The Hayama Marina Sailing and Crew Finder is a WhatsApp Group where sailors match-up with available sailing yachts and with competent Skippers. It is a very active group, with a healthy roster of Skippers and a bevy of 30’ Yamaha sailboats to rent-out in Hayama and Velassis Marinas.

The group was established by Claude Strobbe and actively administered by Former Commander Mike Snyder, Svetlana, & Dave Edwards.

Here is how it works:

WhatsApp Group: simply search for and ask-to-join the social media group; an Administrator will check and admit. Remember, limited to TSPS Members. Then, once in, post your inquiry or comment and see who follows-up. Sign-in early because the earlier traffic and chatter is invisible to you until you register, and even then, only going forward: you cannot view history.

Skippers: captains interested in training & coaching recently licensed TSPS Members, provide experience in handling the sails, taking the helm, tacking, tying knots, learning-the-ropes of sailing, can be “Skippers”. Skippers must be vetted by TSPS and authorized to rent-out yachts on behalf of TSPS. Currently, there are approximately 6 Skippers. They generally accept or decline inclusion.

Skippers-in-Training: once you have passed your Class II license, you can also register as a Skipper once you have completed the required courses and qualified according to TSPS standards. Please see the Comments Section for more details. There are currently 5 Skippers-in-training.

TSPS Sailors: finding opportunities to hone sailing skills is one of the most difficult challenges for a freshly-licensed sailor: this is why this Group first began. Skippers want to become better-Skippers, wannabe-Skippers want to qualify to take boats out on their own, green Sailors want to become competent and skillful in a pastime seeped in history and tradition. It takes a long time and is only gained by doing.

Yacht Availability: generally-speaking, TSPS Skippers have good access to sailing yachts. Hayama Marina has 6 identical 30’ Yamaha sailing yachts for rent on a daily-basis (no overnight). The cost is a reasonable ¥20,000/day, so split among 4 people, this is not expensive. On the other side of the Yokohama peninsula (facing Tokyo Bay) is the Velassis Marina where, similarly, TSPS Skippers can rent proper sailing yachts but, again, only on a day-to-day basis. Some Skippers have their own boats and avail themselves to crewing-opportunities. They are also on this WhatsApp group and respond when they like… costs & fees are determined by them: TSPS does not generate revenue from this.

The WhatsApp Group is designed to attract Skippers to make themselves available because Sailors are asking (via the Group) for deck time. It is all self-managed and maintained. If you schedule a day for sailing and don’t show-up, or show-up late, or forget your money, you could find that thereafter getting a Skipper to host you difficult. Skippers are TSPS volunteers.

If you are interested in getting-out on Sagami or Tokyo Bays, sign into this enthusiastic WhatsApp group.

by Timothy Langley

June 13, 2024

TSPS Members sponsor various activities related to sailing or being out-on-the-water; this is one of them.

A WhatasApp Group, “Marine Diesel Maintenance & Repair Group” was established by former Commander Dave Edwards last month. It is picking-up steam.

If you seek competency to take care of mechanical issues that might pop-up, or are interested in finding out how the diesel-engine actually works on a boat, you should join this WhatsApp Group. Recommended for boat owners but also to hopeful Owners as well. Learn what to look-out for, and what sounds to attune your ears to, how to fix any issue that might arise. Very useful.

The first session (June 1, 2024), originally intended as a refresher-course, was a full-blown seminar on fuel repair and maintenance. Evan Burkowsky, Captain/Owner/Rebirther of a 33’ Peterson sailing yacht (45 years old), christened “Garuda”, held a 4 hour-seminar on his boat in Hayama Port  … on the Chiba peninsula, between Kizarazu (Costco) and Tateyama (tip of the peninsula).

A follow-up seminar is planned so sign-into the Group to register your interest.

In the next session, we will be looking into the cooling system: wave ‘goodbye’ to overheating engines and ‘hello’ to cool cruising! Maximum ~10 individuals. Exclusive to TSPS Members.

