Meinohama News.

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

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

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

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

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

Salute

HIRADO

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

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

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

Salute.

Back in NAGASAKI

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

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