Picture: Some familiar looking buildings on the south bank of the Kanmon Kaikyo strait, probably used for wedding ceremonies.

We read and researched extensively about going through the 10 nautical mile long Kanmon Kaikyo channel (the strait between the two large islands, Kyushu and Honshu.) The current flows at 8+ knots so we would not want to enter the strait during a wrong tide since our maximum speed under power is only 6 knots. The website http://www.mirc.jha.or.jp/cgi-bin/w/w-tcp?AREA=kanmon was very informative about tides so we able to calculate when to go in.

We arrived there just when the tide turned in our favor. There is an electronic screen strategically placed on the bank at the entrance to the strait showing the direction of the flow (E or W), the speed of the current, and the arrow showing increasing or decreasing. When we went in it said, "E 7 increasing). Large ships are required to check in via VHF Channel 16 so "Kanmon Martis" (Kanmon channel control) was constantly on the radio. Communication is in English most of the time. It was like crossing the Singapore Strait; we had to dodge countless large ships, even though we stayed outside of the shipping lane.

The strait is "U" shaped and at the narrowest point, the bridge, it is less than 0.3 nautical miles wide. On our way in from the west, we passed some very large wind-generators, some actually in the sea, as well as a large industrial city called Kitakyushu. The latter was supposed to be the primary recipient for the second atomic bomb to be dropped during WWII. It was fortunate for Kitakyushu that, because of too much cloud cover, the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki where the large Mitsubishi munitions works and ship yards were located. The bridge was the last bit of trepidation for us because of the stronger current but we did not encounter any real difficulties. The anticipation is worse part of the crossing; we went through it smoothly and quickly.