Picture: A view of Naze Port from the sea as we were leaving just before the sea became rough.

From Kakeroma Island to Naze port was only 40 nautical miles. Naze is on Amani-O-Shima, the same island as our previous port, Koniya, so it should be an easy and stress-free sail. We left Kakeroma Island in the rain and it stayed with us all day as we sailed north. There was no wind so we motored. The mist was heavy making visibility poor but the sea was relatively flat - until just before we turned into Naze. Like an angry man, the sea whipped up and the wind got to more than 30 knots, even inside the harbor. We did not want to go straight into the small boat harbor, which was inside the main harbor, because the wind and waves were being channeling full force towards that direction. We dropped anchor at the opposite end of the harbor, in front of a mountain, hoping it would provide some shelter from the wind. However, the bottom was sand and the anchor dragged, the first time our relatively new anchor had not held. We had no choice but to head toward the small boat harbor. Fortunately, by this time the wind had died down to about 15 knots. We found a wall so we docked "Shuang Yu" against it. No sooner had we secured the lines, than a taxi driver pulled up and told us in Japanese that our position was poor because it could get rocky. He showed us another place where we could anchor. Ted made an executive decision that the suggested place would not be much better so we stayed where we were. Despite what the taxi driver said, it was calm and we had a good night's sleep while the rain continued to soak the area.

Despite the downpour, five Coast Guards boarded our boat early next morning. Like intimate friends, they crowded into our saloon and started asking questions and filling out paperwork. What puzzled me was that only one person could speak limited English so why did four other people come along? They told us that Naze is a "closed" port and that we should not be there until we seek permission. We informed them that weather was stormy so we had to find shelter, which was true but we intended to come here anyway thinking that with our status as a "coastal boat" we could go to any closed port. That's what the Okinawa Coast Guards told us anyway. The Kakoshima Coast Guards informed us that in this prefecture, they do things differently. They helped us with the preparation of the "closed" port permission documentation for all the closed ports in this district. We spent over four hours with them inside of our cozy little boat. They were polite and helpful so the situation could have been worse.

When the Coast Guard officials finally left, they promised to come back the next day with the "closed" port permission document. The rain had ceased for while so we went ashore and bought some groceries at a small store and some bread from a bakery. We had a barbeque dinner at a restaurant, where they served miniature raw pieces of meat. The meat and vegetables were cooked by us on tiny barbeque grill set into the center of the table. The food was delicious but expensive. We were actually buying ambience and a restful place to sit down other than the boat on a rather damp night.

As promised, the Coast Guards came back in the morning with the permission slip for all the closed ports in this district as well as information on other anchorages and a letter to the Land Management Department for when we arrive at the next prefecture. They also printed out weather reports for the next three days. All in all, the Coast Guards did a tremendous amount of work for us. It was a positive experience.

We did not really explore the town much. There was not much to see except the beaches, and public transport was few and far between. We found a laundry facility so I did the laundry while Ted filled up our tank with diesel from our jerry cans and topped up the house batteries with water. The taxi-driver was correct about the anchorage being uncomfortable. The fast ferries would pass through the main harbor at what seemed like full speed, sending wake directly into the small boat harbor, rocking all the boats violently, including "Shuang Yu". The rocking was so uncomfortable that we considered sailing the next day even though, according to the Coast Guard reports, the weather would be unfavorable for the next two days with high winds and swell. (Editor's note: The captain was hesitant to sail but the crew reminded him that they were, after all, a sailboat, and should not be afraid of high winds. The captain reluctantly, and regrettably, agreed with the crew and they set sail in the morning.)