Scarlette travels to Tokashiki Island

PHOTO: An overview photograph of the Kerama Islands, a subtropical mix of 22 islands southwest of Okinawa's capital city of Naha.

TOKASHIKI ISLAND, Japan -- (April 5, 2009) Scarlette, a 1985 J/24 sailboat, and a crew of two cast off lines from her homeport to travel for an overnight trip to the Kerama Islands about 25 miles off the Southwest coast of Okinawa.

Cap'n J and second mate Kai got a late start from the marina after a pre-travel checklist found a fuse blown for the VHF radio.

Although both crew were at the marina at 7 a.m. the boat didn't cast all lines and launch until 9:55 a.m.

"This was our first long overnight trip and I wanted to make sure we had everything we were going to need," said Cap'n J.

PHOTO: Kai takes the helm of Scarlette outside Kadena Marina while Cap'n J raises the sails as the crews' journey begins to the Kerama Islands.

"I had recharged the batteries for Scarlette and when I installed them I blew a fuse on the VHF radio while trouble shooting a problem with the bilge pump. So our trip was delayed nearly two hours," he said.

The Kerama Islands consist of 22 islands -- eighteen of which are uninhabited -- off the southwest coast of Okinawa.

Of the islands that are inhabited are: Aka Island, Geruma Island, Zamami Island and Tokashiki Island.

Tokashiki -- Scarlette's destination -- is the closest inhabited island to Okinawa. "I thought the trip would take about six hours," said Cap'n J.

"We wound up having a good wind on the way and sailed nearly on the same tack all the way there," he said.
ART: An overview from the GPS system on Scarlette shows the route that took her crew about six hours to travel the nearly 35 miles to the island of Tokashiki in the South China Sea.

Reports from Kadena Weather included mostly cloudy skies with 10 knot winds from the south east with a high temperature of 70 degrees farenheit (21 degrees Celsius) and a low temperature of 54 degrees farenheit (12 degrees Celsius).

The closest weather buoy to Tokashiki (at 26 degrees North and 127.5 degrees South) had a morning forecast of light and variable winds with smooth seas and small short period wind waves, according to Buoyweather.com. The morning winds were to be East South East from 5 to 7 knots and the seas were 2 feet at 5 seconds. The afternoon forecast from the same buoy was the same except that the winds were to change and come from a South East direction.

"Once we got into the Keramas we had to manuever Scarlette around a little to take advantage of the lighter winds," said Cap'n J.

With land in sight -- but without a landing by Scarlette -- her crew was getting anxious to try their sea legs on terra firma. But with about two hours to go, Cap'n J turned to a tried a true distraction: deep sea fishing.

PHOTO: Second Mate Kai tries to reel in a big one off the starboard stern of Scarlette while "deep sea" fishing in the Keramas.

Besides snorkeling, Second mate Kai also wanted to try his hand at fishing, so we broke out one of the two fishing poles we brought along just for that. "While I sailed and loaded the hook with small shrimp bait, Kai stood off the starboard side of Scarlette to fish," said Cap'n J.

As the bait kept slipping off, Kai's interest in "deep sea" fishing quickly followed.

Then he said it.

"Daddy, can you turn on the engine?"

Uggh.

"These words are almost heresy to the sailing purist," said Cap'n J. "It's taking forever," said Kai.

And added, "Are we there yet?"

Travel by car -- kids ask, "Are we there yet?"

Travel by sailboat -- kids ask, "Are we there yet?"

I think kids come with this saying automatically, just like a doll that has a pull string on its' back. "Hi, my name is Barfie!"

PHOTO: Are we there yet? Secondmate Kai smiles as we sight land. Unfortunately this landmass -- Hate Shima (pronounced ha-tay she-ma) -- is one of the 18 uninhabited islands in the Keramas.

The feerless Captain belayed the landlubbers request with a "We need to save gas in case we need it later." These words unfortunately were pretty prophetic for our return trip from Tokashiki.

