Perhaps one of the biggest concerns for sailboat owners is the thunderstorm. Lightning can strike a mast and do serious damage not only to the mast, but because it follows the path of least resistance, lightning also has the potential to shoot down wire shrouds and blow out or incapacitate all the electrical gear aboard. In the worst case, lightning can blast a hole in the hull below the water line, sending the vessel down into the depths.
In the picture above, the top of the mast has been scorched black, and we can only imagine what happened to the electrical system and gear aboard. There are preventative measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of the lightning strike, such as attaching a metal brush-like device to the top of the mast to dissipate the attractiveness of the mast itself and establish a kind of protective cloak over the boat. Another work-around is to run cables, often automobile booster cables, from the shrouds overboard into the water, thus providing a path for the lightning to travel on away from the boat. There are no guarantees, however. Lightning is a fickle beast and despite these work-arounds, the risk of damage from lightning is always present.
The annual TSPS Bonenkai was held this past Thursday night at the newly-opened Sapana restaurant in Akasaka Mitsuke. Over forty TSPS members, family members, and friends attended. It was a very enjoyable evening that got underway with a wonderfully informative presentation from David Devlin. David recently completed a sail from Shimoda to Cairns, Australia. He talked in detail about the pleasures and the hardships of the voyage, which he completed by sailing from Rabaul, PNG to Cairns solo. We’d like to thank David for his time and efforts in delivering the presentation. His blog can be found here.
We followed the presentation with food, which by all accounts was surprisingly good. Many had expected the Nepalese restaurant to serve up standard subcontinental food, but all were pleasantly surprised that the menu was pan-Asian, with excellent Thai, Singaporean, and Indonesian food included. I think we can give Sapana restaurant our seal of approval and recommend it to anyone looking for good Asian food. Wine and beer was plentiful and consumed with gusto.
At about 8:30, the Commander called for everyone’s attention and asked Per Knudsen to step forward to give the Sayonara to 2012 Toast. Rumiko Fraser and the Commander delivered large bottles of Moet Chandon Imperial Brut champagne to each of the tables. Glasses were then filled and Per made his toast, thanking everyone for helping TSPS have a successful year in 2012. We’d like to thank PJ Domenjoz from LVMH for supplying the champagne.
Sapana management allowed us to continue the Bonenkai till around 10:00PM, when the remaining few members drifted over to another place for a nijikai.
On behalf of TSPS, we’d like to thank the friendly staff of Sapana for the excellent food and drink, and a hearty thank you to everyone who attended. Judging from the photo above, it seems we all had a very enjoyable time.
Skipper Mike Snyder and crew Warren Fraser and Francois Leglise sailed Distant Dreamer from Hota, Chiba to Habu port on Oshima island on a very pleasant day in the summer of 2009. This was the second leg of a ten-day cruise that took the crew to up and down the West coast of Izu peninsula. The return trip saw Distant Dreamer wait out a typhoon in Shimoda port for two nights before returning first to Misaki, then on to Yokohama with a brief stop at Velasis Marina to pick up TSPS member Tom Proctor for the four-hour run up Tokyo Bay.
We’re a boating organization based in Japan. Almost all of our members were here when the earthquake of March 11th, 2011 struck and so developments surrounding the earthquake and tsunami are of great importance to us. Here are two videos, back to back, that provide information on the fallout of the quake. The first one is a visualization of the locations and strengths of the 19,349 earthquakes Japan experienced in 2011. The second visualization shows the extent to which the mass of refuse washed out to sea by the receding tsunami is expected to move eastward before finally ending up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
In late September, 2012, TSPS members were invited by Hayama Marina members to a day on the water and an afternoon around a barbecue. On October 20th, over twenty-five TSPS members made the trip south to Hayama and were joined by another fifteen people from Hayama Marina, led by Kobayashi-san, the chief organizer of the event. Four sailboats took members out on the water, departing the docks a little after 1000h under clear skies and little wind. Lunch was at anchor in a small bay easily within shouting distance of the Emperor’s summer home. The water there was boiling with schools of small fish, and much larger bora were leaping all around. It was quite the sight. After lunch, the boats sailed around a bit before returning to the marina at a little after 1400h. By 1500h, the barbecue was in full stride. A number of members who could not make the sailing portion of the day came down for the barbecue, and under the clearest of skies the forty-or-so of us began to feast on typical barbecue fare– vegetables, chicken, pork, sausage, yakisoba, and enjoy cold beer and wines. As the sun began to set, festivities culminated in thank-you speeches from the skippers of the boats and TSPS Commander Warren Fraser. The pianist who had played during the barbecue began to invite people up for a round of karaoke and on that note, the event came to a close.