———–(end)———–

By Timothy Langley, June 3, 2024

Trouble-shooting and maintaining a diesel engine on a sailboat is as important as tying the right kind of knot in a given situation.

A group of TSPS sailors gathered at the well-known sailing port of Hota on Chiba Peninsula to examine a diesel engine in a 45 year old yacht this weekend. Originally intended to be a refresher-course, it turned into a hands-on workshop examining and trouble-shooting the most likely terminal-troubles a sailor might confront while at sea… the most unfortunate time for these issues to arise. So yes: kinda life-or-death.

Captain Evan Burkowsky, one of the most accomplished sailors within TSPS, held court with a collection of sailors, some captains in their own rights, to examine the fuel-system, electricals, and handy-hacks to address a sudden issue quickly. This was hands-on with participants getting their hands dirty and feeling for themselves the difficulties in access, the tools required, the sounds emitted that signal a problem arising or the echos of success after adjustments. All captains know that the boat talks to you, if you just know how to listen.

In typical TSPS fashion, the workshop went long and by the time we tidied-up, the fabulous Banya restaurant had closed, the bath was closed, and only nearby Odoya grocery saved the day.

Everyone ended up munching their own selection of favorite foods, a veritable mishmash, shared beers and red-wine, and called it a night around 10:30.

All retired to their own respective boats under a sky sprinkled with stars, the echos of paddy-frogs croaking, waves lightly lapping, and in the distance, the reverberating snore of some waterbuffalo.

Sunrise in a morning ignited by riotous squawking of thousands of sea-hawks (at the Fisherman’s Association processing incoming catches) found the port full of activity. David Lechevalier, grinding fresh coffee from within Bluewind II, was popular on the floating dock. Captain Evan, readying his boat for departure, still providing advice on a vast range of questions that just never stopped: sailing is such a deep and broad pastime, requiring mastery of hundreds of skills. Having a sounding board with such deep experience is so very important and valuable. Having this kind of opportunity and the luxury of time is rare, in fact.

With the Banya hotsprings 70 meters away opening 7:30am, everyone got freshened-up, some necessarily so after diving into the waters to scrape the bottom of the boat… another essential maintenance issue. It turns out that yes, Punk: between 5:00am and 7:30, you can get a lot done!

This first workshop was a great success. Follow-up plans to focus on cooling-systems, electricals and trouble-shooting is already in the works. If you are interested, please provide a Comment or voice your preferences at the upcoming Keelhaul.

Finally, in addition to a thank-you to Captain Evan for the instruction (and for the hospitality of his roomy 33’ Peterson sailing yacht), a hearty shout-out to John Kratochvil for originally initiating the Workshop-in-Hota idea in the first place. Thank you to the others who sailed from distant locations to have what turned-out to be a very insightful, instructive workshop, a slapped-together dinner, a lovely sunrise coffee, bookended with two exhilarating days of sailing to and back on Tokyo Bay.

What a great weekend! Let’s do it again.

By Chris Eve

May 20, 2024

I was so enthused by my first visit to Hota that I persuaded my Chief Navigator, Kaoru, to join me for a second visit. In order to keep the journey as short as possible to allay Kaoru’s concerns about getting seasick, I decided we would motor all the way. We set out from Yokohama Bayside at nine and set course for Kannnonsaki. Eothen is fitted with a 30hp Yanmar 3YM30 engine which is more than enough for a vessel of her size, but it does mean that she can cruise comfortably at a steady 5.5 knots, so the trip to Hota would only take around 3 hours.

Motoring out of Yokohama Bayside Marina

We had pleasant passage down Tokyo Bay in bright sunshine and calm seas. On the way we passed two cruise ships headed towards Tokyo, the three-masted clipper Stad Amsterdam and the Costa Serena. Both were too far away to photograph, pictures here from the internet:

Passing Kannonsaki lighthouse

Coming into Hota harbour I was a bit dismayed to see that all the berths were full, with some boats moored double-up. I wasn’t sure of the protocol for berthing alongside another boat. I could see Ishii-san’s yacht was still in the harbour, but he wasn’t on board. Would it be OK to moor alongside without permission? I decided to give him a call, and he said go ahead no problem. So with that I took Eothen alongside his boat and tied up at 12:30. The passage from YBM had taken 3.5 hours.