Sadly for Cap'n J the fishing pole trick onlyh works one time. Especially if the fish ain't bitin'. "Wanna read a book?" Cap'n J asked his crew. "I brought two Magic Tree house books," the cap'n tried to say enthusiastically.

Nah.

"How about some crayons?" I brought those too -- a tip in an article I read in a sailing magazine about having kids on board.

Dear Sailing Magazine Editor,

Those tips about bringing stuff for the kids aboard the boat were nice, but uhhm, they don't work.

Signed,

Cap'n "Up the creek without a paddle"

P.S. Anyway one of your writers could do up an article on how to get crayons out of your bilge pump?

As the sun started to hang low in the sky, a somewhat defeated Cap'n J heard the final "Are we there yet?" and dropped the engine and cranked up the engine after rounding a small island that marks the right side of the Tokashiki Harbor entrance.

"We made landfall about six hours after we launched from Kadena some 35 odd miles away.

After securing the boat and hoisting the gear to the concrete dock, the crew headed to the Japanese Inn we had the firstmate -- who skipped this trip -- call to make us a reservation. They weren't busy as the firstmate reported via cell phone that, "You're the only customers they have to night."

The crew got to the minshiku and dropped its bags off. The owner showed us the shower facilities on the first floor and then showed us to our room. A western-style bed. In fact two western-style beds.
We then asked what time dinner was she said, "7 p.m." in Japanese. We asked what time breakfast would be, "7:30 to 8 a.m." she replied in Japanese. "Where's a store?" "Around the corner," she replied in Japanese.
The crew then headed to the store. The skipper bought a beer "Orion Southern Star" and Kai got a "Coke Zero" then asked to get a jet plane. He had been patient on the trip over, so I caved in.

PHOTO: Second Mate Kai stands outside of Muramoto, a Japanese Inn near Tokashiki Harbor, where the crew of Scarlette spent the night. One night stay which included dinner and breakfast cost 5,250 yen (about $58) per person. The owner was extremely friendly and I'd recommend the place to anyone wanting to visit Tokashiki.

Back at the minshiku, we grabbed a shower then headed to dinner. Dinner was spectacular. She fixed fried chicken and spaghetti, especially for us.

PHOTO: Second Mate Kai stands next to the owner of Muramoto, a Japanese traditional inn, and the night's buffet table. The front plate contains shashimi -- raw fish and cucumbers -- the plate on the right contains fried chicken and sausage and on the left is a big bowl of spaghetti sauce. Muramoto's owner really tried to make our stay enjoyable and talked to my wife several times over the telephone before our arrival. She was concerned that we'd like the food. At other Japanese Inns I've stayed at it's mostly "Shut up and eat your breakfast fish" but at Muramoto the owner gets 5-star marks for trying to please her customers. She also had us stay in the only room that had a traditional Western bed. All other rooms had futons.

PHOTO: Second Mate Kai digs into the Sashimi -- raw fish -- with a plate of spaghetti on stand by. Muramoto's owner even broke out the Tabasco Sauce to add for taste to the spaghetti she cooked up for us. My favorite was the Sashimi dipped in a healthy dose of wasabi -- Japanese horseradish -- and lots of soy sauce. The fried chicken she cooked up was as good as anything from the South. She even had sausages -- something I can eat for any meal. This minshiku -- Japanese traditional inn -- is definitely a recommended spot.

At 9 p.m., we checked the boat to see how much low tide would affect the ropes we tied Scarlette to the concrete dock with. Boat was OK.

We headed back to hotel. I fell asleep, while Kai watched "Narnia" on TV in Japanese.

Like the war in Narnia, the winds of World War II placed the Keramas and its inhabitants in a precarious situation. According to the Okinawa Times, the islands were one of the first landing places of U.S. military forces during the Battle of Okinawa. The Times has reported that U.S. Forces landed on Aka Island on March 26, 1945, and went on to take Yakabi Island, Zamami Island, Geruma Island and Tokashiki Island.

