TSPS members and their guests pose for a group photo at the TSPS Rendezvous, 2014
In spite of the dark forecasts provided for June 28 by various weather services in Japan, the TSPS Rendezvous 2014 went off without anyone getting more than a few drops of rain on them. In a sense, we walked between the raindrops on Saturday, with a bit of rain at around 1PM as the tables and chairs were being set up, then a wee bit more around 5PM. That was it. The comfortable temperatures and low humidity made for a very pleasant afternoon spent eating great hamburgers, steaks, sausages, salads, fruit, key-lime pies and a whole bunch more. Conversations about boats and boating sprung up everywhere and everyone was looking forward to getting out on the water this year.
Thirty one of the thirty-five people who signed up showed up in spite of the weather forecasts and had a very nice time. Our thanks go out to everyone who attended, and especially to Commander Eugen Mall, Mike Snyder, Per Knudsen, Anne Bille, Rumiko Fraser, and Masayo Wertheimber for their hard work in arranging the event location, provisioning, and preparing the food for the barbecue and the tables. Also a thank you to Velasis Marina for providing space with an awning and wonderful clover-laiden green grass to walk across.
Stay tuned to this website for more information on the next big TSPS social or sailing event.
We are pleased to announce we are holding our TSPS Spring Rendezvous, this year on Saturday, June 28. (June 7th was a washout)
Our Spring Rendezvous will be in the heart of the Velasis Marina in Uraga, right up close to our favorite form of transportation, boats! This is a golden opportunity for like-minded boat people to get to know each other and TSPS, and as always you are most welcome to invite friends or colleagues interested in boating. So go ahead and mark the Spring Rendezvous barbecue on your to-do list, because this is always the highlight of the Kanto social calendar. (We are barbecuing under a giant awning, so there will be nothing to dampen the great times at the party.
Here are the details:
Date: Saturday, June 28 Time: 2 pm Place: Velasis Marina, Uraga, Kanagawa Pref. Fee: ¥4,000 for members, ¥5,000 for guests, children 1/2 price. Payment: At the door Sign up deadline:Midnight, June 26th
Feel free to arrive early if you wish to enjoy the historical port of Uraga, the marina, the boats, and the sun. We open up the coolers at around 2 pm with an assortment of soft drinks, cold beer, and white and red wines. The menu will include but is not limited to quality beef steaks, sausages, seafood, salad, fruit and vegetables.
So that we can be sure to prepare sufficient food, please book your place(s) on the website no later than Friday, June 26. (signup link two lines down)
Skippers: If you plan to sail in, please provide Per Knudsen with the name and size of your vessel so he can reserve a guest berth for you. Please include crew details.
For people who are non-drinkers or have designated drivers, the easiest route to Velasis is to take the Yoko-Yoko motorway and get off at Uraga. Turn right after the exit and then follow the map or your navigation system.
For the rest of us, the easiest and quickest route is to take the Keihin Kyuko toward Misakiguchi to Kurihama, then take a taxi (¥1,200-¥1500) or bus #19 from there. Alternatively, take the Keihin Kyuko to Horinouchi, then transfer to the local train to Uraga. From there take a taxi (minimum fare) to Velasis or the hourly bus no. 19. It stops almost in front of Velasis, or alternatively enjoy the twenty-minute walk from Uraga station.
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:
On April 12, 2014, 5 boats and 22 TSPS members and guests participated in the first cruise of 2014. The destination was Hota, Chiba, a charming fishing port with the famous Banya seafood restaurant. A good time was had by all, and all boats returned safely to their home ports the next day. Some photos below:
TSPS members and guests enjoying a seafood dinner and lively conversation at Banya in Hota.
Fuji Seven leaving Hota and heading back home to Seabornia.
Jeff Canaday, left, receives his 25th Merit Mark from Commander Eugen Mall, right.
Commander Eugen Mall was recently pleased to award our Education Officer, Jeff Canaday, his 25th Merit Mark, which comes with lifetime membership in the United States Power Squadron. Jeff is a long-time member of TSPS and has been very active in setting up and teaching TSPS boating classes.
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.
