west coast

wcoast, originally uploaded by vibromama.

Heavy rain and wind started just as we made it back to the port. We were grateful for the clean, flat, well-drained concrete surface as well as the special typhoon-proof wind-blocking walls guarding the breakwater. In the downpour the stink of the nearby nets had more or less washed away, but our well-used tent leaked and so we were soon quite wet. Nevertheless we spent a reasonably comfortable night while the storm raged on outside. (Unknown to us at the time, in our home islands of Amakusa 250km to the south it would cause landslides and wipe out the scenic west-coastal road.) By morning,
however, things had calmed down a bit and we continued up the west coast, with a fresh wind and surfable swell astern. The coast here was no longer so majestic as the southeast coast yesterday as soft sedimentary layers replaced the solid igneous rocks somewhere in the vicinity of Tsushima's southernmost point. Still, we were happy to be here, and happy that the sea had remained navigable after last night's storm.