we were disconcerted, but we came to understand the expectations and even enjoy the interactions. The officers were always young, polite, earnest, and friendly. For many of these coastguardsmen, ours was the first yacht they had seen in their official capacity.
What about the storms, nets, traffic, seaweed, fog, currents? Japanese waters were not the most difficult we have navigated over the years by any means. The ports are well buoyed and lighted, and the coast doesn’t have many off-lying dangers. The southern islands do have plenty of coral, and all the normal cautions apply regarding careful piloting to avoid it. The northern islands have seaweed, current, fog, and small freighter and fishing boat traffic. This is no more difficult than those same challenges sailors experience in the Pacific Northwest. The shipping traffic we encountered behaved in courteous and predictable ways. Interestingly, VHF radio is not normally used in passing situations. Japan is well surveyed and charted. Our Navionics and C-MAP charts were good offshore, but many small ports were not charted in any detail. There is detailed Japanese charting available for all ports online and in regional booklets (S-Guide) now out of print, but we were loaned a copy by a sailor we met along the way. The Japan Hydrographic Association has an app (Apple only) that is reasonably priced and updated regularly, which includes fishing net permit locations, depths in harbors, and notices to mariners. The only catch is that it’s in Japanese — of course. The handy translate feature
Vending machines for SO MANY things.
on the smartphone helps decode the details. Cruising under sail in Japan is enjoyable, predictable, social, and rewarding. We now know that Japan is very much worthy of repeat visits and detailed explorations rather than just a stepping-stone home. There are no current published cruising guides for Japan. We used a number of online resources in addition to helpful information acquired along the way. We documented more details of our travel on our blog at oceanswell.blogspot.com. 2
PETER & GINGER NIEMANN Peter and Ginger Niemann began a liveaboard, sailing and cruising life in 2004 when they bought a 47-foot sloop, Marcy. She was in disrepair, but they fixed her up and departed on a four-year circumnavigation. Their journey took them from Seattle, Washington westabout via Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. Highlights included South Pacific islands, a winter in New Zealand, Australia, and Madagascar; Rounding Cape Horn and exploring the Beagle Channel and Patagonian canals; and coming home via Hawaii and Alaska. Back in Seattle, Peter and Ginger got jobs, recharged the cruising kitty, found a new boat, Irene, a 50-foot
ketch with standing headroom for Peter, and departed again in 2016 on what turned out to be an eastabout circumnavigation via the Northwest Passage, Europe, the Suez Canal, Singapore, Japan, and Alaska. They returned to their homeport, Ballard, Washington, a seafaring district of
Seattle, in August 2021. They typically sail as a double handed crew enjoying the teamwork and communication of sailing together. Current plans involve a refit of Irene and exploration along the coast between Alaska and Washington States.
issue 64 2022
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