Tsunami

We were aboard late yesterday afternoon and after enjoying a cup of tea came below to do a few things.  Jon noticed a new message on our Navtex - a tsunami alert had been issued and included the area we were in!  Pam attempted to check the Japan Meteorology Agency website but the pages wouldn't open.  We heard voices and the local policeman was on the dock to let us know that a half-metre tsunami was predicted for 4:30 p.m. and we should go to the ferry terminal to watch the TV.  Eeek.  We grabbed important documents, some extra clothing and toiletries and the laptop which is our main source of communication with friends and family.

As we left Tweed, we loosened off all her dock lines, hoping she would fare OK being moored to a concrete wharf.  We had spent the afternoon preparing and fitting some old extra-large polystyrene fenders which we had managed to get from a fisherman and hoped they would be of some help.  The fire truck then came by and said the tsunami was now forecast for one metre at 4:50 p.m.

The scenes on the TV were horrendous and the waiting was nerve-wracking.  The time was put back to 5:30, then 5:50 and then 6:10.  The time passed and nothing happened.  We were then told that a small wave about 12:40 a.m. would occur.  We decided to go and eat at a local restaurant and then we found a small ryokan (Japanese inn) to stay the night.  There was nothing else we could do for Tweed so hopefully she would be all right.


We slept well and arrived back aboard about 7:00 a.m.  All was well aboard and Tweed was still floating.  The strong winds of the past few days had died off and all was calm.

In the meantime many parts of the Japanese coast have been devastated as the tsunami has inundated coastal areas.  The scenes on TV were horrendous.  We are thankful that we and our boat are OK and also a big thank you to all of those who have been in touch with us and concerned for our safety.