Alishan on the Move

Mt Homan Trail Run

2012-01-18T16:39:00.000-08:00

The Ibusuki Marathon was still feel-able in the leg muscles...

but we (Noriko and jaap) accepted with pleasure the invitation to join some

Trail Running. The Bonus would be a frozen waterfall near the top of mount Homan (near Fukuoka), afterwards a good soak in a hot spring

and a New Year's Party.

Oops, they said Trail Running?

That's different from a jog on tar seal.

Trail Runners like to Do It Up and Down....

So far looking good...

Is it going to be like this all the way??

Nope.

Any way, it was more or less a steep go-go-hike-climb

to the frozen Waterfall.

Close up. Pretty and cold.

As you can see, we were not the only ones.

It is interesting to watch all the colorful outfits.

Ha, and the difference between Hikers and Runners..

Oh yes, Trail Runners go the same track as Hikers, but they like to do it with less junk on their back ;-)

From the waterfall on, it was serious running, mostly along the mountain ridge...with snow left and right.

Sorry, no pictures as the Going was Fast.

At the top most top of Mt Homan...hmmm, a scene from Lion King?

Here is Noriko consulting Mr Kohtake and Mr Sato.

Both are veteran Ultra Marathon Runners, e.g. they did

the Mont Blanc Ultra Marathon (166K) and

the Mt Kinabalu Half Marathon.

(that 4200 meter mountain i climbed in 2009 while Alishan was in Borneo)

Going down was Fast and Fun, even at these stone steps.

Mr Kohtake showing his skills (red jacket).

Trail Running is not only go-go-going,

Here Noriko and Mari are enjoying a sip of Mt Homan's tasteful water.

We made it all the way to the bottom...just to discover that

Mr Kohtake had taken us to a "wrong exit"...

So Up we went again;-)

Three and a half hours later....

Indeed, it was good fun.

And oh yes, the bath was nice but the party even better.

But Boy...it was a calorie gainer...

Salute

Winter Spin with Esther the Car

2012-01-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

Izumi, Kagoshima.

As you can see, it's early. And tell you, it's cold.

But it's looking good for....

Are you ready......

10.000 Tsuru's!!!

Click on the picture.

Short tuby, taken on January 7, just before sunrise.

Tsuru's from all over the place are flying in to share their breakfast in this field.

This year there is no bird-flu in the air, so we can come really close to the feeding grounds.

What an amazing sight!

Tamaseseri 2012

2012-01-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

Marijke made a nice picture collage of this year Tamaseseri.
Click on the link:
http://wingsndthings.blogspot.com/2012/01/tamaseseri.html

HAPPY 2012

2012-01-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

Along the Coast

2011-12-28T16:51:00.000-08:00

This is the neighbourhood of Marleen and Loek. Their amazing nice house is not visible on this picture as it is hidden by trees. As you have seen on previous pictures, from their location we have stunning ocean views.
The islands in the top right corner are the Poor Knights Islands, one of NZ top marine reserves.

An other NZ trade mark....

This year it is a top year for the pohutukawa.

We can't stop taking pictures...

Hmm, not always sunshine, but a great day for a hike in the MIMIWHANGATA area.

It has special memories for us as 25 years ago we stayed in this nature reserve for a week.

Plenty of beaches.

"Of course" for our youngsters Tom and Maxime it was a first.

Green, hilly and great views.

Again pohutakawa, with way down below some land-dolphins....

The cottage we had stayed in, still the same.

Hmmm, wonder what these are??

Xmas Eve

2011-12-24T13:15:00.000-08:00

Xmas food in NZ is ham!

Here she goes onto the bbq for an extra bit of cooking.

To built up the appetite...a stroll in the garden.

Looks like she's done.

Hmm, tofu and natto is hard to find on a Kiwi table.

Whangarei Town Basin

2011-12-24T13:05:00.000-08:00

In November 1986 our Jan Haring moored here for the first time. Much has changed, mostly on the shores, but it still has that magic feeling after all those ocean miles ( Holland to NZ).

Now River Side Park is loaded with great ART.

After our first time in Japan when we sailed back to NZ, this marina became home for Jan Haring from Dec '92- april '94.

FISH (Airfish?)

Sunny Days before Christmas

2011-12-22T17:34:00.000-08:00

Oops, this sign was only 3 meters to the left of the

Welcome to Whangarei...

Welcome Team, (Sjaak, Hessel, Marleen and Marijke)

awaiting Sister Sjak's arrival.

Good "Old" Kiwi Tucker: Spuds, Lamb, Beet, Pumpkin, Purple Cauliflower and Fresh + Dried Tomato.

Marleen is pointing to this year's Christmas Tree.

Marijke and Eva the Cat taking an afternoon nap.

(don't tell Nori and Wakame..)

Nope, this is sunrise!

Nice possy to observe that sunrise from...

The view from the other side of the house, with down there

"our private beach".

It's sunny and warm, but the sea is still brbrbbrrrr.

It will be swimmable after Xmas they say;-)

See Ya

NZ, Land of .........

2011-12-19T18:08:00.000-08:00

Yep Mate, we're in New Zealand for the Xmas holidays.

As we remembered it, NZ is still the Land of.....

Many, many pleasure boats...

Plenty of flowers (this season)...

Oops, some wet and windy moments....

So much bread to choose from....

And colourful cauliflower.

It's been 10 years since we last visited sister Marleen and hubby Loek.

Tell you, it's good to be here;-).

Salute

TAO drum

2011-12-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to see TAO Drum, our "local" Kyushu world famous drum group. It wasn't the first time we saw them beating-up the audience...and again we really enjoyed it. What a great show.

Click here TAO Drum what i found at YouTube:
....and of course there is more;-)
Bombombommer-the-bom......

In the mean time we are having our first wintery gale, brbrbr.
Nori and Wakame are arguing about who can sleep on whose lap..... I think they probably already know....that sometime next week M&J will be up-up-up in the air on the way to NZ and they have to spend Xmas in a CatJail...

Salute

Inland Sea

2011-12-05T04:07:00.000-08:00

Mid October saw Fu Kyo the Cat go for a Spin Into the Inland Sea.

Last weekend we returned to Fukuoka, having logged about 650 miles.

As you might know, the Inland Sea is

famous for Little Wind and for No Waves.

We had of course days with no wind and so...no waves.

But we also clocked 35 knot winds (head- and downwind) and some 2~2.5 meter seas!

Overall, the scenery is amazing, even with all the shipbuilding and heavy industry sites.

See here some shots. These and some more are at Fu Kyo the Cat

This is Kobe's Sky line. Our most eastern point in the trip.

The South Coast of Awaji Shima.

The Inland Sea is also known for it's serious currents.

Here we are "flying" under this bridge, doing 17+ knots

(of which 7 are produced by the twin engines).

Well, see here a typical Inland Sea shot: No wind, no waves and one of the zillion fishing boats.

That's good! This, ahum, Research Vessel aint out there catching whales!

Time of the year, pretty neh.

Here it's down wind (25+) stuff.

With a solid 2 knot current on the nose. That was exciting for a few hours due to "funny " seas.

The bridge connection between Honshu and Kyushu. Somehow we timed it correct with a full current from behind.

Kitakyushu, Kyushu's most northern city....

ah...the name already said it!

Always wondered where those clouds are being made?

From this point on, it was an other 45 miles more to Fukuoka.

We were in a hurry...and correct as the next day it was blowing foul from the SW, the direction of the last leg.

Yesterday we pulled Fu Kyo the Cat on the hard...

until spring next year.

We then hope to travel down South.

Salute.

What's that story again....

2011-12-03T01:19:00.000-08:00

About the Princess and the Pea?

Jan Haring

2011-11-26T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hmmm, does that name ring a bell??

Well for us it does of course!

It was our floating home for >> 19 years!

Jan Haring took us safely from Holland to NZ to Japan to NZ

and back to Japan.

A few weeks ago, I met Japanese sailor Murano san who happened to have seen this nice BoatBum sitting on a boat yard in Osaka, took a picture of it and added it on his Own Blog.

Small world.

