April 30 – May 5
Hi All,
Tottori: We left Taisha on April 30 at 0530 for Tottori….ugh, another early morning…..87nm in trawler like conditions….ODG…sweet as….all wind and seas behind us and our friend Mr Kuroshio was pushing with a 0.5-1.0kt fair current….GO MYSTIC GO…..9kt Bad Bob would be sooooo proud!!!!
Actually the current is the Tsushima Current, which is a branch of the Kuroshio that flows northward along the west coast of Japan….call it what we may, we like it!!! Of course, we have to cross it as we passage north of Honshu through the Tsugaru Strait to Hakodote Hokkaido in a week or so….Nobeltec says it can get up to 4 kts….we will have to be careful no wind against current!!
We get in around 4pm….we decide to checkout a small fishing harbor first….ODG….Deadliest Catch type fishing trawlers are lining the harbor….ok, not here….so, we go to a spot which is right next to the Coast Guard station…..and yep…..the engine is still running, Kathy has 3 of the 4 lines tied and 5 “men in blue” come racing out talking to us all at once in Japanese….Coast Guard….they are sooooo excited…..think they maybe a little bored…..we finally get the last line on and the engine turned off and 4 of them come aboard to the cockpit. They are very nice, friendly, professional and have a gazillion questions/forms they fill out. They even had a book with English phrases. We use GT constantly. It takes about 45 minutes and we think it was a training exercise but who knows. They came back bearing gifts for our cooperation and when Kathy gave each of them a Mystic Moon pen they were most appreciative as well.
We finally get the boat shutdown properly, lines secured and passage beers opened by 5pm…..and, it is so nice out we enjoy the FB for the first time in a while!!! Moody Blues and brats on the BBQ!!!
But unfortunately, this pesky LO is coming in early so we must go tomorrow to Ine and thus we did not even get off Mystic in Tottori:((((
Ine: Only 66nm to go to Ine so we sleep in…yeah right, engine on by 0645….and ODG….even better trawler conditions….sweet as….I even do some fishing but no CATCHING…..whaaaaaaaa…..then BAM, VIBRATION…..oh CRAP….throttle down, go into neutral and thinking CRAP, CRAP, CRAP…..what the heck did we hit…..try reverse and we see a big piece of seaweed float up wrapped in a bag…..hmmm…try forward again…seems ok….increase rpm and shake, rattle and roll continue…..oh crap some more….a quick glance at the water temp and it says 65*F….gulp….time to get wet/cold I think!!!!
We turn on Mr Engine-that-can-Yanmar and putz along while we get all the gear together…..3 mil full body suit, 7 mil hat, gloves and booties….we tie a lifeline on as the current is close to 1.0 kts….a quick look at the propeller and gulp, yep, all I see is what looks like seaweed….back up and put on all the scuba gear and armed with a sharp knife….no, not in my teeth…I have a scuba regulator in my mouth…..it turns out to be one of those large plastic bags they use for rice et al and woven to be very strong….it actually doesn’t take too long for me to saw through a section and then unwrap the mess from the prop…..just another day on Mystic!!!!
While I did stay warm in all the gear I’m not sure if we have to dive in the Bering Sea at 45*F what we will do…..may have to resort to the dry suit!!! I’m already praying to Neptune to give me pass on that experience!!
We get into Ine at about 3:30pm…..and darn, our 1st and 2nd preferred spots that are totally protected are taken up by local boats…..so we tie up close by to the wall and cross our fingers this spot will be ok for the next 3 days during the big blow/rain!!!!
Wednesday: We decide to go for a little walk before the rain/wind starts by noon. Wow, what a cute town!!!
“Ine (伊根) is a town located around the Ine Bay in northern Kyoto Prefecture, about 15 kilometers north of Amanohashidate. This working town has a long and rich history as a fishing village and is regarded as one of the most beautiful villages in Japan. The unique aspect of Ine are its funaya. Literally meaning “boat houses”, these traditional waterfront buildings contain garages for boats on their first floors and residential space on the upper floors. Today there over 200 funaya remaining along the bay. A small number of them now serve as guest houses where visitors can stay the night and experience the funaya first-hand. It can be challenging, however, for foreign tourists to make overnight reservations because the lodgings are not listed on international booking websites and many hosts speak only Japanese.”
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3996.html
We stop by the tourist information center and 1/2 hour later we are armed with all sorts of brochures/info. We met a woman named Jun…..great English, raised in China, went to San Francisco as a young child, returned to China, met her future husband who is from Ine, and have decided to live in Ine to raise their children…..feeling the education is more rounded/better than the book oriented education in China…..very interesting!!!