The 2014 TSPS Change of Watch was held on February 20th at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan in Yurakucho, Tokyo. Over 40 members and friends attended. Warren Fraser, TSPS commander for the last two years, kicked off the proceedings with a summary of 2013’s activities. Secretary Gary Thomas gave a run-down of the status of our incorporation initiative, which will soon reach fruition. The high point of the proceedings was the election and swearing in of the new bridge officers for 2014, performed by District 13 Commander Doug Dworski. The members of the new bridge for 2014 are
Commander: Eugen Mall
Executive Officer: Jiro Fujiwara
Secretary: Gary Thomas
Education Officer: Jeff Canaday
Administrative Officer: David Sutton-Kirkby
Treasurer: Tony Whitman
Membership Chairman: John Marshall
Cruising Coordinator: Per Knudsen
Communications Officer: Mike Snyder
Social Activities: Warren Fraser
Public Relations: Masao Ando
Commander Doug Dworski also gave an interesting run-down of the situation with the USPS national organisation and District 13. Other attendees included the daughter and son of the late Past Commander Shun-ichiro Yamamoto, Akiko and Hiroshi, as well as Akiko san’s husband, Motohiro. PC Yamamoto was a well-liked avid week-end sailor and kept his boat “Mambo”at Hayama Harbor. Akiko san says that she welcomes TSPS memers to sail aboard Mambo when it has passed its inspections. The event ended with the annual raffle of booty emceed by new Administrative Officer David Sutton-Kirkby, and member Demir Sadigloku was the big winner of the night. The food was good, the atmosphere scintillating, the company grand. A good evening had by all!
On November 9, TSPS held its first ever practical On-The-Water Nautical Electronic Instruments class. Students and TSPS members attending were Linda Semlitz & husband Ed Gilbert plus Anne Bille, wife of TSPS Cruise Coordinator Per Knudsen, who conducted the class on board Anne and Per’s yacht Bifrost.
The participants all being experienced sailors, the class was a discussion of the latest technology and the strengths and weaknesses of each system. The class went over the instruments dockside, then sailed and practiced for a couple of hours and took a delicious lunch break underway.
Instruments covered in the program included GPS, chartplotter, AIS, radar, VHF/DCS radio, depth finder, wind meter, auto-helm, plus selected iPhone/iPad apps. The systems on Bifrost are manufactured by Raymarine and Icom and are all fully integrated except stand-alone back-up GPS and VHF systems.
For the next on-the water class we are considering emergency systems, equipment, and procedures for a potential April, 2014 class.
A big thanks to Linda, Ed, and Anne for their participation in the class.
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 members Per Knudsen and Anne Bille were concluding a week-long cruise to the Izu Islands and readying their boat Bifrost to dock at their homeport of Velasis when they encountered an unusual sight:
Sleeping man adrift on a floating mattress in the Uraga Strait
Apparently, a young man had a bit too much to drink and had fallen asleep on his floating mattress. According to Per, the guy had drifted more than 500 meters from shore and the prevailing current was pushing him out to sea. Fortunately or unfortunately, no amount of screaming at the young man by the crew of Bifrost roused him from his slumber, so Per called Velasis Marina for help. Bifrost continued to circle him until a Velasis inflatable arrived on the scene and woke up the young man and took him back to dry land.
It’s doubtful the young lad would have reached open water as the Uraga area is quite busy with sailing and small fishing vessels. However, this episode does raise concerns, and as a boating safety organization, TSPS should weigh in with some safety tips.
#1. “Friends don’t let friends drift away.”
Take responsibility for others. At the beach, always be thinking about your safety and that of your friends and family, but if at some point you find yourself absent one friend and one floating mattress, assume the worst and call an emergency hotline.
#2. “Don’t drink and float.”
Obviously. The gentle sway of the sea, a fresh ocean breeze, and one cocktail too many will undoubtedly lull you to sleep. For the high percentage of people who ignore such advice, don’t board a mattress alone- go with a friend. Have fun, converse. Failing that, or a friend, make sure you are either tethered via very long line to a strong tree or that you are in fact in a swimming pool or lake and not on a body of water that covers some 32% of the earth’s surface.
In all seriousness, a high number of people die on the beaches of Japan every summer. Often the cause is alcohol-related or simply ignorance of the environment- unknown depths, currents, rip tides, the effect of too much sun, etc…. Safety should always be of the highest priority when at or on the sea.