About 560 residents of Tokashiki, according to the Okinawa Times, committed suicide by order of the Japanese troops stationed in the Keramas to avoid capture by the Americans. Some newspapers have reported that the real reason why the Japanese Imperial Army did this was so that local residents wouldn't give up intelligence to the Americans. The people of Tokashiki have weathered a lot over the years.

Potential Race Crew sails Scarlette

SOUTH CHINA SEA (Feb. 22, 2009) -- Scarlette's potential future race crew traveled a total of 13 miles Sunday as it and the boat headed the furthest south from its mooring since the 1985 J/24 sailboat was bought by her owner last May.

"We were down almost as far as Ginowan Harbor before we headed back to Kadena Marina," said Cap'n J. "We made awesome time, had overcast skies and absolutely no rain."


Deckhands Kenny Yergler and Eli Hyman joined Cap'n J aboard Scarlette for the 2 hour and 40 minute jaunt along the west coast of Okinawa with an average speed of 5 mph.


"I like the way this crew is starting to mesh," said Cap'n J. "It's a sailboat not a cruise ship so there's always something to do except sit on your butt and Kenny and Eli are always willing to do their part as crew while sailing Scarlette," he said.

The personalities of this crew also seem to be jelling well. "Eli seems to have the most experience of the three of us and Kenny is always willing to do his part and has a great laid back attitude," said Cap'n J. "Getting a crew that knows what it's doing and that can weather any personalities differences is not easy," he said. "Hopefully, we've found the right mix."

The crew left Kadena Marine at about 6:45 a.m. Sunday and arrived back dockside at 9:30 a.m.

"It didn't take us very much time to pack up the boat, which again makes sailing with these two fun, because they know what to do and start doing it without being asked," said Cap'n J.

All of the crew took a turn at the helm during Sunday's sail to get a better feel for Scarlette.

"I also finally had an opportunity to cut the mainsheet so it isn't so long," said Cap'n J.

"The next phase for Scarlette will be to start sprucing up the trailer for the Spring refit," said Cap'n J.

The above is our trip from Scarlette's GPS system.

NOTE: Adjust the volume in the video! It's automatically too loud. Notice the heal in Scarlette as Cap'n J puts Scarlette through the paces. He backs off the wind a little so videographer Kenny Yergler doesn't get thrown around too much. Eli Hyman's hands hold the jib sheet.



NOTE: Adjust the volume in the video! It's automatically too loud. Notice the heal in Scarlette as Cap'n J puts Scarlette through the paces. He backs off the wind a little so videographer Kenny Yergler doesn't get thrown around too much. Eli Hyman's hands hold the jib sheet.

Second Single-handed Trip

KADENA MARINA (Feb. 16, 2009) -- Celebrated President's Day with a single-hand trip down to the Sunabe Sea Wall and back. The trip took a total of 2 hours and twenty-two minutes.

I traveled 8.9 miles in the trip. My average speed was 4 mph.

I did a radio check before heading out and Kadena Marina confirmed. However, on the return leg I dropped both sails at the same time. Or at least tried to and the ship spun a couple of times. Someone at the marina saw this and thought I was in trouble.

I wasn't.

But it didn't help that I didn't answer their radio calls.

Got to remember to turn up the radio full blast when I'm by myself.

I did figure out how to import the GPS maps from my navigation system into the ship's log.

So there will be more additions to this blog.

I didn't take any photos of myself this time. I don't know why, maybe it's becoming more routine to me and less of an event.

First Sunday Sail in 2009

Eli Hyman, deckhand, sits on the port side of Scarlette as the sun rises over Okinawa.

KADENA MARINA, Japan -- (Feb. 8, 2009) Scarlette's first Sunday sail of 2009 ended with a thrilling ride in after the day started out with seas similar to a bath tub.

On hand during this sail was Eli Hyman, deck hand (and former Hunter 28 owner) and Cap'n J.

