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。

トカラ列島へ 1 日目 Tokara Island Expedition Day 1

Leanne and Rik boarded the ferry today for Amami Ooshima, Kagoshima Prefecture. The ferry left at 6 and arrived in Naze at 5 am. Hopefully they will manage to drag their heavy tandem boat down the tetrapods (there is no slope) and will head north toward the uninhabited Yokoate Island and then on to Takara Island. Currently, according to the Japanese Coast Guard wind meter, the wind is blowing 3m/s. To follow their route during the next 2 weeks, check out their track at SPOT.

リアンとリックは今日鹿児島港１８時出発で奄美大島へ向かって出発しました。奄美の名瀬港でスロープはないのでテットラポッドがあるところでカヤックと荷物を降ろして、奄美から無人島の横当島経由、宝島まで漕ぐ予定です。沿岸域情報提供システムのデータで奄美大島の笠利の灯台は今朝11時20分の風、風速3m/s。スポットSPOTでトラッキングされますので現在位置を分かるためにこちらを見てください。

More information about the Tokara Islands.


Happy Sailing and a safe journey!
Expedition Support Team
遠征サポートチーム

Next Expedition 次の遠征

Leanne and I will be leaving Amakusa this weekend for this somewhat ambitious expedition. It's one that has been on the backburner for a while, but now we finally feel we've gathered enough experience to tackle it. Besides distance to be covered in two weeks (370+km), traversing from Amami to Kyushu requires numerous open crossings, some of them quite long and exposed. But the main problem comes in the form of the powerful Kuroshio Current, which flows across the route at about the same speed as one can normally paddle a kayak. Besides the obvious navigational problems, the current can also combine with ocean swell to create unpredictable areas of tall haystack waves near land or over shallow areas (marked with blue lines). Besides these challenges, the main attraction of this trip will be the beautiful volcanic Tokara Islands, one of the most isolated and inaccessible, yet inhabited island groups in Japan.　Once again we will be paddling Waterfield Kayak's Whalewatcher, a very stable tandem kayak. Thanks again to Mr.Mizuno for supplying the kayak and spray skirts. We will also be using both the large size Windpaddle sail "Cruiser", as well as the smaller sized "Adventure" sail. Thanks again to all those people helping us out and sending us good vibes.

今週末、僕たちは奄美大島へ向けて、奄美から九州への横断を狙います。この遠征には長い外海の横断が多くて、カヤックの動きにの強い影響の黒潮もあり、それはうねりと重なると三角波も発生しやすいなので、ちょっと難しそうな冒険だけど、今まで集まった経験でなんとなくできると思うようになってきた。経由日本の一番孤立している離島の中のトカラ列島を通る予定で、美しい島々の景色や雰囲気に囲まれてなりたい。
今回もウォーターフィールドカヤックス社長の水野さんに供給したホエールウォッチャーのタンデムカヤックを漕ぐ予定。風も利用して、ウインドパドルセールを使いながら漕ぐ予定です。
皆の協力はすごく遠征の力になります。ありがとう!

A typhoon is crossing the area as I write this, but things will have calmed down by the time we arrive in Amami by ferry. We hope no more typhoons will brew up in the Philippine Sea, at least during the first week of the trip! The expedition will be tracked by means of the SPOT Satellite Messenger, which will also serve as an emergency locator should the need arise. Jerremy, our one-person support team in Amakusa, will be updating this blog with our progress, so keep your eyes peeled. Internet access is virtually nonexistent along our route but should we get the chance, we'll also try to upload a picture or two.

現在、予定の海域が台風第８号の風やうねりによって荒れているのですけど、来週まで落ちづく予想です。しばらく別の台風が発生しないように祈ります。日蝕のツアーと同じく、今度もスポットSPOT安全器でトラッキングされます。万が一非情に成ったらスポットSPOTが上保安庁などにもつなげれますから、ちょっと安心になっている。天草でのサポートチームの穐山豪君が遠征の毎日の進行や便りについて、このブログにアップロードする予定だから、どうぞ見てください。


This is a movie of a computer model prediction of the Kuroshio for August 2009. In the Tokaras, where the Kuroshio usually makes a sharp turn to enter the Pacific Ocean from the East China Sea, the current is predicted to be weaker than usual mid-month as well as generally easterly (rather than the typically south-easterly) setting. These two factors ought to work in our favor. The prediction for August 17 is also depicted on the main expedition map.

コンピューターモデルによる8月の黒潮の予想の動画です。中旬、トカラ列島近海で黒潮が普段より弱める見込みです。それと、普段の南東方向から真東方向に変わるでしょう。そうなったら、横断がちょっとやさしくなるかもしれません。ところで、8月17日の予想は、上の地図にも載せてあります。

The current speeds are difficult to read off the previous map, so I enhanced the colors of the prediction for mid-August to more clearly show the slight but significant break in the current flow that we may be able to use to our advantage. The area we will be traversing is outlined in red. 先のイメージは、流速が読みにくいなので、8月17日の予想のイメージには、もうちょっと明るい色をつけました。横断の海域が、赤の直角形に囲まれました。これで、有利にしたい黒潮の弱めがはっきり見えます。