Re AIRFISH

2011-11-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

Wow, AIRFISH gets about 30.000 hits/day!

Of course including a few by us, as we can't stop watching it.

AIRFISH

2011-11-13T17:29:00.001-08:00

Watch this full screen and with the volume up!

The BEST we've seen in a longgg time!

AIRFISH

http://youtu.be/vIJINiK9azc

Haul Out

2011-11-12T01:28:00.000-08:00

Hmm, was it only a few days ago when i wrote a go-around email that Alishan didn't move much?

Well, last Monday waves were made, all the way to Odo Yacht Harbor ( 2 miles from our location) as Alishan was due for a haul-out.

The last bottom-job was almost 4 years ago at Langawi, Malaysia.

Awaiting the marina staff to show-up.

It's a city marina and so, they like sitting...

Anyway, here we are up-up-up and out of the drink..

Alishan is now 22 years old and (of course) she shows a few pimples....
But overall, her condition is great.

The paint job done at Langkawi must have been a good one...

...or was it due to the special anti fouling (Chin Ho Special) available only in Malaysia?

Day 3 on the hard......first coat of red anti fouling.

The weather was perfect, so.....1 guy is applying the second coat of anti fouling (black), 1 guy is waxing the hull and ...i couldn't be stopped doing the laundry. (Marijke had to work those days).

Somebody wasn't very co-operative.....

A misbehaving valve was replaced.

Well, what do you think?

Day 4.

Alishan on the Lazy Susan.

Pfff, only a few more meters to go, then down, float and get out of this place.

Salute

Fu Kyo the Cat

2011-11-07T03:51:00.000-08:00

From now on, pictures, trip and event reports regarding

Fu Kyo the Cat are at

http://fuukyo.blogspot.com/

Salute

Happy Birthday Moeders

2011-10-30T02:51:00.000-07:00

Moeders' Happy Birthday Meal

River on Fire

2011-10-28T02:39:00.000-07:00

Autumn is here. Great time for shots like this.

It's 7 AM, at the Kikuchi River, about 2 hours drive south from us. Looking at this picture we can forget it's getting cooler by the day.

Salute

RE Migrating Birds (see Oct 14th)

2011-10-27T04:42:00.000-07:00

Alishan on the Move got a note from our Inside Man at the US Air force Base @ Kadema, Okinawa:

You have spotted the not so rare, “Noisus trainious put-put. Its sightings are often confused with the Fuji T-7 trainer used by the Japanese Air Self Defense Force…

Thanx John!
see also: http://www.syalishan.com/q3report10part1.htm
BTW, how's sy Horizon doing these days?

Gokase Mountain Run

2011-10-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

Gokase Mountain Run.....As seen from the side-line.....

What a "way to go"!!
The course is it is a long way up and a little down.
due to whatever i hadn't signed up, but a day out with friends AND on the mountain is always good.

Them ;-) and my co-side liner Aya

And ..... off they Go, only an other 19 K more

The TOP (almost) of this ski sloop.

A friendly 4-wheel car had brought Aya and me to this Cheering and Banana Station.

Here comes a Red Shirt: Ohara sensei

Looking good (again) after the one and only Banana Station

Something Yellow down there coming this way?

And indeed...

Noriko sensei, full of spirits after a short pit-stop.

Something Blue?

Well the pants are for sure: Tomo kun still full-air for jokes with Aya

Yes man, That Way...

Hihihi, that is THE Top (almost, hihihi).

Once more , that day the weather and scenery were stunning!
Marijke and her birding friends went to this exactly same place the next day, only to spent most of it in thick mountain fog..

Them Afterwards.
With a very, very happy Noriko as she got the FIRST price.
Well Done

Afterwards we, even the side-liners, went OF COURSE, for a steaming Hot Bath, some sight seeing and OF COURSE ice-cream

Autumn is here, the rice is getting ready for harvesting.

Even in the Old Days, they knew how to cross rivers and valleys

Migrating Birds?

2011-10-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

While under way in the Inland Sea on board of Fu Kyo the Cat we saw this group of birds....

Anybody out there who can help me identifying these birds...as even...Marijke doesn't know?

Salute

Sushi Bar

2011-10-10T04:48:00.000-07:00

So when Nori asked us: What's Up....? we had to admit we were on our way to a Sushi Bar.
Mr Mitsuda took us to this special place. It seats only 6 customers at a time and this Sushi Show is a 1-man event.

See here the Master At Work.

The box to his right...

And the one to his left...

Understandable, we didn't complain that night.

Don't remember what Nori said when we came home........us smelling fishy....

Salute

What's Up?

2011-10-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

So Japanese

2011-09-26T04:34:00.000-07:00

Things to do while in Japan:

Visit a shrine.

In this case: Izumo Shrine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izumo-taisha

Visit a noodle restaurant.

According to your appetite you order 1, 2, 3, 4 or more bowls of yummy soba noodles. Make sure you make lots of noise when slurping them!

And at the end of the day: Visit a Hot Spring.

This one is at Arifuku, somewhere in Shimane ken.

http://iwamitravelguide.wordpress.com/arifuku-onsen/the-history-of-arifuku/

First scrub and scrub the dirt of your body, then rinse and rinse more and finally go and sit in this really steaming hot water.

Wow. This is a HOT Hot Spring.

But it feels so good!

Already looking forward to tomorrow’s bath;-)

Salute.

Balancing

2011-09-25T01:47:00.000-07:00

As you might know, to get on and off Alishan,
we have to do the Balance Trick on a gangway.

By times it's not easy,

but take a look at BRICKIES and see how it could be done.

Suppose practice makes perfect.

Salute

Moeders

2011-09-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

It’s autumn.

And as you can see, Moeders’ smile is full shine, probably helped by the bunch of flowers.

Next to her are Lucienne (l) and Roos (r), sweet ladies who take loving care of Moeders at the nursing-home where she is staying at in Holland

It’s not easy to be so far away, but happily Internet makes this sort of contact possible.

Thank you All.

Pssst

2011-09-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the right hand menu bar and.....

click on Marijke's Wings 'n Things.

Salute

September's Hot Shots

2011-09-15T02:47:00.000-07:00

Meet Rebecca and Tommy. Sister and Brother.

Rebecca runs together with her husband our favorite Taiwanese restaurant here in Meinohama, Fukuoka.

Tommy, well we have met him a few times during our visits to Taiwan.

Now he was here for a few days and happy

to drink a cup of Mt Alishan tea on board of

Sy Alishan.

Thanx for your visit!

Fu Kyo the Cat at rest at Iwaya Port on the NW coast of Kyushu. A nice stop indeed, with a good Hot Spring only 5 minutes on foot.
See the 2 Boops in the distance? The right one is Oh-shima, some of you might have been there.
Oh yes, summer is gone, but the days are still super hot.

Nori and Wakame cooling down after

an other Hot Day at their Sleeping Office.

Asleep and Awake:They are so much fun!

Miaow.

T-bag Mrs.Talas

2011-09-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

On board of Fu Kyo the Cat.

Mrs. Talas is upsetting the Cruise North!

Now hiding in Hagi, but hopefully sometime next week the trip will be continued.

The almost empty marina in Hagi.. like in so many marinas in Japan, most boats are stored on shore. And even more with this T-bag "in the air"

Beside heavy rain, wind of 35+ knots and some surge..

all is well on board.

Enough weather talk

Salute.

Where were you 25 years ago??

2011-08-28T00:30:00.000-07:00

Well, we were sailing somewhere between Bora Bora and Fiji.
That was on sy JAN HARING.

When we left Bora Bora our goal was the Cook Islands, but 1 day out...we ran into horrible weather.
Oh yes, those were the days with poor weather info....
Big seas, strongstrong winds and worse of all, 100% overcast for 3~4 days.
No Way we could take any sun sights, needed for our position.
Oh yes those were the days with out GPS or Satnav.
So for safety reasons ( there are zillions of dangerous reefs at the Cook Islands) we headed for Pango Pango, US Samoa. The trips lasted 6 days (orso) and we were perfectly white-washed after those days....