As I was securing Eothen, two very noisy power boats came into the harbour. They looked like offshore racing powerboats and their engines, even while idling, were absolutely deafening. Oh dear, I though, this wasn’t like the last time I was in Hota when it was idyllic. It almost felt like we were in a busy Golden Week highway service area! Luckily the two powerboats gave up trying to find a berth and went away, and tranquility returned to Hota.

I was eager to introduce my Chief Navigator to the delicious Sakaemaru restaurant, so we immediately went for lunch. When we got to the restaurant there was a long queue, but I had noticed there were also a lot of people waiting outside the Banya restaurant, so we decided to stick it out and wait. It was a very long wait, but worth it in the end as the food was again fantastic. We can recommend the aji namero – goes well with beer! After our late lunch we went to have a bath (which was also very crowded) and then back to the boat to relax. Soon it was evening and time to open a bottle of something special to celebrate Golden Week. We were treated to an absolutely gorgeous sunset and a stunning view of Mount Fuji. Wow, this is the life!

Sunset champagne

Beautiful end to the day

It doesn’t get much better than this!

It was forecast to get windy the next day, so in order to avoid discomfort for my Chief Navigator, we decided to have an early night and set off back to YBM early in the morning. It had been another very enjoyable visit to Hota and we look forward to going again one day.

Sunrise over the Boso Peninsular

About the author:

I have always loved the sea, boats and ships, even though I grew up in Warwick, about as far as you can get from the sea in England. As soon as I could, I joined Cunard as a deck officer cadet and gained my Second Mates ticket while sailing  on the company’s cargo ships, tankers and the Queen Elizabeth 2. I started sailing dinghies in my teens while at nautical school. Fast forward to coming to live in Japan in 1990, I sailed dinghies and Hobbie Cats off Zushi beach for many years until I bought Eothen, a second-hand Cornish Crabber 24, at the end of 2021 and joined TSPS. Eothen is berthed at Yokohama Bayside Marina. Professionally, I run an exhibition organising company, and it is no secret that of all the exhibitions I do my favourites are Sea Japan and Bari-Ship which serve the maritime industry.

—————————–(end)———————-

By Timothy Langley and Evan Burkowsky

May 14, 2024

YouTube video of this journey: https://youtu.be/S7fmJc-GQFg

My Golden Week adventure was months in the making because first of all, I had to finish the restoration of my newest sailing acquisition, an originally decrepit 45 year-old Peterson ’33 sailing yacht. This beauty had been languishing in a Chiba tributary unloved for ~6 years until a Japanese friend introduced her to me (please see: https://tspsjapan.org/march-keelhaul-plus-cow-swag-boatshow-superkeelhaul/).

This effort took on a frantic pace as I needed to constantly replace and repair 45 year old parts, stays, clutches… it’s a long list… as they failed during sea trial just weeks earlier. Ultimately, I replaced the forestay and backstay the weekend beforehand… a pretty arduous exercise that involved being up the mast a dozen or so times.

But I digress…

On Sunday, we packed-up the good ship Garuda and launched at noon for our overnight non-stop sail to Mikurajima.

We took turns sailing in 3~4 hour shifts. Dinner was prepared from boiling a pouch of Tokyo Borch from Soup Stock… but in a sudden pitch, it all ended-up on the cabin flooring… so we ate crackers, kaki-no-tani and washed it down with suds. I took the midnight shift and sailed under the stars until sun-up, passing several dolphin pods at first light.

We hit Mikura at about 11:oo o’clock. Only one harbor, very tiny, designed mostly for the skiffs packed with 14 or so divers in wet-suits: while briefly in-port, about 4 of them came in to unload their riders. See that tiny line poking-out?

Mikura is a tiny circular island, ~300 people, tons of dolphins, and a very restrictive to ‘visitors’ policy: absolutely no pleasure boats or yachts allowed! In fact, anyone visiting this pristine island MUST be accompanied by a local guide one-way-or-the-other. Most people, therefore, come on the ferry with their own dive gear or in sunhats.