TSPS would again like to thank the members of Hayama Marina for welcoming us aboard their boats for a beautiful day on the water and a delicious barbecue in the boatyard. We’d also like to thank all the TSPS members who made it to Hayama. We are already looking forward to next year’s Hayama event.
On the evening of September 27th in Roppongi, Tokyo, the Save Minamisoma Project held a fundraiser and the Tokyo Sail and Power Squadron was on hand to make a donation to help fund their worthwhile efforts to supply food to Minamisoma in Fukushima. Representing TSPS was Commander Warren Fraser and TSPS member Wolfgang Bierer who together in front of a packed room presented a check for ¥200,000 to Project chairperson August Hergesheimer. By the end of the evening the project raised over ¥466,000.
In thanks prior to the fundraiser, we received the following email:
Dear Commander Fraser:
I cannot find the words to justly thank you and your organization forthe generous donation of Y200,000. These much-needed funds will allowus to continue our deliveries of fresh vegetables & bottled water toresidents still living in temporary housing in the city of Minamisoma,Fukushima-ken. As you may well know, this city was affected by thetriple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and ongoing radioactivecontamination. Unfortunately, their return to their originalneighbourhoods and a more normal life seems out of the question foryet some time. Hence, we must continue our support for thiscommunity.
… thank you again for providing a shining example onhow each of us can continue to show our compassion and support for theaffected people of Tohoku.
With much respect, August Hergesheimer
August explained later in the evening that our contribution was substantial and very helpful. It would provide funds, he said, to cover the cost of fuel for trucks making the journey to Minamisoma and purchase enough food to feed over 3,000 people. In discussing expenses, he was very clear that 100% of the money raised was spent directly on supplying aid and that since they are a purely volunteer organization, not one yen was spent on non-food and non-delivery expenses.
This is our second tsunami relief donation. In February wedonated to Toho Vocational Highschool in Kesennuma, Iwate. We have donated almost ¥500,000 this year and as Commander, I would like to say thank you to all the members of TSPS and the USPS who contributed to our fund and hope that in some small way our contributions have and will continue to make a difference in the lives of the people so strongly affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power reactor failures in Tohoku.
A special thanks to Wolfgang Bierer for helping us find this worthwhile cause to support with our donation.
The crews of Akdenizli, Bifrost, Diva, Mary-Jane, Sophie, and Voyager set out this past weekend for a three-day cruise to Atami and Hayama. Voyager departed Yokohama for Misaki Friday to position the boat for a short sail to Atami. All but Akdenizli made the crossing to Atami on Saturday. Those who made the journey across Sagami Bay enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant near the marina. Akdenizli sailed into Misaki from Yokohama on Saturday bound for Hayama on Sunday, but unfortunately experienced engine troubles enroute and went no further.
The plans for Sunday were for Bifrost and Voyager to sail to Hayama and be joined there by Akdenizli, for Diva and Mary-Jane to return to their home port at Velasis, and for Sophie to sail to Oshima. Voyager’s skipper, however, didn’t like the forecast for Monday and instead sailed to Velasis, thus leaving only Bifrost to sail the TSPS ensign into Hayama port. Sophie, encountering light winds to Oshima instead returned to Shimoda. Meanwhile, Akdenizli, bound for Yokohama and laboring along with a lame engine, encountered strong northerly headwinds and so diverted to the east to Chiba to wait for a more favorable southerly wind, which she promptly got for an enjoyable sail back to Bayside Marina.
Monday saw strong winds, large swells and wind waves from the south. Bifrost rounded Jyogashima enroute to her home port at Velasis in the afternoon. Voyager remains in Velasis awaiting its six-year inspection and re-certification and will return to Yokohama next week.
We’d like to thank TSPS Cruising Coordinator Per Knudsen for organizing the cruise, and also thank the skippers who made their boats available for the cruise, and all the crew that signed up for the trip.
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 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.
