sy Alishan Files: Q1 2007 Ishigaki to Hong Kong and in between

Alishan spent the New Year’s holiday in Ishigaki and this was so different from the last 10 years in.

There was no Waidako for Marijke at 7 am on Jan 1^st.

No Tamaseserie for Jaap on the 3^rd.

Missing Fukuoaka for Oshogatsu indeed. We fell at a loss.

But hey, we had nothing to complaint as we enjoyed the better temperature! Mind you it was blowing most of the time Fat Gales. Alishan was safely tied down, so who cared.

It was super that friends Kenichi and Nobuko were able to come and visit us. Together with them we had a count down party, drove all around the island, enjoyed great food, explored beaches and caves and even found some time to make an other visit to Takatomi Island.

What did we do those first few weeks of 2007?

Well, we managed to screw up our internet connection (great help…staff at the internet office wasn’t able to speak any English and my Japanese is even worse…..), but after a few hiccups we were back on line.

And even better! With our own dot com: www.syalishan.com (you are already there)

So after 1 week without contact with the outside world, we were again in full swing on the internet. Working on the HP, checking and studying the weather patterns for the trip around the bottom of Taiwan, doing pre-hongkong prep work and booking flights!

Yes, a first for us as we were able to make on-line flight reservations. Tell you later.

Further we socialized lots with Hiro san, the Taniwa Café crowd and a few local yachties that stuck around for the quiet winter weeks. And of course trying to keep ourselves in shape with hiking and jogging. Food wise: we discovered and got into the local diet, like green papaya salads, smoked ika (squid), and every day maguro (tuna) and/or mambo (sunfish) sashimi. Esp. the last one was our favorite ( Nori though only wanted tuna!)

Hiro Nagae

Hiro san sailed around the world in the “80s, on his home built yacht Erika. We even might have shared the same anchorage somewhere in Europe. For sure we share friends (of friends);-)) The cruising world is “small”. He wrote a book about the trip and is one of most well known sailors in Japan.

Good to have met you here Hiro! Hope to see you again on day.

See here Tamashiro san and Ayako. We had met 15 years before during our first visit to Ishigaki Island. This time they took us on a hike to this look out point where we had “brunch” Too bad it started raining, but the instant soup tasted super;-))

THANKS

An other beach combing trip with Fukami san, and this time we couldn’t believe our luck: We found these 6 glass floats all in 1 location (they sell locally for US$30 each). As they aren’t in use by Japanese fishermen anymore… they must have come from far, probably from way up north on the Russian east coast.

Of course we did the odd boat jobs, like filling water tanks…pfff that job started us thinking about a water maker! Nice place Ishigaki, but for H2O you have to waterjug to the park across the road, a 500 meter walk. The bicycle was a great help.

Marijke got with her nose into her shell collection. Now all her beauties are listed, recorded and properly stored in boxes. Any room left over for more?

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Now about those flight tickets. Remember Alishan was supposed to be in Hong Kong.

Friends from Fukuoka had booked a flight to HK to visit us.

AND, Jaap’s family was going to make a pit stop in Bangkok on their way to New Zealand. A super fun way to meet up with them. Unfortunately the meet-ups also had the same dates…so we had to split up…..And we were still in Nippon!!

How to get there?

Well, 1 option is: Fly to Okinawa, then to Taiwan, then to HK and Bangkok. (There are no international flights from Ishigaki). Anyway, this is a very expensive way.

An other option: From Ishigki with the big ferry to Taiwan (7 hours) and from there to HK/Bangkok. Perfect and wayway cheaper.

The only catch: The ferry goes only once a week and the return trip will go via Okinawa first, then the ferry will turn around to Ishigaki (that makes it a total trip of 36 hours)!

The ferry that runs between Ishigaki, Taiwan, Okinawa.

We left Tuesday Jan 23^rd, spend 1 night in Keelung, Taiwan (great night market). Next day by bus to Taipei and form there, Jaap flew on to Bangkok. Marijke got on the plane the next day to Hong Kong.

Keelung, fast-food self service restaurant. It was great to see and taste an other culture again.

Team Bangkok

Team Hong Kong

Red in Taipei and Green in Keelung

Pharmacy in Keelung Offer table at a temple in Keelung

On Monday night the week after we met again at Taipei Airport (how romantic) and the next day we got on the ferry in Keelung. The return ferry trip was so~so okay, big ship, few passengers and they still put 6 people in 1 small cabin (we “probably” had discount tickets).

The weather and sea conditions….? I had hoped for the usual stuff; 25+ knots and 4 meter seas, just to see how such a big ship would play with those elements.

Wrong!

No wind at all and flat calm seas all the way. Of course as soon as we got back on board of Alishan, a coldddd front hit the fan with 30+ knots from the north.