In any event, we touched land, tied-up, and explained to the port authority (who showed-up immediately dockside in a tiny k-truck), that we were there just to replenish our water. With a big smile with lots of teeth, he exclaimed, “You sailed all the way from Chiba?!?!”. We pushed-off 50 minutes later; him waving at us perfunctorily.

Our next destination was island # 6 in the chain, Miyakejima. Miyake is dominated by an active volcano so almost half the island is a no-go-zone. We departed Mikura at about noon, circled her counterclockwise, and fought a tough current raging between the two islands the whole way, so we ended-up arriving after sunset.

We headed immediately to find food and draft hydration before the entire street rolled-up, and found ourselves at the hotel near the harbor. Only one other yacht was in the harbor, a large 42′ Beneteau… so predictably there was a table of 13 people already seated and in mid-riotious laughter when we entered. It died down immediately as we entered (and were ushered to a table back in the corner) then started-up again with even MORE energy. In a surprisingly generous gesture, we were treated not only to a sumptuous meal, but the lady manager also ‘allowed’ us to bathe in the hotel baths… oh, that was heaven! I would like to ascribe this island-hospitality to my rugged good looks but I think it was only because she recognized Freddie-of-Niijima fame.

I forget how we got back on-board. But after coffee on Garuda at sun-up, we took a swim on a black-sand beach, and then …….

….we departed for the next closest island, #4 in the chain, Kozushima, at noon.

Once again, we were confronted by the Kuroshio Current forcing it’s way between the two islands. So the trip took us about 7 hours. This meant we arrived in-port (again) after dark. Unfortunately just as we were entering the cliff-encircled harbor, the engine died and we had to initiate emergency maneuvers right away: fishing boats with huge lights were jockeying to get into port, too, so we were in a bottleneck without power… a nail-biting situation.

Hoisting the main sail quickly again, we circled out of the traffic and just held steady while I bled the fuel line and restarted the engine. Turning the boat around, we sprinted back into Izu-Miura Port. Easy-peasy but wash down the deck of all the peesy-in-pantsy.

As we slowed to a crawl, we could see dancing lights on the far-off quay: a large yacht already berthed, the occupants pouring out like an army, motioning us to berth beside them. In fact, they swarmed to a spot and were waving us on frantically! It was pretty not-hilarious as the lot of them, already drunk and flashing their headlamps, successfully destroyed my night vision. After I yelled them off, I tied-up single-handedly without incident. Only half-night blinded.

My best friend on this larger yacht, Yuki-san, visited with a fine bottle of Laphroaig, my favorite scotch. This was his ‘congratulations’ on me for finishing the derelict yacht Garuda that he, in fact, originally introduced to me exactly one year earlier (please see: https://tspsjapan.org/golden-week-2023-sail-report-2/).

I think all Yuki’s sailor-friends were curious about the restoration, too, but now were cowering inside their much larger and spendorific vessel. Which was fine with me. Yuki-san stayed and we talked & laughed into the night until we fell asleep. What a great evening!

Throughout the night, various boats would come alongside to disgorge their catches. It was not the perfect place to tie-up (well… the guy’s in Yuki’s boat were drunk, after all) but well-protected. With high seas and gale force winds approaching, we were good for the night. It was not until sunrise before we could catch the grandeur of the topography and wow, what a dramatic setting!

Yuki’s boat left the next morning without fanfare while we stayed hunkered-down. The concrete walls protecting the port are unbelievably massive, but we were told that waves even crash-over them sometimes! It is unbelievable how violent the seas can become way out here in the open ocean.

We dove in the cove nearby and inadvertently caused a huge controversy. While it WAS Golden Week and it WAS a swimming beach, the police and port authorities were alerted that swimmers were in trouble in the bay (obviously because they were swimming and so of course they were in trouble?), so of course everyone and their brother came out to see the ‘rescue’. We did not know it then, but they have cameras on the port and these were laser-focused on the swimmers (us). To make this even more spectacular, on this particular island, the harbor video feed is broadcast to EVERY home and business on the whole friggin’ island! We heard about it afterwards everywhere we went: the bath house, the yakiniku shop, the moped rental shop…! Wow, “just be aware of local customs and superstitions” they said. Umi wa kowai, yo.

