Passage Time

The remainder of our time in Osaka was a mixture of relaxing on the boat, and daytrips out to Kyoto and Himeji. Kyoto was beautiful. As the "cultural and artistic hub of Japan," it didn’t disappoint. From the 5-level pagoda and beautifully untricate buildings of Toji Temple, to the rows of shrines and temples on stilts, it was all incredible.

At Toji Temple

People everywhere were dressed in their kimonos (it happened to be the Cherry Blossom Festival, so if you wore your kimono you got into all the temples for free), so the city was colourful indeed. Interesting to wander the back alleys and imagine what the city must have looked like 50 years ago with everyone bustling about in traditional dress.

Pop, Jacob and I headed back to Kyoto again the next day to search the Toji market for old chisels and tools. The market ended up being absolutely massive, and the 30 minutes we had alotted ourselves was pathetically insufficient. After a couple purchases we ran back to the train. We, in the process, saw four new trainees and did the logical thing: wave and shout like lunatics from across the street…they, of course, dismissed us as crazy people and kept walking. Met the rest of the family at the Osaka Station, and took the long train tide to Himeji. Rather amusing riding the jam-packed train with our whole family. We all had to stand, but of course the boys are too short to reach the handles so they go lurching at every turn…Noah succeeded in accidentally sitting on a little Japanese woman (and her plant) who happened to be sitting behind him.
Himeji Castle was amazing. We got free "rental" bikes from Tourist Info, and just made it in before it closed.

Himeji Castle

Built over 500 years ago, the castle has been restored only via traditional means. The interior is comprised solely of wood – absolutely massive timbers. The big slabs of dark wood gives the rooms almost an old lodge-like feeling. Six floors, 5000 tons…massive. It felt beautiful – I just wandered through, trailing my lands along the huge pillars/beams and feeling the big floorboards through my socked feet.

Inside, and a view from the 6th floor window

Unbelievable how much timber was in there, how solid and huge it was, and how much work went into the building. Had fun riding our bikes around in the park afterwards, and enjoying a picnic dinner of sushi. Japan was consistently freezing, though we did get the odd day of sun. Its incredible how warm down is really…
Leg 6 trainees boarded on the 22nd, and due to weather we didn’t leave until the morning of the 25th. I was in Jose’s watch, along with Sara Ross, Liam, Leanne, Blake, Adam, Emma, and Raven…obviously the best. We had an Easter sunrise service on the morning of the 23rd, and even though the actual sunrise was obscured by buildings and smog, it still went well. Other notable happenings include a trip to the local sushi train (octopus!), honing our wealth of balancing skills with the help of nearby railings, and consuming both McShrimps and McPorks (Im well aware of how revolting this is).

Caught red-handed with McPorks...

We also acquired an extra crew member in the form of a carved wooden elephant - he floated past on the 2nd morning…we named him Chad.
Left early on the morning of the 25th, and the first day was calm. Took advantage of this to have a Man Overboard Drill - where the soccerball was actually lost…great. That would be our last calm day for quite some time. The next day it got rough (we dunked the upper pin rail), and the passage really started. The first few days were a bit grey, but fun. Big seas, good sailing, and not too much seasickness. Wonder of wonders: I didn’t get sick! Gabe, however, did. As did Will. Funny story actually: Adam had re-named plain Chad "Chad, elephant god of seasickness", and when Will came up on deck he was instructed to rub its head so he wouldn’t feel sick. He did. No more than 30seconds later, he rushed to the stern and vomited…into the wind…which, as it tends to do, whipped the puke back inboard … and all over Gabe…who was still sick. Unfortunate in the extreme.

Dinner on deck with Fore Watch
I love passage time in watches. Our watch was a blast; we worked well together, and got along great. Towel fights abounded (Liam and I made each other bleed on the first day), as did discussions and laughs. We started out on morning clean-up which is my favourite at sea, so that was a perk. Sailing was good, we alternated between the courses and the jumbo/fore/try. Still chilly, people were pretty bundled up on deck during watch, but the sun made its appearances every so often. Oh, and we tried an interesting experiment. Adam informed Liam and I that drinking vast quantities of blue Koolaid would turn ones…G.I. products …green. Obviously this was something to be tried. We both proceeded to drink a cup and a half of the PNG blue Koolaid at six times the regular concentration - then we waited. Ill spare the details, but it should suffice to say that it worked in a spectacular way.
It continued to get rougher (due to a large low to the northwest of us), and finally on the 31st we double-reefed the fore for the first time and hove-to for 10 hrs. It took five of us on the vang just to get the sail down to reef it. Its hard for me to describe what its like. Huge swells rolling us back and forth, and our side to side movement being all the more exaggerated by the fact that we’re making no progress through the water. Watch consisted of sitting huddled in the stern in the hopes that the wind would lessen or switch directions and we would be able to resume steering. Very wet and very cold. Lots of water coming over the deck, and rain ever so often. Down below (aside from the diesel smell from the stove) was actually quite amusing. A hilarious gong show.