It was nice the have had that break from Japan, super to meet up with friends and family, but it was great to be back home with Nori and Wakame.

By now it was February, The Month for Windy Winter Weather in Japan, even in Ishigaki. There we gorgeous days, but as soon as the wind shifted more to the North: Gale and Cold. Those cold spells last only for a few days and then the wind would shift back to the East and right away it became comfortable again. Those days were good for more hiking and even a sail with Fukuichi san. He does sail-charters around the beautiful waters of Ishigaki Island.

Sailing with a Smile on Clubswing on a not so sunny day…but notice the color of the seas around the islands. That’s 4 meters deep! The darker spots are coral bommies.

This is a typically Yaeyama fishing boat: The driver stands way in the bow on the look out for coral bommies. Of course the engine has always more horsepower than needed…so here she goes!

Then came February 11^th and it was time for the Chinese New Year Festival. Together with some friends we took the ferry to Kuroshima, just a 30 minute speedboat ride. This island is amazing green and flat, looks like Holland ;-) ,so what better to use than bicycles to move around.

Main road Kuroshima on New Years Day of the Year of the Pig, oink oink.

Lunch spot, Kuroshima.

Kuroshima has a culture that is very close to the Chinese (after all it’s closer to Taiwan than to Tokyo) and the Lunar New Year is a more important event than the Jan 1^st thing. Family members come “home” from all over Japan. Mind you, the island is inhabited by less than 200 people, but there are at least 1000 wild peacocks, and more than 4000 cattle!

See here some shots during the festival.

Well, the Year of the Pig had started. Now it was time for us to make a move. All the waiting and weather pattern studying paid off. On Tuesday February 27^th after 11 years in the Land of the Rising Sun we sailed west into the Sunset.

A farewell present of homegrown veggies was given by our Ishigaki friends.

To all our Ishigaki friends; Thanks for the vitamins and the good times!

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Bye Bye Ishigaki

A big smile, a good sign for the trip to come.

Here we move along the NW coast of Iriomote Island. Typical overcast sky, poor visibility. What will the next few days bring?

Well, beside the odd rain patch and a little sunshine, it was the same grey stuff, most of the way.

The first 36 hours were with light NE winds, not enough to sail so Yanmar (the engine) did all the work. In Bashi Channel it was blowing a steady 20~25 knots, still from the NE. Alishan motor-sailed around the bottom of Taiwan in 3~4 meter seas! Pff what a counter current, at least 3 knots smack on the nose! But by lunch time on Thursday we were in the South China Sea, even got welcomed by a group of dolphins! And gone were those nasty seas! What a difference! Boy were we happy to get out of that Kuro Shio, the strong current which had been teasing us ever since leaving Fukuoka.

The rest of the trip to HK was a slow~boat affair. By times enough wind to sail, still NE. At night it was Yanmar who did the hard work. Of course there was a lotttt of shipping, mostly Chinese fishing boats. The full moon was super, unfortunately we missed out on the eclipse as we had some cloud cover that night. (and we didn’t know about it).

Anyway, Sunday March the 4^th at 1100 am. we picked up a mooring at the Hebe Haven Yacht Club. It had been 15 years since our first visit to Hong Kong with Jan Haring.

Approaching Hong Kong, The Nine Pins (group of islands) show up in the always present haze.

Hebe Haven is just around the corner, what will it look like? Hmmmm the same, just fewwww more boats though.

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After checking in with the Marine Department and Immigration, it was time to re-explore the city…and start on TSL, the shopping list.

This is Aberdeen, located only a 10 minute walk away from Lee Sails office.

Aberdeen once more, with in the middle on the right, the famous Jumbo floating restaurant.

In Hong Kong it’s either on the water OR high in the sky

Have you been to Hong Kong? Shot taken from the famous Star Ferry

Hmmmm. Hong Kong and Shopping.

Still a shopping paradise for us esp. after “expensive” and unreadable Japan.

Here we go, just an ordinary day: From Hebe Haven, we took the mini bus, subway and mini bus to Aberdeen to visit Lee Sails ( http://www.leesails.com/ ) and ordered a full set of sails for Alishan. Afer that it was on foot, across the bridge to Ap Lei Chau, where all the Chinese ships chandlers are. Then we went by bus to Causeway Bay and bought some clothes. One more subway ride later brought us to Kowloon where we found a good bookshop with a much needed sea mammal reference book, and around the corner was an electronic shop were we walked out 1 hour later with a computer, a printer and a digital camera.

Not a bad day for TSL, but not a good one for the bank account! But a fun day it was indeed.

Somehow we were introduced to this CSW (Chinese Sewing Wonder). The thicker the material it has to stitch, the better it works. We thought it might come of good use one day, so for US$50 Alishan got an other locker filled.