Take me Fishing

Strong north winds and 1.5 meter swell was the perfect combination for our friendJerremy as he requested to be taken kayaking. Sounds fishy to you? In fact, for fishing Suzuki (Japanese Seabass) these conditions are ideal.
強い北風、1.5メートルのうねりの天気予報で、J君からカヤックに行こうとリクエストがありました。経験の浅いJ君は何でこのような天気にカヤックしたかったのか、それは魚釣りオタクだから。今日の目的はスズキでした。

Jerremy's choice spot was the uninhabited island of Oshima in Ushibuka. Launching from the small village of Komori, we skirted a shoal of rocks, mentally recording them for the journey home when the tide would be different and the swell larger.

J君の目的地は牛深の無人島の大島。小さい集落の小森から出発して、すぐ浅瀬で砕ける波に注意を払いながら漕ぎ越えた。



Stuggling a bit with the headwind, we fought our way past the old coal mine of Eboshi-Se, a unique historic site located on the sea shoals. According to the Education Ministry, this mine was established in 1897. The coal extracted from the seabed was famous with the navy as it produced "Smokeless Coal", a high quality coal that burned very hot with no smoke. Production was terminated after a few years due to water welling up from the bottom. The mineshaft opening is lined with red brick, and that together with the breakwall constructed to protect it is still very much intact after all these years of weathering rough seas.

牛深町小森の海上200ｍにある烏帽子瀬と言う岩礁に造られた炭鉱が見えます。今年の天草市教育委員会によると「烏帽子坑跡は、明治三十年頃に創業した海底炭鉱跡である。キラ炭と呼ばれる高カロリーの石炭を産出し、煙を出さない「無煙炭」として海軍からも重宝されていたが、湧水に悩まされ事業は数年で停止している。赤レンガなどで構築された坑口は、その後方に見える石積みの防波堤により波の浸蝕にも耐え、百年を超える今も海上にその勇姿を留めている。」




Mr. O, with his shiny new kayak and fancy tuliq.
Oさんは新品なWFKカヤックとイギリス製のTuiliqを購入しました。

Today as usual, we had the sea mostly to ourselves. Small fishing boats were absent thanks to the bad weather. After more than an hour of hard work, we finally reached the shores of Oshima.



Jerremy was so excited to go fishing that he didn't even appear to be fatigued after the arduous crossing. On the beach, he gave me a quick crash course in suzuki fishing. It is very important to be able to cast accurately. After a few admitttedly pathetic attempts on my part, he deemed that I was ready and off we went. Scrambling over boulders we jogged to the northern extremity of the island. The swell was impinging violently on the shore and the wind was formidable. Casting inside the sheltered port,and casting among boulders into the gale are two quite different things. In no time I managed to snag the lure on a rock. Jerremy, on the other hand wasted no time in hooking a beautiful fish.



Over the next few hours as we hopped and waded from one rock to another; I managed at least to keep my lure, although I failed to catch anything. One time (at least according to Jerremy) a fish was following my lure and was about to bite, when I reeled in the line too quickly. I'll have to take his word on that one, because with the salt water crusting up my sunglasses and my primary concern being not to catch the lure on the rock, I really didn't see this happen. Now with two sizable suzukis, we headed back to port where we built a bonfire and ate delicious sushi dipped in ponzu sauce.



大島への横断は横波と風の戦いでした。J君が余りにも頭に魚釣りしかなくて全力尽くして漕ぎ続けた。大島の西側にある港に入ると、早速魚釣りの竿を出して、キャスティング法のレッスン。3回ぐらい投げると、「それでいいんだ、行こう」とJ君が決めました。海岸沿いを走して島の最北端へ。ここで白波、風の影響でルアーが上手に投げれなくていつの間にか岩に引っかかって失ってしまった内に、J君は立派なスズキを釣れた。さすがプロのＪ君。
数時間磯を歩きながら釣ってみました。結局Lはゼロ、J君は２。ところで、その間素潜っていたリックも波の荒いところで巻き込んで少し酔って、ゼロ。今日は竿の勝ちです。港に戻って、焚き火を作って、Oさんは魚をさばいて、刺身を食べました。



Before setting out into the roughage again, we made the short and pleasant hike up to the lighthouse at the top of the island.　大島の灯台まで行ってから荒れた海に漕ぎ出して帰りました。





The journey home was slow if uneventful and we arrived safely back at the Komori port just as it was getting dark. The day was capped off with a wonderful soak at the nearby hotspring followed by a satisfying dinner.
帰りはゆっくり漕いで、日が暮れた時上陸しました。片つけ終わったら温泉に入って、温泉施設でご飯を食べました。



NOTE: Most people, when they are learning to kayak (and sometimes for years thereafter), only paddle in calm water. We believe this is a mistake that, in the end, compromises one's safety. No matter how well one may check the weather forecast and conditions, the sea is too unpredictable to always guarantee that conditions will remain within one's comfort zone during a day of paddling. Sooner or later paddlers get caught in the rough, and if they lack a modicum of experience, they could be in trouble in conditions that are nevertheless eminently controllable with a little bit of practice. We encourage all kayakers to paddle with more experienced friends or guides in rough waters, practice bracing, rolls, and rescues, and get comfortable in that environment. Then, when you are faced with rough conditions, you can avoid panicking, locking up, forgetting basic maneuvers, overfocusing on remaining upright to the point of not paddling forward at all, and other such predictable reactions. With practice, common sense reactions such as maintaining speed in rough water, instinctive bracing, etc., will happen on their own.



経験が比較的少ないのカヤッカーが、波がある時緊張して、余りにもバランスに集中し、漕ぐ力が出さない問題がよくあります。しかも、こう言う人は凪の時しか漕ぎたくないから、それよりスキルを増やさなくてもいいと思うのでしょう。しかし、僕たちはこれが問題だと思います。なぜなら、海上の状態は余りにも予報しにくいから、いつか凪のカヤッカーも波を避ければならない日がくるでしょう。こう言う時海の状態に反応できないと、少しのスキルがあればと大丈夫の海でも困難になる。これを解決する為、先ずは波がある時経験がある友人やガイドと一緒に海に出て、ブレーシング、ロール、レスキューの練習を繰り返すと段々自信が着く。例えば、カヤックが傾いても安定感があると分かって来て、波の中でも力を出せるようになります。その時波と戦うよりも波の力を使って、波に乗って凪の時よりスピードも出せるようになる。荒れた海でも練習に行きましょう！