We have had some winds during the night plus rain, both light and heavy. The storm will probably take most of the day to pass perhaps 150 nm (300 km) to the west of us. At this range we can expect up to 30 knots of wind but have seen a couple of gusts of 35. The wind has already changed from SE to SW, indicating that we are in the SE quadrant and the area of strongest winds. The system is moving fast so winds should start to ease later today.
And we had been having such nice weather for a few days!! While in Kasasa Ebisu Pam went on a bus ride with Hanna and Hendrick from Bannister to visit the samurai houses and gardens in the town of Chiran. Two buses and 2 and a half hours later we arrived and spent about an hour walking the Honbaba Promenade, lined with beautiful stone walls and hedges, and viewing the gardens - the houses were mostly private so we were unable to see inside them. This type of garden was brought to Japan from the Ryukyu islands to the south during the Edo Period when Japan was in national isolation. Stones, rocks, and clipped hedges and bushes with some flowering ones are arranged to form 'landscapes' representing waterfalls, mountain ranges, animals and other forms. Some use water but not all. The area is one of the 100 Most Beautiful Historic Locations in Japan.
Leaving Kasasa Ebisu, we went NW across to the island Kami Kashiki Shima where we tied up in the harbour at Sato, 31 deg. 50.504 N, 129 deg. 55.294 E. The wind was light and after a bit of a sail we had to turn on the engine once again. The sky was clear and we could see the active volcano near the city of Kagoshima, 30 NM away to our east, as well as the dust cloud. A while later we realised that we had passed under the cloud and Tweed was covered in a layer of fine black grit! Grrrr!
In Sato we were able to use a private floating pontoon after our new friend in Kasasa had called ahead to his friend to let him know of our arrival. We were glad of this as the harbour proved to be quite unprotected in the light SE wind and even tucked up where we were there was a lot of movement - thankfully the current storm didn't catch us there as it would have been very scary indeed.
Sato also has a street of some old samurai houses and gardens but not as extensive as those at Chiran. So we rode around the small town to see the local sights including the ruins of an old castle, some rice growers cutting rice, tying it and hanging it to dry and a nice beach on the other side of the isthmus.