Cap'n J arrived at the marina at 5:20 a.m. to get gas for Scarlette's engine and noticed that he had left the VHF radio on overnight after a quick out and back in sail with a neighbor on Saturday afternoon.

After filling up on base where gas is now a somewhat reasonable $1.81 a gallon, he headed back to the marina to find Eli waiting at the marina gate.

Despite acknowledging that it had been more than a year since he'd been on the water. Eli fit in well with Scarlette and made excellent crew aboard this 1985 J/24 sailboat.

At first the seas, were very glassy and Scarlette's crew was a little concerned that they'd get no wind or light winds all morning but that changed at around 8:30 a.m. after tooling around for nearly two hours on either engine power or virtually no wind at all.



But after heading toward storm clouds, Scarlette's voyage dramatically changed as Eli got a chance to stick Scarlette's port-side rail into the water as we headed north. Our original heading was south.



After giving Eli a chance to get comfortable with Scarlette, Cap'n J took the helm. Eli offered to take some photos which was greatly appreciated as I have few photos of me at the helm of my own boat.



Three hours after our 6:30 a.m. launch we pulled into Kadena marina and the crew departed around 10 a.m.

Pictures and a video of Cap'n J at the helm of Scarlette are below this posting.
Trip started at 6:30 a.m.
Finished at 9:30 a.m.

We traveled 10.4 miles. Overal average speed for the trip was 4 mph.

From 6:30 to 8 a.m. the trip's average speed was 2 mph.

From 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. the trip's average speed was 5 mph.

TURN YOUR VOLUME DOWN -- Video of Feb. 8, 2009 sail

NOTE: Please turn your volume down as the wind in the video created from the sails of Scarlette is pretty loud. I'm going pretty fast so the wind sound makes it sound even faster.

SOUTH CHINA SEA -- Cap'n J puts Scarlette through the motions during a sail Sunday. Notice the heal (the way the boat is leaning) on Scarlette as she typically heals like this or a little more. "That's all part of the fun," said Cap'n J. "Especially when the toe rails on the side dip in the water and you ask yourself is this going to tip over?" Unfortunately this is the best quality for this video from my cell phone and the noise is the wind created by the sails.

Christmas Eve off Maeda Point

Cap'n J and Kenny Yergler sport Santa hats off the coast of Cape Zanpa in Okinawa on Christmas Eve.

SOUTH CHINA SEA (12/24/08) -- I spent Christmas Eve off the coast of Okinawa skippering Scarlette, my 24-foot sailboat with co-worker/deckhand/helmsman Kenny Yergler. Man, can my life get any worse?

Our trip went almost as planned. Originally scheduled for Monday (Dec. 22), the Christmas Eve trip was our last window of the year to sail as I'm headed off on family vacation on Sunday Dec. 28 to Tokyo for New Year's celebrations. Monday's weather was rife with wind. So, we agreed to go on Wednesday -- Christmas Eve.

We met at the Kadena Marina at 8 a.m. got Scarlette, a J/24 sailboat made in 1985, ready to launch. Although the skies were pretty much overcast we both splashed a little sunscreen on just in case. My nose -- like Rudolph -- was a little red later on so putting sunscreen on was a good idea. We headed out of Kadena Marina at 8:44 a.m.

High tide this morning was at 6:01 a.m. and we discussed a little how the low tide -- scheduled for 11:12 a.m. -- was going to possibly affect our ability to get close to the cliffs at Cape Zanpa and Maeda Point.

Helmsman Kenny Yergler looks almost as if he's single-handing Scarlette as we headed north up the west coast of Okinawa.

As we motored out of Kadena Marina we had very little wind as we hoisted sails and headed north up the west coast of Okinawa on the South China Sea. We kept the Yamaha 5 horsepower purring as we approached a set of stationary fishing nets off the coast of Torii Beach.