The port in Kozu is very nicely protected, dedicated mostly to a huge number of fishing boats and few yachts. A massive landslide scar on the nearby cliffside characterizes this beautiful port. With bad weather setting-in, we hunkered-down and spent two days here, diving, hiking into town, working on the boat some more.

After the weather cleared, we departed Miyake around noon on Day 4 and headed to the next island, Niijima. This is the island where Freddie has been living for the last 2.5 years as a JET….which was helpful to us throughout our journey because EVERYONE, no matter where we went or what island (even the toothy guy on Mikura!) knew Freddie! So we got some gaijin-pass which we of course maximized to the hilt… especially with that poor sole cop on Miyake fresh out of the Academy… his first posting!

Anyway (this is getting long…): Niijima for only a day (our Day 5 of 7) … enough to provision-up, hit Freddie’s favorite bar, spend the night, do some laundry, get a decent cup of coffee, then hit the high seas once more.

We departed after feasting on a bento lunch from the nearby town. This was while still tied to the quay in an insanely crowded port.

This was on Thursday, almost the tail-end of GW… so I guess everyone-with-a-sailboat made a sprint after the bad weather only as far as Niijima to overnight, then like us: hit Oshima for an overnight, then home-port on Sunday. And that is precisely how things turned out: insanely crowded in Niijima, same thing in Habu harbor in Oshima.

Day 6: The sailing from Niijima was undoubtedly the best, most enjoyable day of sailing: beautiful sunny skies, calm seas, steady breeze pushing us towards Oshima, the Kuroshio Current moving us in the same general direction. It was glorious. Freddie broke out his guitar, Deliverance-singer Timothy busted-out a harmonica, and we sang tunes we all knew but with made-up scandalous stanzas and rhymes, all joining-in singing ridiculous recurring choruses… one survived several nautical miles, in fact. Three-part harmony.

Once again, in the dark we entered the narrow passage that leads from the sea into a collapsed caldera that forms the circular Habu harbor, tall cliffs towering immediately above the moorings. The dimly lit harbor is so packed full of vessels that they are pointed into the moorings instead of sideways.

This entails of course dropping anchor and playing out the rode until you moor both port & starboard bow lines to the cleats on land. We snuggled into a row of about 7 yachts all lined-up sardinelike. With again sailors from the neighboring boats springing into action to assist, I had to mildly scold them for blinding me and instructing them in a firm tone to “please leave me alone so I can execute this maneuver thankyouverymuch…”.

The harbor became very quiet after that. But we tied-up without incident. Funny thing is, the harbor was completely empty when we awoke at first light. Maybe it was something I said.

We didn’t even bother to go ashore on Day 7. We just made coffee strong enough to stand a spoon in it, eat whatever rations we had, Timothy did his Sunday briefing on political goings-on, and then we head back to our home-port of Hota.

This was expected to be a 5~7 hour clip across the large stretch of water between Miura and Boso Peninsulas… but the wind was not entirely in our favor. As a result, we sprinted into Sagami Bay, well past Miura Peninsula, then jibbed for a straight run towards Tateyama.

In this way, we cut perpendicular across the busy shipping lane coming out of / into Tokyo Harbor and inner Tokyo. Garuda gave us almost 7 knots throughout but the angle made the distance twice as far. It was a comfortable ride but took 7 hours: I slept most of the way and relied on Langley and Snoxall to get us home without killing us: they did relatively well.

We arrived on Sunday with daylight still abundant, Children’s Day, with a bonus day-off the following day (Monday, yay!) to get our landlegs back and to recuperate.

