General update – Page 2 – Floating Finns

May 22, 2017

Ballistic missiles and other obstacles to sailing

We have been ready to leave Ishigaki since Thursday last week, but here we are still. First our “closed port” permit for the Okinawa prefecture was delayed by one day (although, to be fair to the Ministry of Transport bureau, we still got it faster than the official 7 days). We could not leave without official permission to visit the ports on our voyage plan. Then the weather turned really bad over the weekend – this is the rainy season and it was indeed raining non-stop, and the wind was blowing strongly from the wrong direction.

Yesterday we got quite a shock when our Navtex receiver churned out a message about “a flying object launched from North Korea”, and all vessels were asked to “keep clear when recognizing the falling object”. When it became clear that the “flying object” was a ballistic missile shot form North Korea in the direction of Japan, we were quite pleased that we are still in southern Japan rather than in the Japan Sea where it landed.

Even setting aside the odd “flying object”, it is slightly more stressful than normal to decide when to continue sailing to further ports in southern Japan. Even though we are in principle in no hurry, and can wait for a good weather window, we always have the possibility of a typhoon at the back of our heads since the typhoon season has now started. Last year, the first typhoon hit this area on 25 May. Should one come our way now, we need to be in a good location to take shelter, and somewhat to our surprise, it appears that there are not as many good typhoon shelters around as we had earlier thought. Therefore, making sailing plans involves not only considering the currents, the tide and the very fickle and often rough weather in this area, but also requires a plan for how to get to a typhoon haven quickly enough should it become necessary. It does not help that one is tied to the specific “closed ports” that one has permission for, and cannot divert to other ports or anchorages at will.

Having said all of this, we hope that tonight has been our last night in Ishigaki, and are planning a morning departure to the next port. Don’t get us wrong, we have loved our time in Ishigaki and really like this island and its friendly inhabitants, but we are sailors after all, and sailors always get itchy feet when moored for too long…

First Navtex alert describing a “flying object”

Second Navtex alert, identifying “flying object” as a ballistic missile

Third Navtex alert, now with location details

May 14, 2017May 14, 2017

We are in Japan

Events are completely overtaking our blog writing, apologies that we have been so slow to provide updates. This is a quick note to say that we reached the southernmost port of Japan on Friday evening, altogether 11 days after we left Subic Bay. The last stretch was a three-night passage from Aparri in the Philippines, as we managed to find the Japan current and flew with a speed up to 8,5 knots through the Luzon strait. This area of sea is known for its roughness, but for the two first nights our only gripe was that we experienced winds contrary to what had been forecast…we were meant to have had a nice beam or broad reach, but instead we were mostly close-hauled, which made the boat heel quite a bit and was not particularly comfortable. However, the seas grew somewhat for the last night and day and became rather confused, and the wind was right behind us, making for a very rolly boat and not much sleep to be had by those off-watch. Nevertheless, the journey went well and we arrived in Ishigaki just before sunset so that port clearance could still be carried out before the weekend. The Japanese port clearance was a very memorable affair that we’ll be writing about more soon (promise!). Right now we are busy drawing up our plans for the so-called “closed” ports that we want to visit in Japan, because the list of ports has to be submitted to and approved by the Ministry of Transport before we can continue onwards.

May 8, 2017

On our second leg

We have now been on the second leg of our journey for one week. It has been a very fascinating but also tiring week. We left Subic Bay on Monday 1 May, and have not been at a marina or dock since – there have been none heading up the northern coast of the Philippines. We have been at sea for four nights, and have anchored for three. We have had times of no wind, but also some rough conditions when rounding the northwestern corner of the Philippines. We have managed to get some fuel along the way, with locals bringing it to the boat in jerry cans. We’ve also managed to stock up on the lovely fresh fruit that the Philippines are known for, again with locals going to the market with our shopping list and bringing the goods to us for a small fee. However, there has been no place to fill our water tanks, which means that we are only using water as and when truly needed. I won’t say how many days we have gone without showering, but in the words of a friend, showering is overrated anyway…Also, if it gets to be too much, a dip in the ocean helps too.

We will write a longer report about the places we have anchored when we have better access to the internet, and more time on our hands. Right now, we are in the process of clearing out of the Philippines, and readying ourselves for an offshore passage.