This is a stationary hazard located off the beach about 300-400 yards. The fisherman who uses the nets had his boat out tending to the nets and we slowly made way toward him using him as a navigation aid on how to avoid his nets.

Kenny Yergler steers Scarlette toward the southend of some fishing nets off the coast of Torii Beach as Cap'n J stands watch at the bow with camera in hand.

The temperature of the air was 70 degrees Farenheit. I tied a thermometer to a string and dropped it in the water. I didn't put a weight on it so it just skimmed across the water. When I pulled the thermometer out of the water it read 72 degrees Farenheit.

Anyone still wondering why, I've decided to retire and live in Okinawa? Especially if you're reading this and freezing your rear-end off. Sorry couldn't help but put that out there.

Next time I'll need to put a weight on the thermometer as I'm interested in keeping track of the water temperature on our voyages also. No real reason it'll just give the blog more narrative.

Torii Beach -- accessible only to people connected to the U.S. Department of Defense -- is one of my favorite beaches in Okinawa. Not because theres throngs of bikini-clad girls. In fact hardly anyone is ever there. That's probably why I like it. It's somewhat secluded but has nice shower facilities, beer on tap, etc.

After rounding the nets and motor sailing, the wind started kicking up so we propped the motor and headed north on wind power alone.

We made decent time to Cape Zanpa although the Garmin GPS I have said we got there at 11:05 a.m. Just about two hours and twenty minutes of boating time. This was right around low tide but the tide didn't seem to affect our ability to get close to the cliffs at all. There was very little wave action. The lack of waves was key as a friend of mine had said be careful of the waves around there.

Helmsman Kenny Yergler leans as Scarlette heels (leans in non-sailor speak) with the wind as we head around Cape Zanpa.

As we made our way around Cape Zanpa the wind really started to pickup. Earlier, I had showed Kenny how to keep Scarlette under control when she starts to heel (lean over in non-sailor speak). The green ropes on the bar in front of Kenny in the photo above help cut down on this heeling action. Pull closer to you and you get more sail area to the wind. Let it out and less sail catches the wind. Net affect: pull toward you if you want the boat to lean, let it out when it gets too scary.

Apparently the heel by Scarlette was getting a little scary -- especially when you look down across the bow and see only water -- for Kenny and I heard him let out the traveller rope.

Cap'n J grabs the boom and "smiles" for the camera with the lighthouse of Cape Zanpa in the background.

Once at Cape Zanpa, we posed for photos with the light house in the background. Then moved further up the coast. The north side of the cape is a sheer dropoff underwater.

Because of this drop off we were able to get really close to the cliffs without fear of grounding Scarlette. She drafts about five feet of water.

We got really close to the cliffs and light house. So close that Kenny kind of started to get a little worried as I tried to get him to shoot one more picture. No, just one more. Uh...we need to tack. We're getting pretty close to those cliffs over there.

One of the goals of the trip was to land at a different harbor. On Monday, I spent hours looking at Google Earth and trying to plot the small channel along Maeda Flats.

It's an area just south of Maeda Point that is great for scuba diving, but when your keel draft is about five feet below the boat, it can make for an easy grounding.

With Kenny at the helm, I spotted the red pole marking the right side of the channel and entrance to Maeda Flats Marina -- I've given it that name until I can get the proper Japanese name.

Asked Kenny to point the boat toward the marker and eventually we saw the green pole marking the left-side of the channel. As we got closer to the poles we could see plenty of wave action around the red pole as the waves were smashing against a reef.

We cranked up the 5 horse-power Yamaha engine, dropped sails and headed toward the center of those two poles.

Kenny moved forward on the bow and helped guided the boat through the channel. He came up with a pretty good hand signal system that helped me know if the water was getting too shallow or how close to the reef we were getting.

Had one moment where we got a little outside of the channel in some shallow water but not shallow enough for the keel to ground. The water was incredibly blue -- Carribean-like -- and the channel cut from the reef was pretty easy to guide through.

