Departed Fukuoka

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Sat 24 May 2014 07:17
1500 Position: 33 51.3 N 130 17.6 E
Course: North east Speed: 2 knots
Wind: North nor' west F2 gentle breeze
Sea: slight Swell North ½ meter
Weather: overcast, warm

The past few days have been very busy, attending to all the chores that needed to be done to get Sylph ready for sea, including such mundane things as topping up water tanks, buying food, and doing the laundry, plus of course there is the Japanese bureaucracy that must be kept satisfied.

One problem I managed to solve at the last minute with the help of Thom san was tracking down a new HF SSB capable radio receiver. Thom suggested purchasing one on Amazon Japan. I did not realise that one could be delivered overnight at a very reasonable price, and cash on delivery, which in the end made it all relatively simple. So the new radio is now connected up and this morning I pulled in my first weather fax off it.

This morning I arose early, had breakfast, finished securing Sylph for sea and at 8.45 started the engine, threw off the shorelines and motored out of the marina. The winds has been pretty light so far, varying between calm and up to about ten knots, but for the most part we have had enough wind to maintain steerage way, under the new wind vane, which, thus far, is performing very well indeed in the light breeze.

It is good to have Sylph back together again and out where she belongs. Quite a few people have given me lots of moral encouragement as well as a helping hand. I particularly want to thank Thom san, Mena, Masa, and Jaap. They have all made my minor disaster a lot less painful.

Now I am hoping to catch up another Australian boat, the Nomzamo, which is also heading for Alaska. They are well ahead of me but I have favourable winds forecast for the next several days, so with a little luck, If I can stay at sea while the winds are with us, then we should be able to close the gap quite a bit.

All is well.