A few days out
Even once we got going again, the movement was unbelieveable – like nothing Ive ever experienced. The focsle moves up and down at least 10ft with ever swell, and all night you lay awake in your bunk, trying to brace while being jarred every few seconds when a particularly big wave smacks into the hull. I found the best way to keep myself mostly immobile in my bunk (as opposed to flying from side to side with every roll…) is to hunch down into half of the fetal position, bracing myself between by lee cloth and my hammocks, with one knee up and one leg down to brace at the bottom of my bunk…my head has to be tucked in and braced with my pillow otherwise it smacks into the wood side every time we hit a big swell…restful nights indeed. Even if one can get braced, theres still the matter of flying objects to contend with. My nalgene (full) landed on Leighsa, my books of course rocketed down onto my neck in true missile fashion, and some genius had left their mug on the floor so every roll we would hear "clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, smash." Awesome.
Even though we complained about it, the weather was impressive. Such big swells, and impressive winds; huge waves would routinely crash right over half the afterdeck and soak whatever poor individual happened to be sitting there unaware (I usually got it down the hood of my jacket…lovely). Since most people were down below (except while on watch) due to the sheer cold and wetness, many games of cards/chess/crib were played, and in general there was a lot of very enjoyable hangout time. It really is incredible how much closer we get as a group not only on a passage as long as this one was, but also during ridiculous times as this weather provided. Our watch time as a whole, I really enjoyed.

Our watch was muy muy good-looking: Raven, Sara, Liam, Leanne, Blake, Emma, Jose, Adam

Eating dinner was always a challenge, since the table would bottom out every so often, sending all the food rocketing uphill onto the laps of half the watch. Whenever a big swell would hit, you could see everyone just brace and block key food items in advance. Its interesting how fast things become second nature, and how soon you stop noticing things that you’d otherwise find fantastical (such as the fact that its absolutely necessary to brace oneself in the head at all times…otherwise you go shooting off onto the floor…which would be unfortunate indeed).
Some moments from this week of insane weather: Blake got sacked by a full can of pickets when we hit a big swell and it shot off the counter…ah haha, really, what are the chances of that happening. Keira’s blue cheese stash came to an unfortunate end when it exploded in her pants one evening. Really, I couldn’t come up with anything funnier if I tried – rotten blue cheese exploding in someone’s pants…my goodness. She came hobbling into the hold, clutching at her "trousers", and exclaimed (in her lovely English accent) "Steve!!! My cheese has exploded in my trousers! Oh nooooo, Steve, what do I doooo!?" Steve put on his firm voice and instructed her to get up on deck immediately and to throw her pants, cheese and all, over the side. I in the meantime found her some clean trousers. Wow…very funny. Also, during sail handling one night, Steve got his hand sucked into the block and got his thumbnail painfully ripped off. I was walking back to the wheel and joked that we’d probably find it on the deck soon…but then I actually did. Gross…and yet oddly fascinating. Oh, and we had one of the greatest pillowfights of all time. Despite the fact that I was brutally ganged up upon (Jordan…), it was spectacular indeed.

Keira with her "sausage cheese"...aka cheese stash #2

Hot chocolate was in high demand (as were tea and instant noodles), and we went through it at an impressive rate. Mocha Choka Latte (instant mocha mix…) was the first to run out, and we spent the remainder of the trip trying to fashion a substitute. Liam and I managed, through an ingenious system of deception and secrecey, to squirrel hot chocolate powder away in a Milo container underneath the cupboard (…I know, you are all marveling at our ingenuity…its understandable, we’re rather impressed with ourselves too) and thus were able to enjoy the sweet beverage a few more days after official stocks ran out.
After almost a week and a half of intensely rough weather, we had a few days of beautiful sun and light winds. There were waterballoon fights, deck showers (go personal hygiene go!), and efforts at the jumbo boom bouldering problem. Two days in a row we set absolutely everything (Fisherman included), which was great. Nice to have a bit of a break and get a few calm days. Oh yes, and this whole time we had been taking napping to new heights. Fore watch really perfected the art of napping this leg. Some days we would achieve 4-6 hrs or napping…impressive indeed. My watch gave me the oh so delightful nickname ‘Bedsore Bessie’…NOT because I had bedsores (because I certainly did NOT…!), but because of the hours I devoted to napping and listening to music in my bunk.

A calm evening on deck

The weather then picked up again. This time worse than before, and on the 8th we hove to again…this time for almost two days. Odd watches during the day with the whole watch just sitting up on deck, really not having anything to do, but needing to be up there anyways in case the wind shifts and we get underway. We brought out Big Booty one morning, and people started making dittybags and palms. Good times just hanging out as a watch. Again, really impressive weather. I sat up on the jumbo boom for a while one morning where you could feel the movement of the boat that much more. Insane, how much the boat flings back and forth with each big swell, and how strong the wind was. Frustrating not being able to go anywhere though – its an odd feeling, being so helpless in the middle of nowhere. We actually went backwards for a while, then sideways…a bit deflating. After two weeks of slow progress, cold and wet, no sleep, ridiculous amounts of movement, head winds and big swells…you start to feel it.

In the evenings it was rough enough that only two people from the 4-8 shift were allowed on deck at a time (people got their dinners swiped right off their places when they got caught in a big wave…ah ha ha), and we wore harnesses even during the day. Blake, Liam and I had an awesome time furling the jib one evening. We got completely soaked (correction: I got compeltely soaked…their feet got wet) as we got dunked in and out while the bowsprit plunged into each wave. Very fun, and it was a beautiful furl…go team go.
This whole passage we had lots of mug-ups which was good. Every few nights Jose or Sarah would play and almost everyone would come into the hold to sing. Definitely the most mug-ups we’ve had on a leg thus far…very enjoyable. This group as a whole was great for that kind of thing – lots of games, activities, discussions, etc.

