Zensekai (zen's world under sail)

Relocated

2007-01-18T15:31:00.000-08:00

One if by land , Two if by sea...

ZenSekai - I
Our day to day stuff, land adventures, mindwanderings, rambles

ZenSeaki - II
The sea adventures

One if by land, Two if by Sea.

2007-01-07T22:09:00.000-08:00

Friends, readers, countrymen (and women) lend me your ears (eyes in this case) .

With the new Solar Year, the upcoming New Lunar year of the Boar, and the prestigious admission to the world renown Tillerman's top ten list. I have decided as some good TV shows have in the past to end this blog on a high note. Yes, sad but true. Zensekai is sailing on...

The good news is....

I have gone to a new and better port. ( please hold the applause until the end, thank you)
Yes. I had been thinking of it for a while. Blogger was a good testing ground, kind of like my first boat. I have now grown. Not so much readers and such but in needs. You could say 3 ft itist, but for a blog. I have been seduced and have succumbed to the charms of Wordpress.

Why , why you may ask. Well, I'll tell you.
I like the features, the flexible add and subtract layouts. I like the control & ease I have over picture placement. One on the main things is a can download my blog to a text file for later use in a book or whatever show I chose to do so. I cannot do that here at blogger. :-(
Saddly I did not find out until after I had switch to new blogger I could have imported this blog over to Wordpress, but only with the OLD version not this New improved version. C'est La Vie, mes ami.

So what is up with the new blog you may wonder...
wonder no longer.

I like the "One if by land two if by Sea" phrase so much it is the theme on the new blog(s)

Zen's Sekai I -
Deals with the land adventures of Lady Z & myself. Trips, the band, friends, Zen, philosophy, Kung Fu, Photography, Japan, family, etc, whatever.

Zensekai II -
Is as was here about s/v Zen and our water adventures, training, & preparation, Sailing, thoughts, Philosophy and water related musings.

Get it: I if by land , II if by Sea... Kawaii ne! (cute!)

All the sailing links have been transfered. So if you were here you are there.
The other links are still being completed on Zensekai-I. Some are there others I am still switching. It takes taime I have to do it manually

If you have been kind enough to give me a link on your site please change it.
Thanks !

I will keep this blog up as long as Blogger will let it stay as a road marker and historic site for those that follow.

Please come to visit. Douzo Yoroshiku!
Ja Mata ne! ( later dude)

Fair winds...
Zen and Crew

Tillerman's Top Ten Sailing blog awards

2007-01-02T18:21:00.000-08:00

The Great GodFather, The grandmaster of sailing blogs, the world known Tillerman posted his list of the Top 10 Sailing blogs for 2006 the other day and
OMG! Zensekai was on the list, with 3rd mention.

Whahoooooo
I made the list, woooooo hooooo!!! Break out the bubbly!

Ahem * cough cough * Ahem, er yes,

thank you thank you very much...

ahem...

I'd like to thank, Tillerman, EVK4, Roya-san who first gave me the support to keep blogging in my early days and links to my blog.
Also my other loyal readers around the globe, especally those that leave comments or sent me emails! Thanks to the Great Spirit for the blessings of good health, job, family and opening my eyes to other paths in life. Thanks to my teachers and to Nikon for making cool cameras I can afford. Wayfarer Yachts for making a great boat at reasonable cost so that some 20 plus yrs later I could afford to buy one and even dream of sailing offshore half way around the world. Thanks to Blogger for giving free blog space. Thanks to all those who sailed before me long distance and wrote about so I could share the dream and plan my own. Yoh sensei in Japan who's book showned me it could be done in a small boat, and that my ideas about Zen and sailing are not so weird. Thanks to my big sis Becky J, for letting stay on her boat and suggesting buying a sailboat. Thanks to Jane Mansfield for selling her boat so I could get my first sailboat ride on it and giving the Tillerman an excuse to post her picture (maybe why I was really listed )

Thanks to all the vistors to s/v Zen last year, That gave me stuff to write about, the folks over at Sailfar.net for all the guidance on misc topics, and Captn K for really getting going on this blogging stuff. Thanks to all the makers of all those parts that held up through the years so I did not have to replace them before I went sailing last year. Last but not least my almost perfect wife who does not give me grief about spending time and money on the boat!

Wait a minute...
OMG I just thought what a terrible thing this is! Now I have all this pressure to keep quality posting, try to make the list again... next year !!! arrggggggg. How could you do this to me!!!!!

Just kidding, that would be very un-Zen like. To focus on the prize of hitting center and not the merging of the spirit with the act. Or put another way the trip is about the journey not the destination. Do what you do without thinking of the rewards.

