Jeff's Log ~ Thursday, June 5th, 2008

We arrived in Osaka, well; actually it is a suburb of Osaka called Tannowa, on Sunday. There were no fewer than ten people that greeted us at the dock when we arrived. There were men, women and children clustered on the t-head and we had no problem getting tied up. More and more people kept coming to greet us, and it began looking like the t-head might start sinking. The last yacht from America that was here was in 2006.

After all of the dockside hoopla, Mark and I had our usual shore excursion, ATM, restaurant search, and finding a laundry. On the way down the main dock, we were greeted by a couple of older gentlemen who were waiting for the commodore and then were going to Pipe Dream to say hello. We radioed back to the boat to warn Scott of the ensuing visit. We were gone when that party was going on, but one of the visitors brought a bottle of Dom Perignon Champaign.

There was not much in the way of restaurants close by, but we did see a sign for McDonalds. Even that was about three kilometers from the boat. As we returned, we were walking past the yacht club, and were invited up to say hello to the boys. Because we knew the rest of the crew was waiting to get some food, we respectfully declined and returned to the boat. We figured that it would be similar to the “Boys’ Club” at Manila, and that we would end up staying there half the night.

When we gave everyone the dinner choices, McDonalds won the vote, so Mark and I took a cab to McDonalds. We had to sneak around the back of the yacht club on our way out so that they wouldn’t think we were rude. At McDonalds, we pointed at pictures of what we wanted, and had no problem getting what we wanted, even though not a lick of English was spoken there. The taxi back and forth cost almost as much as the burgers. It costs 660 yen just to sit down in the cab.

After feasting on the culinary delights, it was off to bed, as Scott, Tracy, and Ranon had to pack in the morning for their trip home. Their ride arrived at 1130, and they left just before the rain arrived. Mark and I were having lunch at the snack bar when it began pouring rain. It kept raining, so we stayed at the snack bar and kept drinking large mugs of beer. We returned to the boat at 1700, because that is when the snack bar closes. We continued with our mysterious celebration, and ended up cooking hot dogs for dinner.

The hot dogs had been purchased in the Philippines, and were frozen. I heated them up, minced an onion, and got out the relish, ketchup, and mustard. I could hardly wait! The hot dogs turned out to be the worst possible hot dogs on the planet. I think the casing was made of plastic. We could not bite through it. I tried to cut one in half with the chef’s knife, and could not get through the casing. They were so bad, that when I threw then overboard, the fish threw them back at us.

We continued with our celebration and “dangerous” drinks and got fairly intoxicated. Silly pictures were taken, and silly phone calls were made. We did have a lot of laughs, and it turned out to be an early to sleep night, with the rain still falling.
Morning brought more of the same rainy weather, so we stayed in and worked on cleaning up the boat. The dock master was nice enough to take us in his car to the laundry, so that task was made a lot easier. Laundry is not cheap in Japan. We had a lot, for sure, but it is charged by the piece, so it really adds up. I must say that when we got our clothes back, they are the cleanest they have ever been. Nomow, you will love this. My t-shirts were not only pressed, but individually packaged with a sheet of paper in the middle. Stains that had been in some of them for the whole trip are now gone. All of our shorts were on hangers, and individually wrapped.

Yesterday, I had the Yanmar man come and look at the main engine. We have been having excessive soot on the transom, and our top rpm has been two hundred short. I wanted a Yanmar expert to check things over before I pull the injectors. He came and poked, prodded, checked and did some running tests. The dock master Takeda came to the boat to translate for me. He has been a great help to us so far. The technician suspects, as I do that one or more injectors is messed up, so after Scott’s daughter leaves, I will pull the injectors.

Scott’s daughter Michelle and her family are due to arrive on June 6th, and we will cruise around here with them for a few days. She has two sons, who I understand are 6and 9 years old. Mark says we will have fun with them. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, and we had very clear visibility for the first time since being here. It really is a pretty place. From the boat we could finally see Osaka, the airport, and another suspension bridge connecting two islands. Last night we had dinner at the restaurant on the hill above us. Then sights were especially nice from there after dark when everything was lit up.

Off our port side, there is a marine summer camp going on at the maritime training center. The kids are out there rain or shine with kayaks, sailing prams, and lifeboats in which there are lots of oars. Last night, they had a couple of bonfires going, and there were lots of campfire games going on. Children’s laughter is a universal language, and was really nice to hear for a change. At about 2100, it was lights out over there, and our area of the marina is pretty far out, so it became very quiet. The only thing making noise is the jumping fish. There is lots of that going on. I think I could here at least 45 jumps per minute for most of the time that I was up on deck.

This morning before the rain arrived, I managed to get some more stainless polished, and also polished the shiny surfaces of the cabin top down the starboard side. The boat is looking pretty good in between rain showers.