The first few days at Pango Pango were still lousy, see pix, but at the end the sun came out.
And who did we meet there?

sy FLYER with Connie v Rietschoten. well-know yachtsman at that time.
Wow, our Jan Haring fitted twice INSIDE that boat....

While at Pango Pango, of course there were more cruising buddies....With HAM radios on board (we had none).
And so, we were able to make radio contact with sister Marleen and
b-i-l Loek who were cruising on their sy Blankenheim somewhere in Fiji.
Remember, this was all pre-internet and pre-mobile phones.
So we made a time schedule to meet-up with them a few weeks later in Suva, Fiji.

But in between there was Tonga...a place not to miss.

Tonga was super for great sailing, snorkeling, the weather, meeting the locals for dance and food parties and even played a game of rugby!

BTW, why is that ball so funny shaped?

Finally in Suva, Fiji we met up with Marleen and Loek. They had sailed on sy Blankenheim from NZ to Fiji.
Tell you we had heaps and heaps to talk as it was basically 12 years that we hadn't seen each other.
This pix above is at the RSYC, nice sunset, good reason for an other Fiji Bitter.

Together we cruised Mbenga and Kandavu and as you can see

It was also pre-digi camera's.

And pre-overcrowded anchorages;-)

Would luff to hear what you were doing those days...

About Jan Haring, see also:

http://www.syalishan.com/flashback.htm

Salute.

Bon Odori

2011-08-24T04:48:00.000-07:00

Last week it was Bon Odori, an event that's part of the Obon Festival.

The car park area of our harbor was turned into a "dance parlor" with of course a "mobile shrine"

(picture above).

The "dances" are a couple of Line Dances of which only 1 is "understandable" for us.

Any way we had a good time and the weather was perfect.

Sorry no pix from the dances as we were busy ..

......dancing;-)

Guess when and where we got these flowers from???

Note the rain...it has been pouring now on-and-off for 1 week.

About Obon and Bon Odori: ( from wikipedia, thanx)

There are several traditional dances in Japan, but the one of the most famous and common dance is Bon dance, which is called "Bon Odori" in Japanese. People dance Bon Dance in the Bon Festival. The Bon Festival is held every summer, in every district in every city.

Bon means welcoming ancestors' souls and holding a memorial service for the souls. There is a Bon week in August every year, and Bon continues for about a week. During Bon, sometimes all relatives of family gather and hold a memorial service for their ancestors, and enjoy being in a reminiscent mood. This traditional comes from Buddhism in China.

The Bon Festival is held during in Bon week, and people gathers at the near open-space or the parks, and dance with traditional Japanese music. The music should be happy music to welcome the ancestor's souls, and people have a duty to make a happy, mysterious, and welcoming mood. Moreover, the Bon Dance should be held in the night because Japanese people believe that ancestors' souls come back in the night.

The technology in Japan has developed in a hundred years, but Japanese people have never forgotten the traditional heart, and taking place Bon Festival and Bon Dance every summer. Japanese people will continue to venerate this traditional, and to respect the soul of their ancestors

It's Lunch Time....

2011-08-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

So many times we hear: Ohno, Japan is so expensive! And yes indeed you can spend heaps of yen on food, like good sushi: 500 yen for 1 bite!
But see here a lunch-set we had the other day. A real good feed for under 800 yen. Not only good value, but also good taste and for sure no-junk food.

Itadakimasu

Mid August (Obon holiday) Trip with Esther

2011-08-15T15:20:00.000-07:00

An other great spin with Esther the Car.

This time we drove to Mt Aso area for birdies ( Marijke is editing her Bird Blog...On Air Soon).

And Mt Kuju area for climbing and flowers.
We left Fukuoka at midday Saturday...as the fish market this weekend was held on Saturday i.s.o. Sunday due to Obon Holiday. Tell you, we're confused with the days!

About the climb: Starting point was at Makinoto Pass.
That's where we spent the night at a romantic car park;-)
It was cool at night, we even needed a sheet!

The Goal: Nakadake.

It turned out to be an All Cloud Cover Climb. A fellow climber showing the trail.

But soon we would go our own pace.

From here on all by myself. It's 0630 and not many climbers are on the mountain, yet.
On the way to the top, I met only 4 others going up and about 5 coming down (spent the night on the top?)
On the way down...oops, it can be crowded, even in these poor conditions.

Useful trail markers, esp. needed at cross-roads. As a man-of-the sea, ahum, the ( steady and strong) wind gave me an idea about N~S~E~W. Up was so-so-hard work, down was easy...until it started pouring and the trail became slippery...

The TOP, and the only thing to see is this marker.

But it is the Highest Point on Kyushu!

For those of you who cannot read or write:

Naka Dake, 1791 Meter above sea level....

(Ask Alishan)

Meanwhile down below: Can you spot Marijke?

And if so...What do you think she is doing?

RIGHT

Country road.....
We took the "inshore" roads to avoid the traffic jams and wow, did we explore some nice places.
That's what it's all about..

A farm house, somewhere in the whopwhops.
Indeed it was an other great trip in-land.

Salute

A What...????

2011-08-14T04:39:00.000-07:00

anyway...it's a secret commercial by Japan Tobacco

next:

I think this CC commercial is so much nicer....
Agree?

Salute

Again Weather Talk??

2011-08-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, we can hear you saying: Again Weather Talk?

Don't know what it is this year...So many typhoons and "knock-knock" so far we haven't been on the direct path of these T-bags. Take these two: Both will start curving NorthWest from this moment on and so they will leave Fukuoka in the middle. Just make it here hot-and-even-hotter. ( 35~36C in the cabin...)
The plan was to start sailing on Fu Kyo the Cat to Okinawa this week...but seas will be too big + wind on the nose, so instead the bows will head North ( from Aug 7 ~). Hmmm, will it be cooler over there?
Keep you informed.

Salute

AND....Into the Hot

2011-07-27T00:54:00.000-07:00

Of course we had to explore a HotSpring hotel for a night.

As "usual" we just hadn't bothered with pre-booking, so when we found THIS neat little inn, they had a room for us

with Privat HotSpring...But no food.

A deal was made, we would supply the food ourselves during our stay...

so we had...

Cup Noodles for dinner

and rice balls for breakfast!

And that night zillion of soaks Into the Hot!

Did we sleep well!

(BTW on request i'm happy to send you a pix of the Girls Into the Hot).

Salute.

Into the Green

2011-07-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

In June when Marleen and Loek were here with us, we took Esther the Car for a spin into the Heart of Kyushu. There is a great National Park near Mt Kuju. The weather was too wet to hike up that mountain, so we just went for walkies at "base camp".

We walked a great board-walk trail to observe all the local plants and indeed the many flowers and huge mushrooms!

Next morning we finally could see the top ((@one side) of Mt Kuju...See the active volcano?

And oh yes, the rice is doing well this year with all the rain we had.

Next day on the list was a stroll through Yufuin Town.

Window Shopping...what a contrast!

But also a great place for some food...see "post Above".

Salute

And....MA-ON is going East

2011-07-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

This was the situation on Tuesday at 0800. More or less from that time on she started to make a turn away from us...with the result: a longggger period of 30 knots from the north. Now it is 24 hours later and it is still blowing those 30 knots but more from the NW.
When talking to cruising friends about sailing to Japan they always tell us: We would love to sail to Japan, but those typhoons......
Again the rule: Find a good spot in a harbor and then: A typhoon is just lot of pre-stress and a little trouble.
The average winter gale gives us more wind and trouble than these warm windbags in the summer.
Anyway, the sun will start shining again tomorrow.

Salute

MA-ON going North

2011-07-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

This is MA-ON. a biggy

Good thing is ...It looks like she'll pass us to the East, so we gonna get winds from the N, NW and THAT is the right direction for Alishan here in port.
A windy start of the week, indeed.

Salute

Do for Japan

2011-07-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

This is Kusuda Temple in the Rain.
Kusuda temple is the heart of the Yamakasa festival, so we had to visit it with Marleen and Loek. Despite the down poor!
Oh yes everywhere in Japan they are collecting sympathy (and money) for the victims of the Tsunami.

But of course NOT this way.

See here the remains of that BIG Ferries wheel

we had here across the river from us.

