This is a well-researched and well written read for those with or without intention to sail in Japan. It is packed with interesting cultural insights, and lots of historical context. It paints a picture of the friendliness and generosity that the Coghlan’s found in Japan, and which we experienced five years later when we cruised here.
Their journey for this leg of their travels on Bosun Bird a Vancouver 27’, started in Opua, New Zealand, taking them north through Vanuatu, which the reader hears was ‘always what I’d hoped the Pacific would be like’.
A night time intruder with a machete must have coloured their experiences in the Solomon Islands, and their route onwards through Micronesia and Guam, both occupied by the Japanese in WW2 were a leap back into American culture.
First greetings in Japan were fairly onerous officialdom, cruising permits and paperwork, (hugely simplified since). The continued use of FAX, and carbon copies of multiple paperwork gives a less high-tech picture of Japan!
They found they were a rare species as a yacht, not normal tourists, and frequently needing advice and help, which somehow gave an entrée into people’s lives. They experienced huge kindness and time and again were welcomed into people’s homes.
Nicholas recounts how two men worked on their gearbox for a day, and finally solved the problem, but refused any payment; this replicates our experiences, as do the unsolicited cans of beer and presents left on board by unknown locals.
The culture of the Onsen or Sento, the hot public baths is ubiquitous, and the lack of inhibition soon acquired! The ageing and rapidly declining population, an empty school with a full quota of staff and only two pupils seems particularly strange.
Sailing in Japan one discovers is not about anchoring in deserted bays, but endlessly tying up against rough harbour walls, with a large tidal range. The Japanese love affair with concrete has subjugated the coastline to endless sea walls, and concrete harbours, making anchoring options very limited.
The Coghlan’s experienced a couple of serious typhoons while they were there, and those concrete harbour walls gave perfect shelter. Typhoon Talas killed 77 people but was treated with a degree of nonchalance as an everyday occurrence, people cared and helped those affected, but such is life. A selective memory of recent history, and a blanking of any type of confrontation all seem to contribute to the Japanese character.
The Pacific High refused to move north and give benign westerlies, but in late June Bosun Bird left Japan on the onerous passage NW to Alaska. They chose the long route to Kodiak Island 3,471nm, 43 days of damp and fog and for a couple of days bare poles in 40 knots, accompanied by sea birds and albatross. Standard stuff for that passage, but they must have been very relieved to arrive in Kodiak!
The appendix is full of useful comprehensive harbour information, very hard to obtain in Japan, with waypoints for guidance The book is a good read, traces much of the Japanese history in WW2, and the idiosyncrasies of cruising in Japanese waters of the Inland Sea. Hopefully it will inspire many more yachts to go there.
JTW