Sailing the Izu Islands and Beyond

Vessel Name: Samurai 6
Vessel Make/Model: Gib'Sea 414 Plus
Hailing Port: Tokyo Japan
21 May 2012 | Tokyo Japan
17 May 2012 | Oshima
16 May 2012 | Off Hachijojima
15 May 2012 | hachijo-jima
15 May 2012 | Hachijo-jima
15 May 2012 | Hachijo Jima
12 May 2012 | north of Chichijima
12 May 2012 | Chichijima
11 May 2012 | Chichi Jima, Ogasawara
09 May 2012 | Chichi Jima
09 May 2012 | heading towards Ogasawara
08 May 2012 | 130 miles north of Iwo-jima
08 May 2012 | Location: 230 miles SSE from HachiJo
08 May 2012 | Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific
07 May 2012 | South of Hachijo-Jima
06 May 2012 | 102 Miles South of Hachijo Jima (31d21.35' N Lat; 140d20.28' E Lon)
06 May 2012 | Hachijo
02 May 2012 | Kozu Island
Recent Blog Posts
21 May 2012 | Tokyo Japan

Belated update: home again

The road goes ever on and the ocean seems endless but after 3 weeks of sailing I returned home with the rest of the crew safely on Friday evening. The last adventure on the way home didn't involve wind and waves but was significantly worse. However, in the interest of keeping this safe for lunch time [...]

17 May 2012 | Oshima

Big waves

So we made fantastic speed today traveling around 125 miles by 8:30pm but as we were passing Oshima we were seeing gusts just under 40kts and huge waves. I rode down one wave at 14.5 knots. It felt like I was on a 7 ton surf board. It was getting a bit too exciting for an all night sail, however, [...]

16 May 2012 | Off Hachijojima

4:46 AM

We've just left the island harbor for Tokyo. We should arrive in 30 hours give or take 5.

15 May 2012 | hachijo-jima

Miss E talks about sailing

Written by Miss E.

15 May 2012 | Hachijo-jima

Catch up

Sorry for the slow updates everyone. I'm going to hand over to Eve here in a few minutes to demonstrate her writing prowess.

15 May 2012 | Hachijo Jima

safe harbor, waiting out the wind

Samurai's peaceful and slightly boring Monday evening (still motoring) turned exciting during the crew's nightly game of hearts. Aaron checked the bilge to find they were taking in a significant amount of sea water. They pulled up everything to locate the leak, discovered the problem in the exhaust water line and were able to repair it. Nothing like your boat taking on water without land in sight! The wind then began to pick up, the sails went up and the weather kept getting heavier. By early Tuesday morning the wind was gusting in the 30's and the swells peaked as high as 5 meters. By 1PM they brought the boat to the leeward side of Hachijo Jima where the waves calmed a bit but the gusts coming off the island were 40 knots. It was a wild ride into the harbor but they made it. The crew has been to the onsen (first warm bathe in 9 days for 3 of the crew members and the first bathing at all for one member--not disclosing identity), they have eaten and are all sleeping soundly. After Aaron and Mark helmed those rough conditions, they were quite pooped. Apparently, they all have their "sea legs" now and nobody lost their lunch. More to come from the crew tomorrow.

Day 3 Update

08 May 2012 | Location: 230 miles SSE from HachiJo
Aaron
Lunch yesterday was ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches prepared by me. Dinner was pasta by Mark. Today's menu is as yet undetermined.

We motored after dinner yesterday in the evening into light wind to charge batteries and make some distance in search of better wind. Around midnight we were able to go back under sail close hauled on a starboard tack as fast as is possible at 30 degrees (and less) apparent wind. The moon is huge right now and visibility at night is so bright that it hardly feels like night time. Mark and I rotated watches throughout the calm night and Eve took her turn filling a bucket with personally processed fish food. I think she was surprised to get sick. She spent most of the night before sleeping blissfully through much rougher weather while Jared explored the inner workings of the ralph bucket.

Today the forecast and the actual conditions are very light. We're trying to get through the high pressure we are under to the wind on the other side. As a matter of principle, I do not carry jerry cans of fuel on deck so our motoring range is limited and we have to motor judiciously when there isn't any wind or else we'll be paddling later. Everyone is breaking out books and relaxing (as much as you can relax with a safety pin clipped to your nose to avoid the smell of your neighbor).

We sailed by some kind of large floating flotsam in a bag today (not a body) and have seen dolphins at a distance twice.

The picture is from last night. Mark is at the helm and in the foreground is Jared wrapped in a blue tarp with the yellow barf bucket close at hand. Don't worry, I gave him a canvas sail cover as a pillow and I like to think he was quite comfortable.

That's all the news that's fit to print. Stay tuned for the next update tomorrow.
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