Then it got sunny! Even though the wind was still coming from the wrong direction (the system to the north of us that was supposed to be moving around, wasn’t), spirits were up. We were really low on fuel, so the engines were shut off and everything was set…we were still going in the wrong direction. Heading on in that direction we’d miss Hawaii entirely. Great. A lot of fun watch time though. Interrogations were over, and we started taking turns bringing a different discussion topic to mealtimes. Everything from Global Warming and marijuana laws to poetry, the origin of morality, and existence of God were discussed. Dittybags were worked upon, Sara and I did an interpretive dance "The lifecycle of a herb scone", and many funny photos were taken. We also crossed the date line. Probably the only time most of us would be able to live a day over again. We crossed late at night (11pm) with a countdown of "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…Welcome to yesterday", and much yelling. Then followed backwards day, with people doing everything from wearing their pants backwards to braiding pigtails out from the top of their foreheads.

Dateline fiesta

We were, however, still out of fuel and going the wrong direction. The decision was made, and Midway Island Atol was called to see if we could make an emergency stop at this otherwise off-limits island. They gave us the go ahead.
After the army left it, Midway became a wildlife refuge and is currently one of the biggest albatross nesting grounds in the world. Its also the home to various types of petrels and terns, and is a stopping point not only for Green Sea Turtles, but also for the very endangered Monk Seal.

They were always overhead...surprising only one of us got pooped on

It’s an emergency stop only, and people are otherwise barred from visiting (apart from research and arranged arrivals). There are about 60 people living there, both for research purposes and to maintain the runway and other emergency facilities (its an airline emergency stop too). The island itself is beautiful – like the South Pacific atols. Its small (3x1mi), surrounded by crystal clear bright blue water and white sand beaches. They gave us a great welcome, and apart from a few ground rules, gave us free reign to explore the whole island. It was unbelievable for us even to be allowed ashore; we were all pretty excited and blown away. The entire island’s goings on are structured around the wildlife…its such a unique situation. There are over 2 million albatross on the island, so they’re absolutely everywhere. You actually have to swerve back and forth when you walk down the road to avoid walking into the chicks (who will definitely not get out of your way). The adults are neither afraid of nor aggressive towards you, they just stare inquisitively then continue their beak-clapping, head bobbing dancing.

Two Black-footed albatross (foreground), and other Laysan albatross

We spent our two days there exploring the island, wondering at the massive amounts of birds and other animals that were there, and enjoying the beach (we were able to visit the north beach since it was the one that the monk seals usually don’t use).

Some beach studs...

Beachcombing was great, I found two little glass floats, and lots of people found albatross skulls and other interesting bits. They gave us access to their internet, laundry, and showers (all for free!), and we had a great night of kareoke and pool with them the first night.

The instruments came out for a bit, and even though the fiddle was hardly heard over the guitar amp, it was still fun being up there.

A group of us went snorkeling under the cargo pier the next morning. Saw tons of really big Trevally, lots of needlefish and butterflyfish, a sea turtle, and a big reefshark poked in and out a few times. That evening we put on a slideshow for the islanders, and there was a big volleyball game (the length of which was determined by when the first petrel clocked itself on the lights that lit the outside court…we had a couple hits, but that all seemed to be alright)…very fun.


It was a weird feeling to be on an island like that, so similar to the ones we visited on legs 2/3/4 and yet there were no families or kids…it was just a group or American professionals doing their jobs. No village, just everything functioning in a 1st world manner. Interesting. I didn’t know any of the war history surrounding Midway, so I learned a ton while we were there. They were really great about showing us around, and took lots of time out of their days to explain things to us and tell us bits and pieces about the significant events and the specific battle.

The airport was an interesting blend of old and new ... neat old signs around the back

All in all an amazing visit; we all felt pretty fortunate to not only have stopped there, but to have been allowed to explore and interact to the extent that we did. Oh yes, and we also commandeered a golf cart. Adam, Liam and I stealthily went for a wee joyride in Antony and Jose’s golf cart while they went in to pick up the drum…ah haha…so difficult to go on any kind of joyride when you have to swerve and stop every four feet so you don’t hit an albatross. In the end they didn’t even know we had taken it, so our brilliant heist went completely unacknowledged…dang.