They decided to relocate the whole thing to Taiwan and so

they took it down: bit-by-bit!

Until the last standing legs...a bit of wind and the lot came crashing down.

Oops Again.

Smiley Faces

2011-07-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

22 years ago we first set foot on land in Japan.

That was after a yacht race: sailing 5500 miles from Auckland, NZ to Fukuoka.

One of the first Japanese people we met was Mr Nagazawa and his wife. He promised to look after us and he STILL does so, so we think he is our best Paparin!

That time our boat was sy Jan Haring and for the race we had extra crew on board: Sister Marleen.

Now Marleen and hubby Loek are visiting us... a good reason for a reunion.

Hence this picture with Smiley Faces;-)

BTW, it is Yamakasa Time here in Fukuoka, we are standing in front of one of the display floats. The thingy is 20 metres tall...oops didn't fit on the same picture. Read More

Room with a View

2011-06-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

It was an other day to take the Giant Rocket to the other side of the Bay.

Fu Kyo is still waiting for some repair parts (have to come allll the way from La Douce France). Anyway, there are always small jobs to be done , even on a new boat!

And in between enjoy the Great View across the Bay.

Oops, something is rolling in.....

Fu Kyo stands High but not Dry

Even the school bus had to make some adjustments;-)

Salute

Along the Bay

2011-06-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

On the Move by Asics (running shoes) and by Giant (bicycle).

Red is a HomeRun of 10K Along the Bay, mostly using a nice running path along the beach. Only a short stretch has some road traffic, the rest is only for pedestrians.

Yellow is a Bike Run Along the Bay to where Fu Kyo the Catamaran is parked.

Go and Home is 50 K, and as you can understand, there is + ++ road traffic to navigate . But about half of the track can be peddled on sidewalks, what is completely legal here in Japan.

So, just two ways to stay fit.

Salute.

All so Grey..but Wait.....

2011-06-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

These days in the Tsuyu (rainy season) are sooo grey....Blah.

Alishan's solar panels are sleeping, sunglasses are covered in "dust" and sunscreen...oops, when was the last time we needed it?

But with all this rain, the flowers are having a good time.

See here a pix of "our" Fukuoka Castle (ruin), the pond and entrance road. With left and right yellow, blue and red flowers that make us happy.

So what do we do?

Marijke finds the odd dry moment to look for birds, does some ABC stuff and.....

Jaap helps out with the fish. 1 Day we had manymany snappers with a couple big ones sold for 7000 yen/each! Happy fishermen! And they need those prices as diesel goes for 92 yen/liter and 1 day out there slurps at least 300 liters.

Salute from under an umbrella;-)

It's Wet out There

2011-06-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

This is a weather map picture showing the Rainy Season Belt sitting across our area. It will move Up and Down and will hit us the next 6 weeks for about 3~4 days/week.
We just came home from our turn at the Meinohama Fishmarket and i can tell you it was a Wet Market.
Do we like this "tsuyu stuff"?
Hmmm, it's okay as at least it not cold. Not like how we remember those rainy days in our Holland Time.

Fukuoka is in the middle of this Rain Radar shot...so it's going to be a day for sorting out pictures, watching a movie, eat some fresh sashimi and have a snooze....After all, 4 AM is early.

Salute

Another Spin with Esther

2011-06-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

Marijke is showing off her Nikon Skills.

As always, when you click on the pic, you'll get it in a full size page..

We stopped at a small fishing town, and see here ....Eh??

An other very interesting temple...

The view from that temple

And somewhere else we found this white beauty, showing off her kittens..

And now, sit back and relax.....

Typhoon Songda Gone

2011-05-28T20:48:00.001-07:00

And that was Songda.

Here in Fukuoka we had about 20~30 knots of wind and 24 hours rain. No problems at all for Alishan and crew...just a lot of wet clothing hanging around in the cockpit;-)

The Sunday fish market was of course wet and surprise, surprise there were enough customers to buy "our" fish.

Salute

Typhoon Songda on her way North

2011-05-26T21:24:00.001-07:00

See her belly-button?

With Esther on the Move (??)

2011-05-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

Yep, Esther.

She is our new on-shore crew member, seats 7 two-leggers and sleeps 2 comfy .

We took her on our crew-list just last week, so it was time to take her for a spin.

An Overnighter in fact (Oops, are Nori and Wakame happy about this?).

The first area to cruise roads and hills was around Furuyo in Saga. Just over the mountain range south of us. This picture was taken at 5:30 AM, morning mist all over the place.

And yes, we had a good night sleep. Here we are parked at the back side of a local temple, good place indeed.

Going for a walk up and up and up....

Even with those always and everywhere power lines it is pretty

Morning mist is burning of.

Freshly planted rice fields.

Somewhere along the road we found this TORRI, the entrance mark to a temple.

On the way back...wow, that is something, neh.

And Esther is patiently waiting, safe and well looked after by the temple spirits.

More road miles to follow!

Salute

150 Years BD Party

2011-05-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

Taking a picture of.....

Left!
The wine bottle seems to be 50 years old, too!
Good reason for a sashimi party, with the main of ANAGO= eel
( oh yes, a first for us, even after all those years).

150 years old , together!

From right to left the 3 BD runners: Noriko, Sayuri and Shinkai san.

Happy Birth Day!

salute.

New Update at www.syalishan.com

2011-05-21T19:06:00.001-07:00

Well, it took some time and a few bad words due to site-troubles,

but there is a new report at www.syalishan.com see

Q1 report 2011 at the menu bar (on the top of the page).

Plenty of pix....

Enjoy.

salute

Mountain High

2011-05-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

Today's Goal.

Mount Watai in central Kyushu.

Marijke is not part of the hike as sadly she suffers from knee problems but luckily the Birds are calling her... so she stays down at mountain bottom level.

The month May is one of the best in Kyushu to go Mountain Up.

Marathon friends Ohara and Noriko are ready for the top... after all it's already 2 weeks since they did an 85 K ultra marathon in Yamaguchi.

Taking a picture of.....

THIS.

Our lunch stop at the top: 1499m above sea level.

Those white spots down below and in the distance is Steaming Earth. At one location it even is to make electricity, but for us it is used for warming up a Good Soak at an Onsen (hot spring).

Of course once we made our way down hill first.

Hi Noriko, wave to the camera....It's a beautiful day neh...

Hmmm, what's the pass word this time???

Salute.

On the J.O.B.

2011-05-11T01:52:00.001-07:00

Fu Kyo

And this is her bow...eh.... 3?

Yep, she is a Lagoon 421,
brand new out of the box.

Here we are heading into the sunset, little wind so the 2x 70HP push her along.

Owner Mr Mitsuda (with sunglasses), and Meinohama neighbor/crew mate Kiyama.
It's lunch time!!

Luckily it's not always cup-noodles. Here a pix of yummy squid sashimi.

Entering Arakawa Port in Fukue Island. (Goto Retto)

Alishan was here 5 years ago and of course I remembered the nice hot spring, right in front where we parked the boat. So that's where we are heading for..

Fu Kyo's stern.

Everything is so much different than Alishan.

Some are good, some i have my doubts about. But hey, it's a fun job indeed.

Still many things have to be set up properly.

But at least we can get the PC charged at..

........

the toilet..

Ask me how;-)

After 1 week "On the Job" , coming home was good.

Nori and Wakame were welcoming me....

Or are they?

Salute

Golden Week is Here

2011-04-30T14:23:00.001-07:00

Golden Week is in Swing with Sun, Gale and Rain.

As yet Nothing special to report.

Marijke is working away on her picture projects and Jaap is prepping Fu Kyo for it's first sail.

Fu Kyo?

Yes that's the boat of our friend Mitsuda who asked me to help him making miles on his brand new

Lagoon 421. More on that later.

The previous On the Move post shows a couple of blank spots.

Nothing has gone missing , but some how i can't edit that post correctly.

So, just scroll further down to read and see the rest.

Salute

Spring Gales & Tales

2011-04-28T04:43:00.000-07:00

It's coming and going with Lows and Highs these days.
One day we walk around with a coat and the next day it's t-shirt stuff.
And all come and go with plenty of wind & the odd rain shower....ah well, as long as it doesn't snow....
Last weekend was "bus-hike" weekend for the Nogami's, our fishermen family we are very close with.