Kenny Yergler enjoys a cup of chili dockside at "Maeda Flats Harbor" after successfully tying off Scarlette on a dock that was ridiculously high.

After docking the boat -- scraping the pulpit a little against the high concrete dock -- we headed up to a dive shop to use the bathroom before settling down for a lunch of chilli and saltines I had cooked up that morning for the trip. Was thinking it was going to be colder than it was. Chili still went down good. And the day was nice and sunny -- nearly perfect weather for sailing.

Before heading back, I asked Kenny to shoot a couple of pictures within the setting of this harbor. The rocks behind Scarlette in the photo were pretty cool looking. They sit basically in the center of the harbor. It was nice getting pictures of Scarlette in a different location rather than Kadena Marina.

Cap'n J stands aboard Scarlette with his best Jack Sparrow pose.

While we had made landfall at Maeda Flats Harbor at 1:17 p.m., had lunch, we were anxious to get to Maeda Point the real destination of our trip.

We both agreed that visiting the harbor had been a good move as we may need this as an "emergency" port if we get caught up here in bad weather. Having the experience of travelling through that channel in the harbor was good for our sailing skills.

Kenny stands on the bow of Scarlette as we exit, "Maeda Flats Harbor". The red pole where the waves are breaking to the left is the "red" marker for the entrance to the channel.

As we headed out of the harbor a fishing boat was behind us and was pretty patient. Sometimes the local fisherman starting thinking these small harbors that are publicly built are theirs privately. Gotta remember to bring a case of beer for bribes in case we get any hassle from the locals about stopping at "their" harbor.

We again headed north toward Maeda Point. As we started approaching Maeda Point we started to notice a change in wind -- it was dying.

Still wearing that Santa Hat, Cap'n J "smiles" for the camera off Maeda Point.

Although we were getting close we had to make a decision, try to get all the way to Maeda Point or start turning around and heading home. My cell phone rang and it was my wife wanting to know when we were coming home. "There's no promises in sailing," I told her. She didn't like hearing that at all.

But unfortunately it's true.

So with a new found desire to head home -- remember it is Christmas Eve -- we cranked up the motor as we headed around Cape Zanpa and headed home. Passed close by to some surfers on the way south. One of them waved. Finally someone waved. We had previously tried waving to people on the shore, atop the lighthouse, in other boats, but no one would wave back. This surfer broke that trend.

It was funny seeing surfers -- my old hobby -- especially now since I've graduated to boat owning.

Had a bear of a time connecting the GPS to my laptop before writing all of this, but finally got it working.

Here are some trip statistics:

Trip to Maeda Point was 19.4 miles. Trip time was 4:01:25 hours. Average speed was 5 mph.

Return trip to Kadena Marina was 16.1 miles. Trip time was 4:37:27 hours. Average speed was 3 mph.

Landfall at Kadena Marina at 5 p.m.

The sun sets on the South China Sea and Scarlette at Kadena Marina.

With Scarlette successfully docked at her home port of Kadena Marina we beat feet to the cars and family awaiting time to spend together on Christmas Eve.

Crew was:
Captain J -- Skipper
Kenny Yergler -- Helsman/Deckhand

High tide again was at 4:54 p.m. Sunset was at 5:43 p.m.

Father and son voyage #1

Scarlette sails under new command on maiden voyage

Finally got to sail Scarlette.

E-mailed "Tokyo Tony" Sunday night after getting the boat in the water Sunday morning to see if he wanted to go sailing on Scarlette's maiden voyage under a new command.

We got started at about 10 a.m. and finished about 1 p.m. sailing off the coast of Chatan, Okinawa, on the South China Sea.

To say it was awesome is an understatement especially after spending the whole summer working on Scarlette to get her presentable and sea worthy.

Tokyo Tony is always willing to climb aboard and is making a damn fine crew member...especially since he remembers to bring his camera!

More pictures are available on http://www.scarletteboat.com/ under the voyages section.