The week(ish) after Midway went amazingly quickly. Mostly motorsailing with the fire/try/jumbo, and great weather. We even caught fish! Two Dorado and a Yellowtail…delicious in Teriyaki/Lemon juice. Fore watch did an epic job of work watch; rails look beautiful. We also gave each other massages with the palm sander…wonderful. It was calm enough that we even got to have swimstops! Our firsts this leg, they were fun. Felt so good to swim again. Keira did have a hilariously unfortunate moment where her nose inexplicably started bleeding profusely, and there was much panic about sharks…
Nightwatches were beautifully clear with millions of stars, and things started to warm up finally. People started learning celestial and many sights were taken. Leanne had gotten a doozey of a burn on Midway, and I was enlisted to help peel off the skin…oh the numbers of people we grossed out with that one, very funny. We also decided to secretly get better at chin-ups, so we would put on the ear-muffs and head into the engine room at night to buff up. I guess we’re pretty much strong now.
We also had a talent show. It was spectacular indeed. Acts included the French Canadian duo or Jose and Ian, Sean imitating Bob Dylan, the band Scupper-2-Scupper (Sarah, Jose, Antony and I…all clad in ridiculous 80’s garb. Thank you Jess for the green stretchy pants…they worked in an incredible way with the rest of my costume!), a whale song by James, poems, Sue on the ukelele, an Aussie duo, guitar loveliness from Maddieand Gill, a 2-man band with Jose and Antony…and Im sure there was more. Pop read Dory Dory at the end and freaked us all out of our minds. Even though I know when the dummy is going to get dropped, it still gets me every time. It didn’t help that it got dropped on me again while I was doing dishes…I may have shrieked.
We had a Sunday service on the last night out, followed by another mug-up. Good way to end the passage, everyone enjoyed it. I already miss passage time like that; I love being out there so much. The routine, the group dynamic, the great sailing, and how beautiful the boat and ocean are - I would much rather have spent another few weeks out there than come into the US.

But here we are now in Honolulu. We got in early in the morning, and there was mail waiting for us! Thank you so much to everyone who sent mail, it makes our port arrivals more than you know. Beautiful packet from Far, many very appreciated letters, and even a coffee giftcard! Thank you guys so very much.

We made it. Better late than never :)
We definitely experienced some culture shock when we got here. We’re still getting it. Just the sheer amount of stuff there is everywhere; how many huge cars, clothing stores, malls, cheap souvenirs…and everywhere people intent on the idea that its all necessary. The seemingly superficiality and self-centeredness of North American culture seems to be all the more apparent when you’ve been out of if for some time. Then again, who are we to talk…most of us have gone to starbucks while we’ve been here, and few can say they haven’t gone shopping at all…but still.
We’ve been giving the $1 movie theatre some serious business, and though we’ve been disappointed in the majority of what we’ve seen, they’re entertaining nonetheless (plus the idea of sitting in an air-conditioned room for an hour and a half is mighty appealing!). My joyful expectations of playing vast quantities of Time Crisis were crushed as I saw some over-zealous player had jammed the coin slot…however, we found another shooting game worthy of our quarters (in my defense, this is the second video game Ive ever played in my life, and its only 25cents…). The fact that the second gun is broken necessitates that we tag-team and swap off. Best movie thus far: Juno.
Its been a really neat group dynamic while we’ve been here. Im sure the passage had something to do with it, but we’ve all really been sticking together. There’s no one group that heads off on their own, the groups arent fixed, and even though we do our own thing during the day, we all inevitably meet up at the beach and hang out as a big group. Almost everyone has been eating dinner on the boat which has been a lot of fun, and in the evenings the whole group hangs out together. Everyone just legitimately enjoys being around each other, its been a lot of fun.
Our watch went out for dinner at a little Thai place near the theatre. Delicious food, and we laughed far too much for our own good. Could have been because Blake was accidentally eating little bits of discarded pre-chewed food from Adams plate, or maybe it was the unintentionally offshore remarks that seemed to abound…who knows.

Work days went well, lots got done. Bec and I greased the masts, oiled the hounds, then spend the rest of our time helping with brightwork and heatgunning (which is supremely satisfying). Spars got sanded and oiled, the hull got painted, rigging was re-set, and food was bought and stored.