The youngest brother turned 60, so a good excuse for an all-in-the-family outing. And they took us along..Nice neh.

Of course the bus made stops at several temples, souvenir shops and even a beer factory.

At the Suntory Beer Factory...where taking pictures is f*******

The Ladies in Sundays Best.

At night a super meal with the ever and always karaoke and Japanese dance. And what a great time we had:Our bellies were hurting due to laughter.

The Birthday Boy Tamotsu.

We stayed in a ryokan=japanese inn with an indoor ONSEN (yes, with twice a day soaking) at Kikuchi Town in Kumamoto Pref.
Indeed this is thermal-land as at 2:47 AM the whole place rattled and shook us awake because of a serious earthquake. No damage, but a good reminder where we live! (and what happened a few weeks ago..)

Next week it is Golden Week. At lot of national holidays...Good time to either stay at home as the roads are loaded OR head for the sea.

What we will do? Will let you know.

BTW, it is now 8 years since we moved on board of Alishan and sailed her from Tokyo to Fukuoka.
BTW2, this week jaap did get his Japanese Boat License. ( what he should have had on that trip 8 years ago as Alishan was under Japanese flag. Now Alishan is dutch flagged and ...funny, in Japan foreign vessel don't need a Japanese licensed captain...Figure that one out).

Salute

Sunday Shelling by the Seashore

2011-04-22T01:11:00.000-07:00

This is Muromi River on a Sunday afternoon in Spring. What a great weather to look for shells that taste so good in the miso soup and spaghetti. And it is fun to do it with the family, as you can see. (click on the pix..)

This is the mouth of Muromi River, it ends up in Hakata Bay.

Fukuoka, it is a good place to live!

Pix to go with last post

2011-04-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

The hungry crew of Sunstone, Bannister, Tweed and Alishan. For a change of taste we had a good and fun feed of Taiwanese food.

Thanx Tom and Vicky, Jon and Pam, Hanna and Hendrik-Jan.

Safe Sailing and Sayonara!

Odo Yacht Harbor, AM 6:30,

Sunstone is still "asleep"......

In the meantime , Tweed is getting ready to start their trip Down South....

Byebye party on the wobbly Odo pontoons.... Saying farewell to Tweed.

Here she goes... (picture above), then a small rebound (picture left)

as even a wobble pontoon-post had to wave goodbye (ask for details..)

By now, Sunstone is awake and ready for a new coat of varnish.

Looking Good Tom!!

It's April already!

2011-04-10T15:52:00.001-07:00

Time flies, even when we are not moving Alishan.

Marijke came back home and she too had a good time in Holland.

Of course she was way too busy with seeing all and everybody in the family and eating all her favorite dutch food....

Thank you for looking after us!

We are happy to have made the trip to see Mom and to be with you. Too bad our stays were so short. Mind you, one way we will remember our trip as we both gained a few kilo's in just those short periods. We blame the good bread and mountains of cheese! And the odd, ahum, " Tom Poes" pastry.

In the mean time, here in Fukuoka, the cherry blossoms have popped out by the zillions.

Such a pretty way to celebrate the end of the Cold Weather.

It was good fun to meet Vicky (sy Sunstone) "On the Run".

I had " challenged " her to join us for the Sakura Half Marathon and yes, she joined me and the group for thos 21 K last week Sunday. Most of the way we ran together, beating me in the final 2 Ks. Well done. The weather was perfect and so was the scenery. Sunstone was still in the Inland Sea, so Vicky had taken the Highway Bus to travel to Fukuoka and back.

Then a few days latter it was Rush Hour for us at Odo Yachtharbor as beside sy Tweed, sy Sunstone and sy Bannister arrived.

Of course we had to take that opportunity to share a meal with all these overseas yachties...

No no. No sashimi or sushi this time, but yummy Taiwanese Food. And it was good fun.

This week all 3 will Move On. Tweed is going south (Okinawa and Taiwan), Sunstone and Bannister are going north ( Hokkaido and Alaska).

THE major reason these 3 yachts came (back) to Fukuoka was of course they trouble over there on the East Coast.

When will it be again to meet overseas yachts here in Fukuoka? Due to all the sad things, many of the planned trips to Japan this year, have been cancelled. Understandable.

We?

Well, we'll stay. This is home. But we will be making Moves.

Tell you more later.

Salute.

Tuna Time

2011-03-31T05:17:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of staying in a fishing harbor is:.....by times some fish falls into your cockpit. This time neighbor Tetsu came home with a decent catch of TUNA..and he right away offered me half a fish.

As you can see, Tetsu himself loves some fresh fish as well....

As Marijke was still in Holland and the amount of fish was way to much for Nori, Wakame and me, I went over to Odo Yacht Harbor where Jon and Pam of sy Tweed were able to help me with this mountain of first class SASHIMI. That was a great meal. Thanks Tetsu Kun! ( yes Tweed returned from their trip into the Inland Sea due to all the troubles over at Tohoku).

Salute

Spring Pix

2011-03-28T22:24:00.001-07:00

Cherry Blossom is popping, what a nice thing to see in these "grey days".

The problems at Fukushima seem far from over, and although it's a long way from here we are worried of course. How long will this dragggg on?

But for now and here we are getting serious into Spring Mode.

Mind you we still have and use the heather on board.

Alishan in the Yacht Corner.

" MOVING ON "

2011-03-22T00:51:00.001-07:00

Today it's day 11 after March 11th. Japan seems to Move On. Pffff. Online we read heaps about what is happening over there in the East regarding the Fukushima Power Plant. Some news is correct, some news is....... Well, no comment. But let's not forget all that misery that is directly hitting the people in NE Honshu. Fingers Xed that the situation for all those house less people will improve soon. Even the weather should do it's best. After all, spring is here, ahum, it still can be nasty cold at night.

Here in Fukuoka? Well, we can't buy any batteries for our camera, mp3player or torch!

All sold out.

That's the worst we feel.

Marijke is flying to Holland tomorrow to do the family-round. Back on board in 11 days

Have fun neh!

Meanwhile, Jaap will be looked after by Nori and Wakame. And keep himself busy with small jobs and boat projects.

Oh yes and do some prep work for next month Half Marathon and Japanese boat license.

Salute

UPDATE

2011-03-14T23:39:00.001-07:00

Talking to Marijke, what a great thing SKYPE is, I am happy to report that for ALISHAN and friends in Fukuoka things are okay.

Sadly it's not the case for manymany people in the east of JAPAN. Those problems now with the nuclear power stations are scary.... Don't know what to say....

Jaap is still in Holland, but due to fly back to Fukuoka Thursday night (16/3). Hopefully the flight will not be cancelled. (A'dam, Seoul, Fukuoka).

Again, thank you all for your concerns.

All OK @ Alishan

2011-03-11T08:02:00.000-08:00

All is OK with Alishan and crew. Pfffff.

The Big Tsunami was on the NE side of Honshu.

Distance wise not too far, but we are at the West side of Kyushu. The safe side!

Marijke just emailed: All is OK . (jaap is still in Holland looking after Mum).

THANX FOR ALL YOUR CONCERNS

Salute

Made a Small Move

2011-02-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, a 0.3 mile Move.
Alishan is now in our old corner of the harbor.
One of the boats got sold and the manager agreed with us that we should take that possy.
And it's good as we now have a H2O and decent AC connection. Things that make life easy, neh.

Well, what else?
The weather has improved somewhat, mind you we are now heading for more rainy days.
But we have had some really nice sunny days, see how Nori and Wakame appreciate the rising temps.

More and more blossoms are sprouting and birds are making Moves as well.
Moves as well?
Bad news arrived and we have to fly to Holland this month to see Mum. Jaap is going first and when he's back, Marijke will go. Taking turns solves the cat "problem".

Our friends Jon and Pam of sy Tweed will Move this week into the Inland Sea and sy Sea Rover has already Moved towards Okinawa. Pfff, we will be lonely with no more overseas cruisers around us.

