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Where Next?
Bob Williams
Wed 12 Feb 2014 12:47
Weather: overcast, cool, some drizzle
Having discovered somewhere I could access the internet yesterday, today was spent mostly in collating some photographs to post to my blog, and posting them. I ended up spending nearly all afternoon in the community room, catching up on things various, including rather optimistically signing up for another university unit, “Mind, Meaning, and Metaphysics”. I am not sure whether this will work out but I figure I have three weeks from the time it starts to withdraw without penalty, so at this stage I figure I have nothing to lose. I was so close to signing up for a creative writing unit, but at the last moment I decided that a philosophy unit was much more up my alley. I have a strong suspicion that if I ever finish this thing that philosophy will be my major, though I rather hanker after a double major, in philosophy and literature.
One thing I did while I had access to the internet was to have a good look at the weather.. I am supposed to be leaving here tomorrow to head for Naze (officially I think Naze is now Amami town, but everyone seems to still call it Naze, so who am I to argue, and, in any event, having an Amami town, an Amami island, and an Amami archipelago is very confusing, so I can see why everyone still uses the old name.), but the wind is going to be fresh from the north over the next several days. On Sunday it starts to ease and swing more into the east, and on Monday and Tuesday it will be fresh from the south. My current thinking is to stay here until Monday and then skip Naze and head for the next port on my itinerary, Magonoura Ko, on Yaku Shima.
I should mention by the way that some have noticed that my place names have changed spellings, if not the whole name. I apologise for any confusion, My excuse it that I am entirely confused. The charts I am using say one thing, generally older names, presumably western appellations, that are now well out of date, and often a place seems to go by a couple of different names. Sometimes the spelling is simply because I cannot remember the correct spelling, but often it is because I check the spelling from different sources, which tell me different things. I can only request your patience.
When I got back to the boat this afternoon, while below I heard a loud stomping of boots on Sylph's deck. How rude! I poked my head out the companionway to find a young man (more and more people are young these days, at least compared to me) sitting in the cockpit. We could not understand one another's verbal utterances, but his gesticulations led me to understand that the power boat whose spot I was in wanted its berth back. I had been thinking about this eventuality and had thought that a simple swap of berths would keep everyone happy, but then the owner of the motor boat arrived on the scene. I think I managed to successfully convey to him that I wanted to stay in Setouchi (the other name for Koneya Ko - I think) until Monday due to the contrary winds. He suggested an alternative berth for me once again. It seemed he did not think a simple exchange of berths was satisfactory, I suspect because of wave action and because of what he clearly thought was my woefully inadequate fendering. In the end he once again acquiesced to leaving things be, so I think I can stay here until Monday. I shall keep my fingers crossed but will remain flexible. Tomorrow I will radio the Coast Guard, tell them my intentions, and see what happens from there.
All is well.