The spar-sanding process

Mom and Pop went out on a date so I got to watch the boys (Bec was out for her watch dinner). We played a spectacular game of Mission Impossible in and amongst the parked cars (we were by a shipping dock with a shipment of new cars ready to be loaded), complete with choreographed attack sequences…quite extensive really, we even got chased by a police car who thought we were up to no good. When the boys were in bed I played my fiddle in the warehouse…great sound in there.
Went to an Anglican church with Gill, Santiago, and Steve. Way more formal and traditional than I’m used to, but it was good. Made me miss The Place at Lambrick. Chatted with the pastor and the deacon afterwards over cake and snacks (which we devoured…). The whole time the deacon was talking to us he had a big smear of cake icing in his face…didn’t know if I should tell him or not. I opted not to. Ah haha, so funny. Really nice people though, interested in the boat and the program. After church we picket up some food essentials (well, Santiago actually went shopping for ingredients for his spectacular dinner)…that’s when I saw the cake. Steve agreed that we obviously needed it, so we bought an angel food cake, a container of whipping cream (the fun squirt kind), and a tray of strawberries. We took it to the pedestrian walkway, sat down on the side by the bank, and built our cake. We then proceeded to destroy it in a fantastic way. I had so much whipped cream all over my face (not my fault, Santiago squished it up my nose while I was eating…) that the bank security guard came out and handed me a stack of napkins. Nice man.
We had the final dinner on the last night of the leg. Everyone got all fancied up, and we all looked quite fetching actually. The food was amazing; from shrimp appetizers and baked garlic, to chicken cordon bleu and strawberry salad…delicious. Awards went well, and the slideshow was good. Its always bittersweet looking back on all the good memories from the past leg. Im going to miss this leg a lot.
The last day was a mix of saying goodbye to people, and arranging to meet others later on. I went with Liam to get his tatoo in the morning and we had fun designing it/picking shapes and chatting to the tatoo artist. It turned out really well; Polynesian designs worked into the shape of a marlin. We then spend 30 minutes (and $6 in quarters) defeating the zombie game. Supremely satisfying.
I was really sad to see people go, there are a lot of people from this leg that Im going to really miss. Its nice that most people live pretty close to Victoria … there will be much visiting this summer.
The past two days Ive spent with my family, exploring North Shore. We rented a car, piled everyone (plus all our dive and surf gear) in, and just enjoyed being out of the city. The drive across (or around) the island is beautiful, especially the coast bits where you can see the beaches and reefs on one side and the dramatic ridges of the mountains on the other. We went on a dive at Sharks Cove (not a ton to see- some Trevally and a neat sea turtle, but it was just fun to be underwater again), picked up some snacks, then spent the rest of the day at Pipeline. Today too we went to Sharks cove first, then up to Pipeline. There’s no surf at all right now, but there are enough waves hitting the beach that you can play around in.
A group of us went and did laundry just now…so nice to have all clean clothes. We made a pit stop at Safeway for some last-minute stash items, and this lady asked us if we were homeless! I cant believe it…I was as clean as I could be! I was in clean clothes, I had showered earlier, and I was carrying a bag of clean laundry…and she asks if we’re homeless. Wow. It was Bec, Maddie and I…I suppose we were sitting outside of a Safeway with many large bags…but still. Ah ha ha, how we laughed.
New trainees board already tomorrow morning, my how fast the breaks go. Its odd to think that this whole last leg is shorter than last leg’s passage. Then we’re back home. Back to "normal" life. I cant say Im looking forward to it actually. Im actually getting a bit nervous. Ive been out here so long now that this is more normal and comfortable than my Victoria home. Im reluctant to go back to the tedious normalcy of land life, Im going to miss it out here so much. I am looking forward to seeing people again though…a lot. This leg though Im looking forward to the passage, to Kauai, to exploring either the central coast or visiting Port Townsend, and to the unavoidable and obscenely thorough friendship that comes with offshore passages.

Thats TWO updates in one leg! Will wonders never cease...

Well, here I am again. True to form, I forgot about my plan to write every few weeks...so here I am writing from Osaka. Our final few days in Okinawa went well. Most of us stuck fairly close to the boat however, we were all pretty anxious for any news of a possible departure. Notable events included a trip to the nearby bowling alley (Highlight: bowling shoes came out of vending machines...only in Japan), a very fun morning of soccer and volleyball in the park, and Valentines Day. Sarah made us all little mailboxes, and valentines abounded on the morning of the 14th (mention goes to Bec for her skill with rhyming.) Heart-shaped cookies were made the night before and enjoyed by all right away (thus thwarting Scott and I in our masterplan to eat them all that night.)


Dancing with the statue after a morning of volleyball

Graham`s fine bowling form

We finally got the go-ahead to leave early in the afternoon of the 14th, and finally bid Naha adieu. Had some great sailing - so nice to be out again. The passage to Shanghai was cold. Unbelievably so. No one ventured on deck unless watch necessitated it – everyone huddled down below in sleeping bags and near the stove. Number of layers hit an all-time high; most of us had at least three layers on under foulies, boots, hats, and mitts. We were still cold.

Chris...watch was cold

The focsle (aside from moving up and down 10ft with each swell) was particularly chilly. Due to its warm nature, big uglies quickly became the coveted dishes position, and most of us consumed or body weight in tea and coffee. My lovely mother lent me her mitts (after I tried using socks for a day...), and Sarah and I discovered that dancing exuberantly is the only way to keep oneself warm on nightwatch...humorous to watch Im sure.

Sock mittens and dancing to keep warm

This passage was notable not only its freezingness, but also for the unbelievable number of breakages we had. It started the first full day out, when the starboard anchor came unlashed and fell inboard. Jord, Joel and I had a fun-filled 45 mins getting covered by waves while getting it back into place.

One of Becs sailing shots

That afternoon the stove blew out in a spectacular way. It spewed so much smoke that the crew came through and actually evacuated everyone up on deck for an hour...nothing like the sweet smell of diesel fumes. That night after watch it was discovered that the focsle bilge was full of water due to all the miscellaneous junk floating around. Jord and I had a hilarious hour and a half, lying on our bellies, elbows deep in bilge water fishing bits of books, shoes, pencil cases, Mortein cans and everything else out from around the pump. Then, the next morning the bail broke. We were on watch, and suddenly heard a big snap, and saw the whole rig jolt backwards. The bail holds the forestay up at the top of the formast. So the stay fell off. Our FORESTAY fell OFF. It was trailing in the water underneath us. We dropped sail, hove to, and teams got going to set things back up. I went up the mainmast with Jose and Graham and set up two one-inch rope supports up in the trestletree area that led down and were tensioned on the winch by Pop and Bec. Wow there was a lot of movement up there... I was so sick when I got down!

Our rope support system

Jordan, Antony and Chase went up the fore, and re-attached the stay with wire and come-alongs.

Since we were coming in via the Yangtze shipping lanes, traffic around the mouth of the river was insane. At night there were as many as 60 fishing boats and 20 freighters showing up on the AIS (over 300 tons) - only slightly daunting in the dark!