Last week we went for a short drive in the country and stopped at one of the zillion temples. This one has a nice front.

That's all for now,
Salute.

The Perfect Birthday Cake

2011-02-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

Look at this:

Natto = fermented soja beans
Ika sashimi = raw squid
Tamago = a raw egg
Yama Imo = grated mountain potato
Maguro sashimi = raw tuna
Nori = dried seaweed

Mix it all and ENJOY!

Indeed this was definite The Best Birthday Cake I ever had.

And, there was one more BD cake as we also celebrated

Paparien's 80th birthday!!

Thank you Shibaraku, we had a great evening.

Here, with Jon, Paparien and Pam.

Winter is still Kicking

2011-02-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

Beside a very comfy home, ALISHAN has not much been used for On the Move the last 4 months. And it doesn’t look like she will make a move soon.
Yes, it’s already mid February and …No, not too much is happening.
Hmm, is that true?

Of course things are happening in our lives and around us, neh.

A few nasty cold days with 30-40 knots of wind and snow made it clear that spring aint here yet. But as mentioned in our previous blog: It can’t be far away now.
Like us, Nori and Wakame are enjoying the odd day with sunshine.
Take today: 95% blue sky and zero wind. It must be super on the mountains out there with skies tied to your feet.

Ahwell, maybe next winter if our bank balance can handle it…..
Marijke was able to buy a new camera, (Nikon D 90) so a warning goes out to all of you: More Great Pictures are on the way. BTW, here we like to thank all of you for your kind words we always get when a new HP update has been published. It’s fun to travel, little fun to write about it, but SUPER fun to get your replies.

THANKS.

Mean while , Jaap is doing the odd ABC class and getting involved with boating and boat license study;-)

Sadly enough, the other day we had to drive to Nagasaki to say goodbye to our friend Takagi (see also HP Q3 2010). A warm feeling came over us when we met Mum and the kids Sawamura .

Salute our friend.

Takagi with Mum and Marijke, 9- 2010

Outside Temp 0.5 degree C, Inside Temp 6 degree C.

2011-01-30T01:32:00.000-08:00

At least that’s what the thermometer reads in the mornings when we dig ourselves free from all the blankets.
It looks like we are having one of the colder winters here in Fukuoka.
( see the heading of this Blog).
Aren’t we lucky?
Like today: On and off some sunshine and the odd snowflake on the deck. And it’s blowing a solid 25 knots from the NW. But with 1 kerosene heater on full blast the inside of Alishan soon reaches the mid-ten temps. And if we run the generator and switch on an extra electric heater…it soon feels like we’re back in the tropics. That’s good.
Jan Haring, our previous boat and home for 19 years was build for colder climates, with a well proven insulation layer on the inside. Alishan doesn’t have that sort of insulation, with a nasty result that beside the low temp, we also have a lot of condensation, esp. in the lockers.
Ahwell, only a few more weeks of shivers and drips….

After all, we did spot some plum trees with blooming blossom….,
So spring can‘t be far away…..

Marijke got an other number for her age, that event was also celebrated with a meal at our one and only local Taiwanese restaurant were we feasted on some of our favorite dishes. Of course in company of Jon & Pam and Mena.

The days are filled with some small boat projects, some birding, the odd run and yesyes a little bit of J.O.B. And of course keeping ourselves warm.

BTW, by times we have to "fight" for the chair.. as Nori made it his winter sleep-possy.

Salute.

Psssst.......There is an update!

2011-01-23T22:38:00.000-08:00

Marijke is so happy.....

The latest HP update is online.

Take a look at www.syalishan.com,

go to the menu bar on the left

and click Q4 report 2010.

Salute.

Kagoshima Birds.

2011-01-16T03:28:00.001-08:00

Beside the marathon in Ibusuki, the trip to Kagoshima prefecture was also made to score s some special bird sightings.
The first stop was made at Izumi, the winter resting area for cranes.

Too bad we couldn’t come closer to their feeding grounds as the ill famous bird flu was in the air. Basically the whole area around the crane center is off-limits, but as you can see from the pictures we were able to see them well enough.

The other stop was at Sendai where we spotted the Spotted (!) Eagle. This beauty comes here already for 19 winters, so he’s a local hero. We were very lucky as the weather was perfect, little wind and a blueblue sky.

Snapshots at Kagoshima

2011-01-16T02:16:00.000-08:00

Our Along the Road Support Team. Not showing Marijke as she took the picture...

Thanx a lot Team!

The Group Together, after a well earned meal, with plenty of fluids and the odd sing-a-song;-)
Did we sleep well that night.

We also made a stop at Akune where we stayed 2 weeks over summer with Alishan.

There were many new wall paintings.

See that tower...!!

Great job Sensei.

On the Move ehhhhh On the Road

2011-01-11T19:29:00.000-08:00

The end of 2010 was cold and the mountains around Fukuoka were covered in snow. So one day we took the car for a spin and drove to Mt Raizan, where we spotted this monk going down hill to town. Yes the road was slippery.

Mt Raizan has this amazing temple. One of the best sights to visit here in Fukuoka.

Like before, January 3rd was Tamaseseri Day. It is a fisherman's event (plus 1 yachty...) where a wooden ball is being transferred from the seaside to the local temple. Holding onto that ball will bring Good Luck, hence the "rugby scrum" . Cold water is to cool down the boys... As you can see it was also a rainy day, i won't have to tell you how good it felt to jump into a hot bath afterwards.

The best spot to stay warm is inside the group! Ouch, did i hear a rib crack?

A few days later we hit the road again, this time for a trip to Kagoshima. We decided to take the mountain road due South of Fukuoka...And pretty white it was up there....

This was the scenery at Sendai River:

Warm sea water is entering the river mouth. That morning all and everything was covered with a coat of ice, something we hadn't seen since 2006!

One reason for this Road Trip was the Ibusuki Marathon.

See here friend Noriko, smiling at 14K point...
The course is Up and Down a lot....

Lots of well wishers along the road. Marijke did a great job cheering up us and the other 15.000 runners. THANX!! She even made it to the "front page" of the local TV station.

Well, this is at 41K point. The smile is ONLY for the camera as ..... anyway i made it to the finish. And that's what counts.

On the Road again the next day, after of course the compulsory Hot Spring Stop ( PM soak # 5), we saw these Big Long Radish being dried. Driving around here in Kagoshima we felt we were a long way from home.

Happy 2011

2010-12-27T19:37:00.001-08:00

Ready for the apple crumble task

2010-12-23T21:31:00.000-08:00

Weather Links and Internet/phone info.

2010-12-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

Here in Japan for weather info we use the following links:

JMA, weather map.

JMA, local wind situation. (from here it's easy to go to an other area).

JMA, local weather warning ( same).

JMA, local rain radar (same).

WindFinder.com, local forecast, for up to 5 days. (also easy to move to an other area).

Yes, you'll need internet on board. In this part of Japan: SailMail and Winlink connections are very poor!

Once we got our internet going…we had coverage almost anywhere between Ishigaki and Fukuoka.

BUT at this writing there is a catch:

It's not easy to get that mobile phone/internet account. Officially, only those with a "fixed" home address can get a contract. So for short term visiting cruising yachts… You'll have to make deal with a helpful Nippon resident.

The best mobile internet set-up is from DoCoMo.

Mind you, here in Fukuoka and so in other BIG cities, (Ishigaki is a small town) you can get Prepaid Internet with-out that "fixed" home address thing.

This internet connection is called B-Mobile.

Pre-paid mobile phones are, same story, also only available in Big Cities. See SoftBank for this.

Hope this might be of help.

Salute

Runners On The Move

2010-12-15T00:33:00.000-08:00

These legs are made for Running.

It's 12 noon, time to start;-)

Oh yes it's fun to run. Even here below the express way. Left and right country side has plenty to look at.

Country side in winter mode.

What to do when it's cold

2010-12-12T17:36:00.000-08:00

Wakame knows!