We decide to walk the other direction and as we pass Mystic….yep, 4 “men in blue” are there…..they had come over from Miyazu on their boat…seems Tottori CG told them we would be here today….they were very surprised to see we had come in the day before…whoa…..big brother is watching for sure!!! So another 30 minute interaction and tour with very friendly and professional CG….still think they are looking for potential contacts for contraband as they are very interested in where we go on land!!!
We are back to Mystic by noon when the weather arrives….rain and winds 15-20G25 from the South…..the little harbor we are in is only exposed to the South….well, of course….but we are tucked up close to the barrier wall so we seem to be doing ok. Kathy makes soup from the leftover pot roast last week…..and, just as we are about to have dinner/movie Jun comes by for a visit with her 2 children….6 and 9 years old….we give them the full blown tour…..the kids are sooooo excited but Mystic is not kid-proof yet….the sea shells are the biggest hit….oh, shades to come with our own grandkids…..they leave after an hour……wow, such youthful energy!!!!
Thursday: The wind has finally shifted and is swirling around this small harbor…..still 15-20G30kts but from the North and Mystic is doing just fine….but, it is turning colder now the winds are from China…..will get in the low 50’s tonight!!!
Sake: OK…..not bad…..seems we like a good bottle of sake as well:))) Ine Mukai distillery is a small, family run distillery making about 30,000 bottle a year. They do not distribute and all sales are at the distillery. They start fermenting in the spring and start to bottle late summer-winter. This is our first sake distillery we have visited and we had a very friendly, English speaking woman from Tokyo as our guide. We think she might have been a student helping out. We tasted 3 types …one was a red sake….we understand very unique and made from red rice…we last saw that in Bali….it was actually quite tasty with just a sweet note hidden in there as well.
Lunch: fresh sashimi and sushi with simmered and grilled red snapper…..some of the best we have had…..and a gorgeous view of the Bay. It’s like a sushi bar with maybe 12 chairs…..we sat next to a couple from a coastal town on the East coast here on holiday…..they had broken English and a delightful couple. After lunch we walked the town a little more….and when we returned they were in their van outside Mystic. So another tour and visit….fun to meet the friendly people….he is General Manager of a large auto parts company!!!
Amanohashidate: A Shinto and Buddhist Sanctuary!!! On our last day we decided to take the bus 30 minutes to a cute town of Amanohahsidate to see several temples/shrines and a gorgeous view. “Amanohashidate, one of Japan’s three most famous scenic views, is a naturally formed geographical land mass that is narrow and 3.6km long. Legend has it that the god who created Japan used a ladder as a means to travel between heaven and earth. One day, the ladder fell and became Amanohashidate, a spectacular and mythical landscape”.
Well…it was gorgeous but I’m not sure about one of three most famous scenes…..hmmm…curious….I think a tourist marketing thing!!! We did have an enjoyable day, walked 4+ miles and enjoyed the Nariaiji Temple and the one seat chairlift!! The views were spectacular and worth the visit and climb. The map we used indicated the best view spot just a little ways from the Temple…..hmmm…..not to scale….about a mile uphill but I made it huffing and puffing. There was a cafe on top but unfortunately Kathy did not make the climb so I hurried on down to meet up with her!!! We had a nice lunch of fried prawns, but it was a holiday and the place was packed….we enjoyed just watching the people!!!! In fact there was so much traffic our bus was over an hour late…..that like never happens in Japan….when the driver showed up he did seem pretty irritated!!!
“Nariaiji Temple (成相寺) is a temple of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. The temple was originally located near the top of Mount Tsuzumigatake, but was moved to its current location further down the mountain after a landslide about 250 years ago. The current temple grounds are still high enough on the slope to offer some nice views over the bay below. But it takes a little bit of effort to access them. Nariaiji Temple is one of the 33 temples that are visited along the Kansai Kannon Pilgrimage in Western Japan. Appropriately, the temple’s main object of worship is a carved wooden statue of Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, that dates from the Heian Period. Below the main hall is a small wooden bell tower containing the “bell of neutrality”. The bell is completely enclosed in its tower and has never been struck due to the sad legend about its origins concerning a baby that was accidentally dropped into the molten metal to be cast into the bell. A little further down the slope stands an impressive five story pagoda which was rebuilt quite recently in the late 1990s.”
The Plan: I’m writing this blog on Sunday, May 6th. We left Ine @ 0530 this morning for the 90nm run to Kanazawa…..so far trawler weather!!! We will stay 2 nights and then move on to Wajima another 60nm!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
on passage to Kanazawa Japan
PS: Pictures on the website: https://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Tottori-and-Ine
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