A look at the AIS.　　Each little triangle is a freighter, and we`re the small green boat in the middle of it all
We anchored near the mouth of the river so we could meet the pilot in the morning, and had a mini work day to spiff the boat up in time for its open house in Shanghai (scrub down, brightwork, blackening...) That night the winch hydrolic line broke and sprayed oil all over the foredeck. So at 3am everyone was woken up to hand-pump the anchor up. Jordan and Raven got covered, while fixing things again.

Coming up the Yangtze into Shanghai that morning was incredible. The shore was lined with massive shipyards, and on our every side were massive freighters. Shanghai is huge.

Freighter companions...this was a big one

It was chilly, this is me as a human blanket...

We were all slightly culture-shocked by the gigantic buildings and bridges that we passed by on our way in. We tied up at the cruise ship dock and waited to be cleared in.

On the way in
Excitement of all excitements...we got mail! Shanghai was by far my most exciting mail stop to date, thank you very much. There is very little that makes a port more exciting than the arrival of mail – it made my day.

We decided to tape our initial China ventures, so as soon as we were cleared, we all set out with the cameras and video camera in tow. Jordan and Jose captured all manner of our embarrassing moments, from ATM and bank miscommunications and food surprises, to Kara and I staring blankly at a map trying to decipher the Chinese directions...just great.

One of the side streets we explored day one

Sara, Bec and I met a group of students studying English, and went with them to a tea ceremony. Very neat - got to sample some of Southern China’s best teas in this little tearoom, and we had a blast. Definitely got ripped off though...

The teas we tried, and a Jasmine ball completely opened

The next few days were spent trying to explore Shanghai by foot. An impressive goal considering the city is home to 17 million people.

Night and Day...lights and people are the norm

I spent a lot of time wandering along the intriguing back streets and alleys, lined with bamboo scaffolding and tiny tea and food stalls. Lots of little food carts selling everything from candied strawberries and cherries, to fried meat (or ‘street meat’ as Tiana calls it) and corn. Found as much rice/bok choy/beef as I could eat for 10 yuan ($1.50). Found some intensely nasty internet cafes, but their cheapness kept us coming back. In the first one Sara had a cockroach crawl out of her keyboard...how does that even happen? It was filled with smoke (the café, not the cockroach obviously), and since it was full of gamers, every so often someone would let out a loud scream. No one payed any attention to these screaming players, no one even looked up actually. I thought this was hilarious, so I thought Id give it a try. I looked around, waited for an opportune moment, then let out a loud yell...no one even blinked! Very satisfying.

I went with Jordan and Pop to the Silk Market one morning. Stall upon stall of beautiful fabric, and a multitude of knock-off products. It truly is amazing how many people and things are crammed into such a small area.

A side street by the Silk Market

This lady was amazing. She turned out these `breakfast pizzas` as an incredible rate...
Visited Tony the Tailor (his card reads “Where we make it our business to make you look good”) on the advice of Jean-Marc, and Jord got measured up for suits. Pop and I each got measured for a jacket...never done that before. He was a very interesting man; very funny. He’s made suits for Sylverster Stalone, Danny Glover, Clint Eastwood...he has some good stories. We also found a great little tea store. I definitely came to appreciate tea in Shanghai, ginseng oolong on particular. The couple in this particular store were great, they let us sample a couple different teas at their little table, showed us how to prepare them, and were just a lot of fun. We may or may not have bought tea sets...

We happened to be there over Lantern Festival, so a few of us headed down to Yu Gardens to check out the lights.

Wow there were a lot of people there. In a four city block square there must have been at least 500 000 people. We had full contact with people on all four sides, and the crowd just surged along.

The streets outside the gardens
In the centre of the gardens the buildings were all lit up with lights, and along with lanterns there were giant illuminated inflatable animals...interesting. Really...so many people.

Oh yes...and we couldn’t bathe. Haha, we couldn’t find anywhere in Shanghai (short of renting a hotel room) to bathe OR do laundry. Yes, we were quite stinky. We couldn’t take deck showers either (apart from the obvious reason that we would die instantly from hypothermia...) cause there was so much pollution everywhere. It was fully alright for us to dump all our slop overboard at the cruiseship dock, we saw sewage trucks empty into the river in the middle of downtown, and there was so much smog that you could look directly at the sun...yummy. What a change from Japan! Something that didn’t change from Japan...it was still cold. Intensely so. We kept all the hatches closed, the bulkhead open, and the stove on and open all day and night. Still, the girls would wake up stiff and shivering. There was actually snow on the deckboxes one morning. I didn’t think I could possibly get any colder...then we went to Beijing.

My entire family went to Beijing. Haha, you have to appreciate how much of an anomaly a family of eight already is...then imagine us in transit! We took the train overnight, and it was singularly the most enjoyable eight hours of my life (for the past two months at least...) It was amazing! Since we booked so late we were all split up in different cabins, so Bec and I were each on our own with three other strangers. It was great, my compartment members acknowledged that I was generally useless and couldn’t speak to them or understand anything, and thus I was left alone. It was warm (this is a big deal...in case I haven’t stressed the point that I was chilly on the boat...), I had TWO pillows (I have never had 2 pillows in my life), a reading light, and a lovely quilt. I had the best sleep of my life. A lovely lady named Jenny met us at the train (Jose and Antony had met her earlier and she had shown them around) with a bus. We got a bus! It was a 15 seater, and for $30 would take us anywhere throughout the day. Not really my exploring transport of choice, but for how many of us there were, and for the little time we had, it worked really well. Our driver was fantastic. Jenny came with us and was great; she was so much fun, and taught us so much about everything we saw. We headed out straight away and wandered through the Forbidden City.