This was a great journey with lots of happenings: Garuda got plenty of exercise and we knocked out lots of her kinks, for example addressing air getting into the fuel line, the furling-line to the Genoa getting hung-up, re-installing the original two-way radio…. plus a dozen other issues. We all learned lots more about sailing, jibing, mooring, heaving-to, knots, anchoring, safety. We were all hooked-in throughout the adventure in harnesses whether in the cockpit or deckside.

It is a long story but I hope the photos convey the wonder and pure sense of freedom and being out that we experienced. If you post a comment or rib me with a joke that would be rewarding. Thanks for getting this far!

———–(end)———

By former Commander Mike Snyder

May 11, 2024

With Eric Due and Jeff Canaday as crew, Distant Dreamer (a Columbia 43) cruised in the western Setonaikai. We covered about 135 nm over 6 days. We didn’t to get to Shimo-Kamigari Island as per the sail plan due to rain and light winds, but went to Nakajima Island and then Matsuyama from Nuwa-jima. I had wanted to go to Shimo-Kamigari because there was supposed to be some remains of a pirate (sea warrior) stronghold there. The trip then was Marinpia Musashi Marina – Kaminoseki to Nuwa-jima to Nakajima to Horie Matsuyama back to Kaminoseki to Marinpia Musashi Marina. (see map)

The first day we left in the rain which let up as we approached Kaminoseki but had to mostly motor. The second day we went to the north shore of Yashiro Island, passing under the Ōshima Bridge between the Yamaguchi ken mainland and Yashiro Island, south of Hiroshima and Iwakuni. The day was clear and beautiful, but alas no wind. One highlight was passing through the area where the Japanese warship Mutsu blew up and sank in an accident killing all on board during the war. The wreck is still there but way under the water, so not visible, though marked on charts and even Google Maps. We had two short sails from Nuwa Island to Nakajima and then over to the uminoeki at Horie Matsuyama, where we had a reservation. On both days there was pretty good wind and pleasant sailing, though overcast. It was the first time for DD to stop at Nakajima, which proved to be a very nice friendly island. We enjoyed good food and drink at both Nakajima and Horie Matsuyama. The longest day of sustained sailing was on Day 5, a broad reach from Matsuyama back to Kaminoseki along the southern coast of Yashiro Island in blustery northeast winds and rain. The last day back to Marinpia was again a low wind and motoring. The Setonaikai is an interesting area to sail in, but winds are often light and there are strong currents at times in the major straits and  between islands due to the tide going in and out.

All in all, it was a very good cruise, though with the often problematic Golden Week weather!

By Robin Mah

May 15, 2024

Due to difficult sailing conditions, we decided to delay departure and shorten the voyage. Our four day journey from Yumenoshima to Ito became an overnighter to Misaki.

We set sail early hoping north winds would push us far enough south that we could reach Misaki before dark.

We reached the Aqua Line under clear skies, fair winds and calm seas while Mount Fuji kept watch over us, peeking-out from over the clouds.

We even had time to relax and take turns catching a few winks.

Suddenly and much earlier than forecast, the wind changed direction and we were confronted by a strong southerly wind. Complicating this was a damaged traveler that literally broke apart spilling bearings out into the track.

I thus made the call not to motor the rest of the way to Misaki, turned-around and headed back to home port.

Safety first, as always!

With the wind now at our back, we finally had the chance to deploy the gennaker and flew home at a brisk pace passing Tokyo Disney Resort. 

Back on dry land, we imagined we did the full journey and were camped out in the forested hills of Ito!

The next day, we did not sail but did lavish some necessary repair & maintenance on my beloved 26’ Figaro.

To our great fortune, there was a Hawaiian festival going strong in the background at Yumenoshima Marina, which made for a satisfying and exciting day!

All-in-all the Captain and crew of Figaro had a wonderful fun-filled Golden Week!

——————–

I am the newly minted Captain of the good ship Figaro, a 26 foot NJY Libeccio moored at Yumenoshima Marina. I sailed Lasers in the UBC Sailing Club and after many years of absence from the sport, re-ignited my passion for sailing recently. After a career inside the Tokyo Disney Resort I now see DisneySea from the sea.

——–(end)———