Akuseki-Suwanose 悪石島から諏訪之瀬島

Hello everyone,

Here we are at the school in Suwanose Island for a quick update. We have to get going as quickly as possible for the crossing to Nakano Island, so we will keep this brief. Hopefully later we will have some time to update with pictures. After a warm sendoff by the inhabitants of Akuseki, the 20km crossing to Suwanose went smoothly in three hours. On the way we saw dolphins and beautiful views of the surrounding isolated islands of Suwanose, Taira, Gaja, and Kogaja, rising out of the great blue sea. Large schools of flying fish emerged suddenly in front of us out of the waves. We can feel the Kuroshio current more and more as we move north; approaching Suwanose we had to lean heavily into the paddles to make it through the tidal race near the southern shore. Once landbound, as usual we were welcomed warmly and even participated in the island's traditional Bon Dance which fortuitously took place last night. This morning we were treated to a free breakfast by the feisty Mrs. Mori who runs a local inn for fishermen. Suwanose also has a beautiful campground under whispering pine trees but alas, even now at the height of the summer season, there was not a vacationing soul in sight. Such are the paradoxes of this country.

皆さんこんにちは、諏訪之瀬島の分校から。
昨日悪石島から渡って，２０キロの横断は３時間で順調でした。途中イルカの群れも見て、青い海から点々突き出ている諏訪之瀬島，平島，ガジャ島などの島々の美しい景色を見ながら漕いだ。大きなトビウオの群れが目の前の波から飛び出したりしました。この辺の黒潮がどんどん強くなっているのを感じ始めて，諏訪之瀬島の海岸に近づくと流されない為に三角波の中を力いれて漕ぐしかなかった。島に着くとはやり優しい島民に会って，昨日の夜ちょうど行われた盆踊りにも参加して貰いました。今朝御岳民宿を営業している森さんに，美味しい朝ご飯をいただきました。分校の英語のぺらぺらのトミヨシ教頭先生は学校のインターネットも使ってくれて感謝します。

もう，そろぞろまた海に出る時間になって，今日は中之島や口之島を目指して行きます。天気は穏やかなので，何も心配ないと思います。つくとチャンス有れば，写真などもここに載せたい。今はそれにちょっと時間ない見たいです。