Pacific Odyssey - Leg 5

The evening has been cold, wet and windy, although the earlier part of the day was quite nice, no sun but not as cold as the two previous days. A low pressure area went over top of us and brought with it very strong winds. During supper the wind became incredibly strong and gusty and the rain poured down; within 10 minutes the wind had changed direction as the system blew itself out. All day the wind has blown the Grace onto the dock and the crew has had to monitor the fenders to protect the hull from scraping against the pilings; when we checked the decks during the storm, the wind had switched and was blowing the ship away from the dock and the Grace was about 10ft from it. It´s nice not to be out at sea right now. At breakfast this morning there were about 7 trainees sporting new hair styles; they had gone together to the hair dresser to make a change. Elske, James, Sarah L., Rachael, Greg, Bec, and Robyn all had great looking and smelling hair.
Several crew and trainees went to the public bath house and all said it was absolutely amazing. Tiana, Drew, Jose, Gillian, and Antony have encouraged everyone to give it a try. There are personal stalls and each are outfitted with a tap, soap, shampoo, seat, bucket, wand for rinsing, mirror, temperature control on the water and an unlimited amount of water. After a wash down and rinse (Simon scrubbed down for half an hour, he loved it so much) there was a choice of 5 different pools, a dry sauna, a steam room, a wet sauna, and an exfoliating room which is like a sauna with a bucket of soft, icing sugar textured salt to rub over oneself before rinsing, to soak or sit in. There were dippers and buckets for rinsing and pouring by every pool or sitting area. It apparently was heavenly and everyone says they feel so clean and have lost about 10 layers. Skipper took Noah and Simon and the boys were thrilled and have asked to go again and to stay longer. Skipper said it is wonderfully and efficiently set up, yet it is beautiful, with the entire area tiled. The rest of the day was filled with visiting the castle, communicating on the internet, laundry, grocery shopping, electronic shopping, visiting the downtown area, eating interesting foods etc. Trainees have all stayed away for the day with only a small group of us returning to the ship for supper and boat keeping. Yesterday fore watch went out for sushi as a watch. Tonight port watch is eating out together. Skipper, the boys and I wandered through the fish markets and the alleyways again, this time with our camera. It was delightful and we saw so many more interesting things. The manner in which the Japanese cut, prepare and present all the different kinds of fish is astounding and I can wander through the fish aisles for a long time admiring the shapes, colors, textures, preparation, presentation etc. The boys too are fascinated with all the strange kinds of food we see. Yesterday we saw some long black coils and some long black snake-like shapes. We discussed them and decided they were seed pods, like the very large ones we saw in the Marquesas. Today we realized they are dried snakes and they use them in soups! We´ve also seen huge snakes pickled in large jars. Apparently the liquid forms a delicious liquor they enjoy here. It is all very interesting and we wish we could ask the vendors questions. Walking down the street today we were stopped by a group of young Japanese students wearing school uniforms. They were attracted by Skippers massive red beard and our very blond-haired boys. They asked if it was okay to touch the beard, so intrigued were they with it. They then asked if they could take their pictures with Skipper and the boys; it was very amusing. We spent some time tonight going over some of our photos from the previous legs; we have visited some amazing places. We realized how much we already miss playing in the water and being so intimately involved with the local people. Japan is a fascinating place but the sense of play and getting to know the community and feeling a part of it, just isn´t available to us as it was in the South Pacific amongst the islands and the smaller communities. It´s difficult to admit that that portion of our voyage is perhaps over, and to be open-minded for the differences that are awaiting us. Trainees are beginning to return to the Grace, I will stop here. Until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.