundi in Cairns

TSPS-member David Devlin successfully completed his five-month voyage from Japan to Australia on August 17. Departing on March 25th from Shimoda, David sailed south to among other places, Ogasawara, Saipan, Faralaup, Yap, and Papua New Guinea, before making a dash across a tempestuous Solomon Sea and a calmer Coral Sea to arrive in Cairns under ideal sailing conditions. As David says, “After all this little boat has been through it is nice to have a such a pleasant sail into her first port in Australia.”

David’s journey had more than its fair share of hardships (you can read his blog here), but through it all, David maintained a positive attitude in the face of such difficulties that was, in short, inspirational.

On behalf of the TSPS Bridge and TSPS members, we congratulate David for his achievement, and look forward to seeing David when he returns to Tokyo.

Warren Fraser
Commander, TSPS

TSPS Fishin’ Expedition: Fish Have Gone Deep

Fishing740-044The weather in mid-July looked perfect for some fishing. Sunny skies, hot temperatures, light winds some of the time, and according to Francis Wertheimber and Vassili Ermakov, our two skippers for the fishing trip (photo link below), high water temperatures. This, and the high latitude of the Kuroshio meant the fish would be near the surface, all manner of fish- marlin, tuna, barracuda, yellowtail, skipjack, saba… Sounded perfect. But as the week of July 15th began, a typhoon was approaching Kyushu. As the days passed the effect of the typhoon brought cold air in from the north and east and by Thursday evening, temperatures in the Tokyo area had dropped to the low 20’s, a fall of some 12 degrees from the Wednesday high. Additionally, the Kuroshio had shifted 50 miles to the south, meaning the warm waters brought north along the current were no longer reaching our fishing grounds. Ugg. Cool temperatures, rain, and moderate breezes were now forecast for our day fishing on the water. It didn’t look good.

Email started to dribble in from the invited members Friday morning expressing concern with the weather. “Too early to make a weather decision?”, wrote one. “Folks – we are still on for tomorrow, right?”, asked another. Then came, “Unlike us, fish do not mind getting wet, so as long as fish are biting, rain or no rain, I assume the fishing expedition is on.” Then the definitive message from Vassili arrived:

“I believe that all of our team accepts the possibility and consequences of getting wet. So, see you all tomorrow at 08:00 at Velasis. Just to remind you, Mary-Jane is an open fly bridge boat with an awning. So if it’s even a small rain you will get wet unless you stay down in the cabin.”

It was decided. Mary-Jane III, with her zipper down, was going regardless. Francis quickly picked up on Vassili including the word “team” in his message and quickly followed up with:

“Diva would like to challenge Mary-Jane for after-fishing beers and pizza at the harbour.

Boat (Mary-Jane) with the lesser catch buys.
Rules are, whether landed or released:
Bill fish 10 points
Tuna 5
Barraccuda 4
Skipjack 3
Yellowtail  2
Mahi-Mahi -1 (yes, minus one)
Saba -2
Any other fish 1
Any other fish if in a tray having a bar code -10
Alternatively, if both boats skunk out, Tony would flip out the TSPS check book. Kindly be responsible to take home all landed fish.”

The rest of the invitees responded quickly saying they would be in Velasis by 0800h. The amazing thing is that they all were. (As the organizer, I was particularly happy with this.)

The teams separated at the bottom of the gangway leading down to the docks and went off in opposite directions. Gerry Brady, Eugen and Suzuko Mall, Warren and Rumiko Fraser followed Vassili to Mary-Jane III, a 36′ Yamaha sport fishing boat, while Tony Whitman, Wolfgang Bierer, Jeff Canaday, and Demir Sadikoglu and his partner Naoko followed Francis to Diva, another 36′ Yamaha sport fishing boat, where Masayo, Francis’ wife, was preparing for departure. Once aboard Mary Jane, we were given PFDs and quickly got under way on gray waters under grey skies, heading south past Kurihama and then Kenzaki Point. For an hour we sped along at 22 knots until we reached a point on the water about 10 miles off the north-west corner of Oshima. Francis had called in to say the water temperature was 23 degrees. Here there might be fish.