It was chilly!

It was amazing. (It was also cold...shocker. The moat had three inches of ice on it...). Absolutely stunning buildings - intricately adorned and painted. Mind-boggling how many people worked on it, how long it took, and in general how much effort and money was put into the Emperor’s life.

The City was built to house the Emperor, his mother, his sons, eunichs, and 2000 concubines. Its truly massive – it took us two hours to wander through, and we didn’t even see everything. Amazing to think of what it must have been like when it was in use, with people in traditional dress bustling around.

We wandered through Tiananmen Square as well...I wish I had read more on the history before I went – I’d like to research it now. Simon was sick and very cold, so we made a quick stop to pick up some warm boots for him before we continued. Went to a neat little tea room outside the Temple of Heaven, and tried a few more types of tea.

Simon was sick...not too interested in tea ceremonies apparently
Interesting to see all the different ways of preparing, serving, and drinking each tea. The boys were quite excited by the gift of a small clay man that pees when you pour boiling water on his head...I may have asked for one as well. Jenny brought us to a silk factory as well, and we could see the whole process from worm to fabric...interesting.

Machines taking the silk from the cocoons into thread
Saw the Beijing Acrobats that evening. The things they could do were amazing...definitely made us all feel weak and noodle-like.

The next day we walked up the Great Wall. Actually, it was more like we hiked up a cliff...that happened to have the Great Wall built along it...we were wheezing all the way up. Incredible to be walking up something so historically significant.

Guard house window
I cant even fathom how much work building, maintaining, and defending it entailed. At sections it was up to 15-20 ft across, layered with different kinds of stone, and many of the steps were worn down into deep dips from all the footsteps. Every few hundred feet there was either a guard post or a watch tower, and if you looked either way you could see the wall zig-zagging impressively off into the mountains. The part we were on was one of the less touristy sites, but still there were fur and high-heel clad Europeans huffing up beside us for a good portion of the walk. We ended up walking about an hour and a half up, and got an amazing view of the surrounding valley.

This man was just up in the wall, playing his sax for everyone

Jord, Noah, Arwen, Bec and I at our highest point on the wall

The trip back down was significantly quicker, due in large part to the discovery that the handrails were excellent for sliding. My gliding came to an abrupt halt however when I hit a particularly steep section, rocketed out of control, and bailed spectacularly in front of two middle-aged women. They kind of jumped out of the way, then proceeded to tell me that though I was free to die on the wall, they’d prefer not to...

The rest of our day was spent exploring the Temple of Heaven and wandering some of the older back streets of the city. Intriguing little doorways and the winding corridors they revealed, old men on ancient bicycles with wardrobes and desks lashed onto the back, and the picturesque (but very illegal) ‘Black Taxis’ were among the things we found.

Bike moving vans, and a Black Taxi

Tried some interesting food, and was pleasantly surprised by pancakes filled with leeks...go figure.

The train ride back to Shanghai was, of course, wonderful. This time we got the whole family together in two compartments so it wasn’t quite as quiet as my trip there, but significantly more entertaining.

When we got back to Shanghai we spent the first day running errands and picking various articles of clothing up from various tailors. Our coats turned out really well, thank you Tony. Turns out almost half the boat ended up going to Tony...we were officially the best dressed smelly people around. We’ve made big plans to get all fancied up (and bathe...) and go out near the end of the leg. We all visited Tony’s for a goodbye and had a lot of fun chatting with him, taking photos, and everyone ended up staying for cheesecake and drinks at a little place across the street. Enjoyable.

Trying to look tough in our new duds

The passage to Hiroshima was quick (4 days) and largely mishap-free! We did have one night of ridiculous motion though. Bec went sliding out of her bunk when her lee cloth broke, and I think the entire contents of hers and Tiana’s bunks ended up on the focsle floor that night. I, stupid as I was, has planned on a starboard tack, and thus packed my shelves full of rather heavy things. During the night, however, we changed tack, and all my (rather pokey) books proceeded to rocket down onto my face...splendid. I ended up sleeping with them for fear of it happening again and them landing on Karen beneath me.

Another good shot of Becs

Interesting how quickly we all get used to falling asleep when the whole focsle is moving so much with each swell. Once inside the Inland Sea it was flat calm, so the last day was relatively free of face-bruising book falls.
Our Osaka agent is apparently amazing, as he had forwarded all our mail to Hiroshima for us…bonus! A fabulous package from Kelsey, Adam, and Jen arrived, which we opened with everyone. Sweets abounded, as did costumes, great letters, photos, music, and laughs. Thank you guys very much (the Jelly Bellies were shared out recently on our last nightwatch…very appreciated). Tav’s package for the crew also got there safe and sound, containing everything we were craving: good dried fruit, new music and reading material, Lindt chocolate, quality candy, photos, and newspaper articles! Very much appreciated, a very big thank you from everyone.