End of Autumn

2010-12-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

This week was definite the end of autumn.
Of course it came with daily dropping temperatures, so Alishan got equipped with a kerosene heather.
On top of that: One day we had solid rain, thunder and lightning for 24 hours, followed by a day with gale force winds : 40+ knots from the West. An okay direction for us, but the boats in Odo Yacht Harbor had less fun. (see previous update).
Then again, today (Saturday) it was a great day with wall to wall blue sky…. But as soon the sun is down: Close those hedges and start that heather!!

2 Days were spent shaking the nets for “tomba” (small fish, see below).
It was fun to help Katsuyoshi (77), his wife (74) and sister (74). It also felt like I was doing my old job: Daycare Rehab for Elderly.
But these “youngsters” are in NO need for rehab, they kept on shaking and sorting the fish for 6 hours, non-stop!
What a pleasure and the more as 1 day we had a super BIG small fish catch!

Shaking the nets....(with Alishan at the back).

Always some herons around...guess why;-)

Marijke goes birding when ever the weather is good and still comes home with “firsts”.

For sure it’s a bonus to have a good oven on board and with all the marathon training…Cake and pies are welcome.
Yummy.

Salute

At Odo

2010-11-29T21:47:00.000-08:00

Fukuoka's public marina is named Odo Yacht Harbor.
21 Years ago we arrived here with Jan Haring after the yacht race: Auckland~Fukuoka.
At that time this marina wasn't super, and it still isn't.
No Water, No Power, No protection from the swell when there is a NW gale blowing.
And, ...... Not Cheap.
But our friends on Tweed and Sea Rover decided to stay here for the winter.
Nice for us!

This is Tweed....

And this is Sea Rover.

Digging In

2010-11-21T16:43:00.001-08:00

Ehh, well it is still getting cooler (or should I say colder).

A sign: Wakame likes to sleep (with us) under the blankets these days. What a change from this time last year when we were traveling the Kinabatanga River in Borneo.
In the mornings we wake up to the sound of the generator: Making AC for the hot water kettle, the boiler, the toaster and ....the heather.
Of course in the meantime recharging cameras, computers and boat batteries.
And we run the air-cooled fridge to warm the aft cabin! So far the day-time temp is still above 10C, so it is not yet too bad. Yesterday we even had a top of 19C & little wind making it very comfy to sit in the cockpit.
BTW, for our daily shower/bath we have the option to go to the gym, the biggg sento ( public bath) or our friend's house.

Alishan has found her official spot here in the harbor and, as said; We are Digging In.
Sundays of course helping out at the Morning Fish market: 5 AM
Daily we meet up with friends from the past, go for runs ( yes i've signed up for a marathon in January), read books, go birding and do the odd boat jobs.
Up till now, we have found the skill to avoid paid-jobs ;-)
It's good to be here.

Good friends Jon and Pam of sailing yacht Tweed have re-surfaced from their trip to Australia, and so .....we are "flat out".
They are in ODO city marina, 10 minutes by Giant bicycle from here. Also there is Anton, from South Africa, on board of sailing yacht Sea Rover.
Luckily, we feel we are still in a cruising-mode.

Salute

Autumn Drive

2010-11-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

Autumn leaves in Japan are something special. We were lucky we could borrow a car and went for a drive in the mountains around Fukuoka.

Every corner of this winding road showed us a new "painting".

Ha, this tree is loaded with orange fruit: "KAKKI" =persimmon.

Yummy fruit, and well know by crows and other birds, hence those umbrellas.

Just a nice spot at one of the many mountain temples.

We never get tired of visiting those places.

TOMBA tralala

2010-11-05T23:41:00.001-07:00

The other day.....

We had to celebrate something....

Of course The Way to do so is with 30 (!!!) TOMBA.

Small fish, caught here in Fukuoka Bay.

Loaded with fish-fat, so the best way is cooked in soju and sakeh only.
YUMMY.

We are looking forward to our next anniversary.

Salute.

Meinohama News.

2010-10-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

The weather really turns out to be autumn stuff. That Tee Thing (typhoon # 14) made a nice sweet turn away to the East and didn’t affect us at all. And as you can see, there are some sunny moments. But we do have cold N winds with a bit much rain. The cockpit enclosure is so nice to have, esp. with those extra 2-leggers on board.

Guess who is very happy to be back home again. Within 30 minutes of arrival Nori had scored his first fresh fish.

As ever before, Japanese calendar has many festivals. This one is for kids of preschool age and it is held at “our” temple here in Meinohama. Edwin and Melissa’s cameras are loaded to the rim with pictures!
Tomorrow is D-day for E & M. It will be quiet on board again.
And for us?
Well, start prepping for the winter.
And…J.O.B. hunting??

Windy and Cold

2010-10-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

Gale and Cold warnings. Well, we can feel both. After 4 years in tropics/subtropics a temperature of only 10 degree C feels COLD indeed.
But seeing all our friends and family here in Fukuoka keep us warm.....
Just have to watch that Tee Thing down under....

Position: 819-0013

2010-10-18T15:15:00.001-07:00

Alishan arrived at Fukuoka.

We are now at position:

819-0013

Ehhh, Yes, that's the Zip Code.

Ehhh, No, we don't know how long we will be here , but for now the only Movement Alishan will make is Going Up and Going Down with the Tides.

Wow, so great to see all our friends again. And all those familiar places. Remember, the first time we sailed into Fukuoka was 21 years ago, so this is indeed our place.

And you should see Nori and Wakame, they went through the fly-screens to re-explore their play grounds where they grew up.

2 more bicycles were bought, so Melissa and Edwin have wheels.

The calendar is fully booked with welcome-parties, sightseeing, hikes, visits to sento's and other things people do in Big Cities.(eating good food of course....).

Hmmm, when can i do the laundry....?

Salute

YOBUKO

2010-10-16T01:08:00.001-07:00

Alishan found a nice possy along the wall in Yobuko, position:

33° 32' 589 N
129° 53' 499 E

This town is know as Ika Capital. And indeed everywhere you look, there is squid; Drying and Flying.

?? Flying ??
Yes, they use a spinning set-up to dry the squid.

But of course the best way to eat squid is....RAW = sashimi

Now with Melissa and Edwin on board we decided NOT to go for raw squid: Sashimi ika is still tooo much for them ;-(

So the menu for last nights dinner was "not fishy".

Hmm, No Way.
Our neighbor fisherman decided that we had to eat squid... And gave us a load life-ones!

Yummy!
Happy crew, there was enough for all of us, incl Nori and Wakame. And yes, Edwin loves it too.

This is our last stop before Fukuoka...looking forward to see all our friends again.

Salute

MADARA

2010-10-12T21:27:00.001-07:00

Well, the JCG did spot us in Hirado, with a team of 4 they came to Alishan to..... right....:

Haha, I had them fill out the forms for us ;-)

Hirado is always nice, okay, a bit touristic, but there is a lot to see ; small streets, old houses, temples, churches, gardens, a castle, a great museum and not the least: A Superb Hot Bath, on top of one of the hotels, (boys 9th, girls 10th floor) The view is overlooking the Hirado Straits. You have to go there yourself and soak in the hot water to believe it.

Anyway, we made a move again and are now at MADARA.

33° 33' 932 N
129° 45' 900 E

A new place for us, so: Here we go and explore,

Salute

Spot us in Hirado Port

2010-10-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

Salute

HIRADO

2010-10-10T23:34:00.001-07:00

Even before 7 am Alishan was making miles towards Hirado.

As "ever" there was little wind, mostly on the nose... The seas were flat, so no complains.

Now we are at:

33° 22' 278 N

129° 33' 281 E

The`harbor has an unused ferry pontoon and visitors can stay here: For Free.

The plan is to explore town and give the local hot springs and Sento a proper

check;-) Entering the harbor, memories of 21 years ago came back. It was here

in this port we experienced our very first serious typhoon.....At that time no fun , but all went well.

It is definite PERFECT autumn weather, very unlikely we will meet a typhoon now.

So, short for now, we go out exploring.....

Salute

Moved to Mie

2010-10-09T20:57:00.001-07:00

Early Sunday morning we made a move to Mie, see previous blog report. For Edwin and Melissa those whopping 10 sea miles where the first ever on a sailboat...and all went well. There was not even 10 knots of wind (of course on the Nose).