After bringing Mary-Jane to a stop, Vassili descended from the fly bridge to rig up four rods. The fishing lines from the outer two rods were run up long aluminum poles called outriggers which were then lowered from the near vertical to almost 50 degrees to get the lines as far out to the side of the boat as possible and help keep the four lines separate as the lures move through the water. The lines from the inner two were set directly off the stern of the boat. We then began to troll, motoring along at about 7 knots, with everyone’s gaze fixed on the distant lures 20 to 30 meters off the stern. We headed east for a spell, then we headed south. We returned to an eastern heading then swung around to the south again. Then again to the east and the south and the east yet again. The fish were clearly not going east and south. At this point we all felt the bite of excitement when our skipper, looking astern unexpectedly pointed the bow north and then west and Jerry cracked open the first beer. We’d been patiently waiting for this moment for two and a half hours. Eugen mentioned something about how the sun, if we could see it, would likely be above the yard arm. Time to slake our thirst. We continued on like this for a while- the fishing, not the drinking and we were beginning to have our doubts. Four lines in the water for almost three hours and not a single bite. Not a fin. Not a splash. Nothing to indicate we were swimming with the fishes.

At approximately 1130h, Francis called again on the VHF to tell us the fish had gone deep and there was nothing out there. He’d been experiencing the same frustrations aboard Diva and decided it was time to head home. Vassili agreed. We quickly reeled in the lures and hooks, furled the outriggers, and set course north toward Velasis Marina. Naturally we all felt a bit dejected. The opportunity to big-game fish south of Tokyo was a unique experience and it was really too bad no one on either boat got to feel the thrill of reeling in a fish.

We were soon back at the docks. Diva was in slings getting hauled out of the water and dropped into her boatyard cradle when her quiet crew came over to Mary-Jane and together the twelve of us commiserated with one another over beer and wine, all saying how nice it was to simply get out on the water, in spite of not catching even a glimpse of a fish and the cool, gray weather. And we were right. It was nice, but catching a fish would have made it just that much better. I hope we get a chance sometime to do it all over again, when the fish don’t go deep.

Here are pictures from the fishing trip

On behalf of everyone who participated, I’d like to thank our hosts Vassili Ermakov and Francis and Masayo Werthiember for their generosity and time and patience.
Warren Fraser
Commander, TSPS

The Green Flash

Published by the Marketing/ PR Committee
United States Power Squadrons®Contact Greg Scotten gscotten@comcast.net

THE GREEN FLASH: FACT OR FICTION

Many a boater has sat at anchor waiting for the sun to set and watching for the illusive “green flash.” After many sunsets with no flash, most assume the green flash is a wive’s tail and cease looking. Recently my wife and I were off Florida’s Fort Myers Beach and had the thrill of a life time as the flash appeared and in fact momentarily left a green haze crowning the sun as it disappeared below the horizon. So, yes fellow boaters, there is a green flash!

Sunlight is composed of all colors of the spectrum, each having a different wave length. The differing wave lengths then result in a differing rate of dispersion, as the colors are scattered across the sky and disappear. At sunset, the blue/violet colors end the spectrum and are the first to disappear. That is why sunsets normally lack any blue tones. The red end of the spectrum is refracted the easiest and is the last to dissipate as the red then disappears with the sun as it drops below the horizon. With the blue tones dispersed and the red tones sinking with the sun, all which is left is the green.

So how come we don’t always see a green flash? Well, the earth’s atmosphere is not a constant. Varying sun spot activity and moisture content (think rainbow) create a variety of conditions, all of which can affect the rate of color dispersion at sunset and dictate what we see as the sun disappears below the horizon.

In looking for the green flash, take care to protect your eyes. It can be very harmful to look directly at the sun. I like to watch the sun sink via its reflection from a hard surface and only turn to view it direct as it reaches its low point to the horizon. Of course I am also wearing a strong UV rated pair of sun glasses. Even that small final crescent peeking over the horizon can hurt your eyes.

So don’t give up, the green flash does exist, and you may yet have a chance to witness this phenomenon. Lots of sunsets and patience may one day reward you with membership in that exclusive club of sailors that have witnessed this beautiful phenomenon.

My wife and I still talk about how gorgeous the sunset was that day off Fort Myers Beach when we witnessed the green flash. Boating can not only be fun, but it can also allow you to join an audience watching a miraculous display of the wonders of nature.

To learn more about boating enjoyment, contact the boating experts of the United States Power Squadrons. Look for their local notices or go to the national website at www.USPS.org.

As its members tell us: ““Boating is fun…We’ll show you how.”