Had a great watch dinner, obviously we’re the best watch of the three.

Our lovely watch

Our restaurant of choice was a sushi train, and what with the sheer size of our group, and the fact that an entire bowl of miso soup was spilled on Sara and Joel’s faces...we were a force to be reckoned with. Some funny photos were taken, almost everyone took advantage of the amazing deluxe restrooms, and the food was good (octopus especially.)

It is so nice to be back in Japan. Wow. I had a lot of fun in China, and very much appreciated the cheapness of everything, but still, Japan is great. Everything runs properly, people are friendly and super polite (as opposed to in China where you’d routinely have to leap out of the way of someone’s snot-rocket or spit...), and we can bathe! Almost everyone from the boat made at least one trip to the bathhouse...which was worlds better than the one in Naha. All marble and stone, this one had an area outside as well as multiple new pools/rooms. Minor embarassing moment with the individual steam room things...but we got over that. There are definitely still the initial few minutes of awkwardness...especially when you run into someone else from the boat...but its most certainly worth it. Oh, and we also found laundry! The usual translation-related mishaps with soaps and such ensued...but our clothes are clean.

The main reason we came to Hiroshima was the Atomic Bomb Memorial and Museum, so we went through it as a whole boat.

Cenotaph, Flame of Peace, and A-Dome in the background

Cranes made in memory of Sadako, there were thousands

Childrens Memorial

It was really powerful. I didn’t know a lot about it ahead of time, so it was mostly new to me. We started out by the A-Dome, visited the various memorials throughout the park, and ended up at the museum.

A-Dome

Surreal to see the Dome, and try to imagine an entire city like that. 140 000 people killed with the one bomb, and that doesn’t even take into account the others that died later from radiation-related illnesses. The museum did a really good job of presenting an unbiased view of what happened, and it had so much information. There was discussion of what led up to the bombing, the science of the actual bomb and other like it, and all the fall-out from what happened (world-wide as well as just in Hiroshima). There were preserved bits of walls (either with shards of glass embedded in them from the force, or streaked with the black rain that followed the blast), roof tiles that had melted with the intense temperatures (2000-5000 C around the epicenter), and body remnants like fingernails and skin that had melted off. Heartbreaking to see the burnt and tattered clothing of children and babies – most of the children whose clothing we saw had died soon hours or days after the blast.

Noah and post-blast Hiroshima

Everyone was pretty quiet after we came out, and even though there has been numerous good conversations on the topic, no one is really sure how to deal with what we saw and learned. Its amazing that its such a huge event in history, and the scale of the tragedy is so big, and yet we knew so little about it.

My family, Jordan and Gill went out for Okonomi-yaki on one of our last nights in Hiroshima as well. Okonomi-yaki developed out of necessity after the bombing, and the literal translation is “anything fried.” It was cooked over wherever, open manholes included. Now its become a bit of a Hiroshima specialty. Its now cooked (and served) on a metal counter/table of sorts that you sit around. So you see your meal cooked, then they push it over to you and you eat it with a sort of tiny shovel implement.

I tried one with squid, bacon and shrimp (combined with the usual cabbage and noodles)...it was good. All the fried material is contained on one side by a pancake of sorts, while the other is egg...delicious.

Final spices going on

Our one day passage to Osaka ended up being two and a half due to a couple achorings (once for tide, once for daylight coming into the harbour.) Had some very entertaining last nightwatches, complete with loud singing of Bon Jovi and Joseph, very annoying phrases (Hella balls for-sho...word), and Jelly Bellies. Coming in we apparently came under the longest (biggest?) suspension bridge in the world...impressive I suppose.

We are currently docked right in front of Universal Studios Osaka and the adjoining hotel. So along with being bombarded by the incessant flashing neon lights (and completely useless stuff that seems to abound in theme parks), we can hear the shouts of excited rollercoaster riders from just across the street. One fabulous plus of having this hotel only meters away from the boat is the free internet in the lobby (...we have, by the way, asked if we could use it...we’re not just exploiting them in our usual hobo fashion.)

The weather has been beautifully sunny, and even remotely warm! Its been so nice to be able to take off the foulies and boots, whoopee! So far our explorations have been relatively fruitful. Banks, showers, post offices, and free shuttles were among the first things found. A group of us rode a gigantic ferris wheel and got quite an impressive view of the city (large buildings, overpasses, and smog as far as the eye can see...beeeeautiful!)

Sarah and I had a late-night adrenaline high for some reason and, aided by our discovery of a hilarious secondhand store, roamed the blinking boulevards in outrageous garb. Many incriminating photos were taken.

Now, all is set for our two work days (tomorrow and the next day...Bec and I are painting the hull...surprise surprise!), then only a few more days until the end of the leg. It has gone by so fast, I cant believe it. Then only two more passage legs left and we’re home already. Offshore in general has gone so fast, its going to be over before we know it!

Anyways, this has, true to form, gotten ridiculously long – again, good job if you read the whole thing! Thank you to everyone who send email and mail, I cant tell you how much we love it. (Jenna S you package came! Thank you so much, the book is hilarious, and the music is so appreciated.) I hope all is well at home, Ill try to do a quick note after work days, but if not, then Ill write from Hawaii with news of my longest passage thus far...