And yes we had a great time at Nagasaki and its bubbling O Kunchi festival. Just only a few rain showers spoiled the fun briefly, but all in all the weather was perfect. We met up with Satoshi, Nobuko and Michio.

And there was the Sawamura Family , organizing a local typhoon on board of Alishan.

What a fun.

Thank you all for the good times!

On a sour note were the local customs office people, showing their "power". Ha, they were almost disappointed that we had all our papers in order! Okayokay, they do their work...but.... Informing them that for example THEY hadn't informed their own Fukue branch of our planned arrival...the answer was not even: Oh sorry we made a mistake. So we keep on smiling.

The weather looks good for this week, Alishan will move further N , Hirado here we come.

Salute

O Kunchi Day 1

2010-10-07T19:51:00.001-07:00

Perfect weather and a perfect show. We are so lucky to be here.

Salute.

Back in NAGASAKI

2010-10-05T00:38:00.001-07:00

Indeed we had a great time at Fukue as we met up with some nice people. Of course a lot of time was spend in front of the computer making that HP update, but we did find time to go for bicycle rides, runs/hikes and bird watching.
The Grand Final at Fukue was the Minato Matsuri (port festival) with a final Big Bang Fireworks Display right in front of Alishan.

Yesterday, the trip across the pond, about 50 miles. The wind was mostly from behind, something between 5~20 knots. Great sailing, but hey...It's cooling down. So we were wearing long pants and a second layer over a T-shirt. Feels funny!
Alishan is back at the same spot at Dejima Marina. And yes you can keep an eye on us again as the Harbor Webcam is working. See our previous blog last month http://syalishan.blogspot.com/2010/09/nagasaki.html

Tomorrow we will drive to Fukuoka to pick up Melissa and Edwin...then we all get ready for Nagasaki Okunchi Festival...
Google that one so you know what we are gonna enjoy ;-)

Salute

Homepage Update Q3 2010

2010-10-02T18:03:00.001-07:00

It's done again.
There is a new update at www.syalishan.com
Q3 report 2010 part 1 and Q3 report 2010 part 2 ( see menu bar).
It tells the story of Alishan and crew traveling from Okinawa to Goto Retto, Nagasaki.
With many pictures of course.
Please enjoy.

Salute

Cruising to and in Japan = PaperWork

2010-09-26T15:14:00.001-07:00

Even before arriving at your first Japanese port, you'll have to do PaperWork.

This is Only for your Port of Entry!

This paperwork can only be done by FAX.
No! Japan Coast Guard will not answer your initial emails. Once they know you from the FAX, email contact might be possible.

Send me a note if you like info regarding these Pre Arrival Procedures.

Then the cruising can start! Oops...just a moment:

Japan has about 150 Open Ports. These are ports where foreign ships & yachts may go without prior permission.
All the other ports you need a "cruising permit" for.

That's easy to get:
Make a list of ports with possible dates and find the office of Ministry of Transport. Each province has its office and you'll apply for that province. At your first Port of Entry you'll find that office building easy enough...Customs will inform you.

Like for us, we got our first permit in Ishigaki: Good till Okinawa. In Okinawa we got the next permit : Good till Nagasaki. In Nagasaki we got the permit till Fukuoka.

Fill out the request papers with the ever and always happy officer, who speaks enough English!
Okayokay, some of these papers are the same and you already have filled them out at an other office. And yes, he has copies of previous papers in his file...but just do it again. They luff paper.

Two days later, the Permit is ready and you can go.

Arriving at a closed port, with this permit in the chart table...No worries.
Arriving at a closed port without...... big change nobody= Customs and/or Coast Guard will show up. But if they do....very likely they will send you OUT.

And correct. ( unless there is typhoon or other problem of course...)

Now here at Fukue Port (=closed port), we were checked out by customs and Coast Guard.

Ha, see the picture: It took them 48 hours to spot us! Their office is right next to us.

Sadly enough, beside the Min of Transportation, there is zero communication between the different offices, even from the same department, so again...you have to fill out many=same papers. ( e.g., how much sugar, how much engine oil etc, where you have been and where you will go). Again, these officers usually will speak some English. And they always come with a smile.

That's all.
If you have any questions, drop us a note.

Salute

Happy to be in Fukue

2010-09-23T01:57:00.001-07:00

Alishan made a Move due WEST. We are now at the Port of Fukue on the East side of Fukue Island, one of the islands of the Goto Retto Group. Position:
32° 41' 788 N
128° 51' 018 E
This location is alongside the ferry pontoon. All day long many ferries are coming and going, until 7PM: Then we have this place all for ourselves. To park here they charge us a whopping 2 Euro/day, so you won't hear us complain.
While at Mie we had a few nice days for varnishing, so happy that is done.
Today it is the official start of the autumn and yes: It blows half a gale and it's colder than cool we think. Even though the temperature in the cabin is around 25C.....we shiver. But it's great to go for bicycle rides and runs.
Fukue island was a stop for us 4 years ago. At that time we were at Arakawa, on the West side.
Salute

Moved to Mie

2010-09-16T23:05:00.001-07:00

Alishan made a Move to Mie Town. Just North of Nagasaki. Position:
32° 48' 968 N
129° 46' 474 E
This part of the harbor we are at is to be used by fishing vessels (only???) in case of a typhoon.
And there is a Biggy Down Under ( SE of Okinawa) at the moment, but it looks like it will head for Taiwan. Dear friends, take care!
So No fishing vessels now... We are all by ourselves. Sorry, no webcam here, you'll have to use Google Earth.
And what a good place it is to do some varnish work. The great weather is also a good help:
Blue skies, little wind and in the mornings...it's even chilly in my pyjamas.

We met up with friends from 21 years ago when we first sailed to Nagasaki.
Mr and Mrs Sawamura had adopted us that summer and we did all sort of fun things together with their .....12 kids!!
It is so good to see them again and bringing back all those memories from those days.
Once again we really realize why we like Japan so much, ESP when cruising around by yacht.

Salute

Alishan Song

2010-09-16T22:38:00.001-07:00

Don't we all dislike the ever obnoxious shopping mall "back ground" music?
Well the other day we were window shopping at China Town in Nagasaki and the back ground music was nothing less than the MT Alishan Song. ( click on the link, it will take you to our HPpage with the song).
Isn't that nice shopping?!!

Salute

Castella Town

2010-09-13T03:33:00.001-07:00

Well, it wasn't easy to sail away from Akune. So many friends tried their utmost best to keep us much longer...but hey, life of cruisers is to Make Moves ...now and then.

This is even before 6 AM. Akune just doesn't want us to go...

Let go for and aft...but what are all those strings doing up the mast??

The seas were calm, the wind very liitle from No Where and so the 45 miles across were done by Yanmar. The only things we had to look out for were the odd fishing boats, birds and a few rocks. Entering Nagasaki did recall memories from 21 years ago...just a few as the port lay out and the city sky line have changed. And not in a bad way.

The new Nagasaki Port Sky Line...

Alishan is in Dejima Marina...did you try the webcam?

32° 44' 617 N
129° 52' 206 E

Nagasaki is known for many reasons.
Good ones and of course sad ones.
But one is very tasty: Castella!
This cake recipe is not from Holland, ( Nagasaki has a fat dutch history....) as many people think, but it comes from Portugal.
And Satoshi, local yachtsman, has mastered the skill how to make this cake perfect. And we were the "victims" to taste it. Yummy! Thank you Satoshi!

Alishan applied for the next cruising permit. Once we get that piece of paper we make a Move Again.

Salute

Nagasaki

2010-09-10T03:56:00.000-07:00

See if you can spot us.

Just click on ALISHAN , the webcam will

show you Nagasaki Port. You can operate the camera.

We are in the small marina

on the far right, parked in line behind a catamaran.

Salute

Number 7 aka Malou

2010-09-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

Look what keeps us here in Akune..... Ms. Malou

Wind strenght and wind direction are no problems for us here in the harbor....

And the continues stream of visitors o/b of Alishan makes it even more a "Typhoon Party".

(btw, Akune is in the right hand bottom part of the yellow circle.)

Salute