Lt. Bill Hempel
Senior Feature Writer
Marketing/Public relations Committee
United States Power Squadrons®

Minoru Saito at TEDxTokyo

Hunter Brumfield, Past Commander of TSPS and head of the Saito Challenge 8 support team has let us know that Minou Saito, Guinness world-record holder, 8-time solo circumnavigator, and TSPS member appeared on stage at the recent TEDxTokyo event. From Hunter:

Hi All,

Now 10 months along since his return to Japan, Minoru Saito has had a busy public appearance schedule, most recently speaking at Saturday’s “TEDx Tokyo.” TED is an event independently organized worldwide that brings together a number of unique individuals to give brief, 15-minute presentations.

Saito-san spoke in Japanese with simultaneous English interpretation. While this YouTube clip is in Japanese, it demonstrates the professionalism of the venue and TED management, as well as shows the large number of people attending. It was also streamed live on the web.

Despite a few hospitalization stays due to breathing issues still with him since Cape Horn, Saito-san looks rested and has even added back a kilo or two of weight, as you can see for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2KFb6-jTDs&feature=plcp

(If this link doesn’t work, please paste it into your browser.)

Our thanks to Nico Roehreke and his hard-working folks at Nicole BMW  for helping Saito-san — who was admittedly very nervous — prepare for this event. The solo skipper was hugely relieved when he found he didn’t have to go through with the initial plan that he speak in English to the huge crowd, but told us that the hardest part would be boiling down his 3-year circumnavigation into “just 15 minutes!”

Best,
Hunter

The picture above is from an interview during the mid-day break.

Saito-san has boundless energy and has recently been hard at work refitting Nicole BMW Shuten Dohji III in Arari, Shizuoka. We had a chance to catch up with him at Golden Week over a few drinks and came away  with the impression the man is an unstopable force. We are honored to have him as a member of the Tokyo Sail and Power Squadron.

Warren Fraser,
Commander, TSPSP

Spring Rendezvous Photos Now Downloadable

By popular demand, we’ve made the photos taken at the Spring Rendezvous available for download. Of course, you’re free to do with them what you like, but if you post them publicly on your Facebook or social network site, we’d like to ask you to mention the photos are from a Tokyo Sail & Power Squadron event. It may, after all, help us make new friends and find new members.

Have at them!

Fair winds,
Warren Fraser
Commander, TSPS

Report: TSPS Spring Rendezvous, 2012

2012-Spring-Rendezvous-15The TSPS Rendezvous held on June 23rd at Velasis Marina was a success. The party kicked off at 1400h and went until dusk. Lunch included roast chicken, barbecued hamburgers, caesar salad, and fruit, all was washed down with a collection of fine European craft and draft beers, Spanish wines, and American soft drinks. Demir and Nao made the trip by boat as did Stuart Gibson and a group of friends aboard his powerboat. In total 29 people attended, including our newest members Pierre-Jacque and partner Pascale from France, and Rumiko Fraser. To these three, welcome to TSPS; and to the rest, thanks so much for coming down to Velasis for the afternoon.

Warren Fraser,
Commander TSPS

Yarramundi Ready For Yap Voyage

 

It would appear that TSPS member David Devlin, so unfortunately waylaid by a coral bommie (outcrop) on May 15th at Faraulep in Micronesia, has completed the temporary repairs necessary to his vessel’s skeg and rudder and is about to depart for Yap, a sail of about 385 miles. There, he will complete the repairs at a boatyard before continuing on to Australia. This is from a recent update on his blog:

Thomas, Chan and Chan’s son Melvin navigated for us yesterday on a nail bitting trip out to sea through the lagoon’s middle entrance. It is a dog leg’s entrance and we found it both difficult to navigate going out and then returning in to. Think we will use the narrow but straight entrance we used when we first came in when it comes to leaving.

My mouth was dry and I was shaking the entire time. Not only concern over hitting again but concern over the repairs holding up. We motored around a bit and found water in the bilge. Emptied it and found it did not return. I have had this happen before. There are so many places for water to get trapped and once you get out to sea and rocked around it starts appearing in the bilge. We then put up the main sail 3rd reef and ran with the wind toward Yap doing 3.4knots. The wind was between 15 and 20 knots and the waves 3 to 4 feet. We turned around came back through the lagoon entrance, attached back up to our anchor and celebrated with 3 not so very cold but very enjoyable bottles of wine with our new friends.

There has been no leak whatsoever since. I have therefore decided to sail to Yap. The earliest would be tomorrow afternoon but still a few things to get done so more likely Thursday. All weather permitting.

We will lodge our sail plan with Guam Coast Guard and also Australian Maritime and won’t go if they say don’t. We plan to only use sail to steady the boat to reduce pressure on rudder. Will keep our sea anchor ready to deploy from the bow should we get strong winds or a storm.It is nearly 400 nautical miles so we are bound to hit a couple of squalls.

I am not going to write all details here of our repairs or the how we plan to sail to avoid a barrage of arm chair advice and comments. I have chosen to work with 4 good people on this and they have devoted a lot of their time. We have spent a lot of time discussing and debating every detail and I feel confident we have done the best we can and the boat will withstand the journey.

David

All of us at TSPS wish David an easy and safe journey.

A Flota In Hota

 

Hota Spring Cruise 2012.01The TSPS Spring Cruise to Hota held on June 2nd and 3rd was a great success. A total of seven boats participated: Akdenizli, Bifrost, Dede III, Diva, Fuji VII, Gone With The Wind, and Voyager. All crossed Tokyo Bay and tied up at the Hota docks without incident, and at 5PM, the 30 crew members of the fleet gathered around two tables in Banya and began the annual TSPS feast of fresh sashimi, sushi, tempura, nitsuke, shioyaki, and misoshiru, among others, all washed down with many a bottle of Asahi Dry, numerous frosted mugs of namabiru (draft beer), and tall tokuri of atsukan and hiyazake (hot and cold sake). (see photos below)

It was for many people the first chance to meet with TSPS friends in the new year, and the conversations were lively and spirited. Many enjoyed their first TSPS sailing event and one participant, Michael Scott, paid his fees to become a member of the squadron after dinner. Mike is a wine merchant and we owe much of what followed the dinner to him and his satchel of wine bottles. (Welcome, Mike, and thanks)

While some of the crews went to an onsen following dinner, others gathered aboard Voyager to continue the revelry. At least ten sailors crowded around Voyager’s tiny cockpit and were in no time bringing the Hota hills alive with the sound of music as they sang numerous renditions of Happy Birthday to Per Knudsen, who was celebrating his 39th (?) birthday on Saturday.

The next day dawned cloudy and hazy, but outside at sunrise it was blue skies, much to everyone’s surprise. The forecast called for rain all day with winds from the east. Slowly, the boats in Hota harbor came alive with activity, as crews had their coffee and breakfasts outside in the sunshine. The first out of the harbor was Voyager bound for Yokohama, then Diva powering home to Velasis. The rest of the boats departed Hota sometime before noon. The winds built throughout the morning reaching 27 – 30 knots. Akdenizli left Hota under full sail, but unfortunately tore her mainsail at the aft reefing cringle when putting in a reef and was forced to motor back to Bayside. Voyager sailed for the first few hours on the return to a point near the islands in Tokyo Bay, but finding the wind directly on the nose, decided to motor the remaining 8 miles. Gone With The Wind sailed on and off on it’s return and enjoyed a fantastic sail toward the end of her journey. Bifrost, with Novice Sailing Class students Janice and Graham aboard, enjoyed a wonderful sail under reefed jib and main as she sailed home to Velasis.

Once again, the Spring Cruise to Hota was a very enjoyable event. We’d like to thank Cruising Coordinator Per for organizing the cruise, the skippers Demir, Per, Francis, Bobby, Fujimoto-san, Chris and Warren for making their boats available for the trip and for welcoming members aboard, and to all the 30 people who participated in the cruise.

The next sailing event is our next social event, the Spring Rendezvous on June 23. Skippers are welcome to contact Per Knudsen if they would like to reserve a slip at Velasis marina.

Photos:

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So We Strike, Like…

Over Golden Week, four boats made their way to the west coast of Izu. We wrote the details of the journey in detail not long ago. During the trip the shutterbugs were hard at work snapping pictures, which we’ve turned into video slideshows. The photos in this video are from the camera of Bifrost skipper and crew Per Knudsen and Anne Bille. Editing is by Warren Fraser. Youtube approves of our choice of music, and therefore the video may not be viewable in some regions.

Enjoy.

Thunderhull

and previously posted: a video from the crew of Distant Dreamer

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