Anyway a nice bit of fun to start the New Year adventures.

C- ya on the water...

Oh btw what did I win? I never got my custom made duct tape cup holder. Is this is another rip off...

:-)

Of mice and Men...

2007-01-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

AKEMASHITE OMEDETOU GOZAIMASU!

New Years Day 07, so a new saga begins...

Lady Zen had to work today, so I was left to my own means for the day. After breakfast, meditation, computer I figured on getting some sailing in, rain or shine, hot or cold. The weather report in the morning was 39 degree with a high of 56. Brrr I'm thinking. Layers layers layers. So I start dressing, silk long johns, turtle neck, Sweats and my heavy zen pullerover with hood. I'm ready. The sky is beautiful, sunny , with small clouds here and there. However I'm thinkning cold. I head outside and started to sweat in all I had on. Change of plans, I take off the turtle neck thinkning it will still be cool at the marina and out on the water. Wrong!!
It was still warm down at the marina. Wonderful weather, almost spring like. I'm going to REALLY miss Cal weather when I get to Japan. Anyway... I'm doing a couple things down at the marina and have to come out of the Long Johns top at least. It is so warm in the sun, I'm baking!

ok so, the weather is great for sailing except for one thing. No wind! Zip, nada!
At least not enough to move a flag much less my boat. C'est la Vie!

Mirror like water
reflecting images clear
I sit still no wind

Ok, like water I mold to the container and flow on to something else. Check out my sail inventory. One is a good working sail, good to keep as a backup. The genoa, is good, but since I plan on staying roller, I'll sell it, along with some of the unused things out of storge I cleaned up over the holiday vacation. It will balance some of the holiday spending done. Like on my new to me Mac laptop. sweet!
Next things replace a broken lock hasp on deck and pull some bulbs to replace with LED's. Then on to adding cable covers on the shourds(sp). That was a pain, not really easy to do, simple yes, easy no. I need to pickup a couple more. Surprisenly cheaper at W. M. than on-line, what a shock!

So a few misc things get put away, I relax on the water a bit just taking in the New Year and being thankful.

New Years night at home:
Lady Zen is fixing something, traditionally Japanese for dinner. Something light and somewhat simple as we are not suppose to have a large celibration, since it has been less than one year since the passing of my Father-in-law. We have a simple New year arrangement, the traditonal bamboo flower arrangement, purchased in Japan last year. We also have the family ceramonial New Years sake set, which she brought back last year. It belonged to her father. Interestingly I got to use it the first time I visited and met her parents in Japan. It was just after New Years so it was still in keeping for them to do the ceramony with me. Little did we know it would be the last time with her father. You never know what the tide will bring...

I have decided to start another blog , for those interested. This one will be on Wordpress. I wanted to try them out, to see what is the difference. I see one thing there is a limit to 50 megs, unless you pay oh that is for pictures I guess. So I'm give that some thought later if it is worth it. I like that I can export my blogs and save them. So if I ever wanted to write a book, I 'd have simple access to all my post. This new blog will be different from this one, as it will not be connected to sailing, but to our other stuff. Maybe later I will move everything there...maybe and have two blogs there...maybe Anyway it is called "One if by land , Two if by Sea". I really started it on Yahoo 360, but I did not like it to much, only one picture can be posted , I found it too limiting. The link is on the side bar if you wish to visit and read some other stuff we do beside sailing. eg: Kung fu, the band, Zen center visits, stuff. The link will be changed later to go direct to the Wordpress location.
For now it link to 360 yahoo.

Lots of stuff planned for this year. Not resolutions, I do not do that. Just plan and do if the force is with me.

Haul s/v zen for bottom paint
Fix head to operate

Go see Tako Drummers from Japan- Feb
We are HOPEING sis and brother in law come to visit from Japan
Mother will come later in the year

Do ASA Bareboat course ( April)
Finish BCC teacher level
Get USCG 6 pack license. ( that is a big deal and fairly costly)

Sail down to Alameda for an overnighter
Sail to Angel island. maybe an overnighter
Sail out pass Golden Gate

Fly to Hawaii
Fly to Japan in Oct -

Well I've got 12 months to cover it all, so lets rock...

Inner sailing

2006-12-27T18:47:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas we went to Japantown. We needed to do a little shopping.

I needed a string for my Shamisen, a restocking of our incense supply, Saki, etc.

I also picked up a book on sailing in Japanese, so the Lady Zen can learn comfortably and understand. I ordered this from Japan via the Japanese book store here. It is called “Inner Sailing”, the name sounded intriguing, maybe I am just reading more into it, since it is written by a Zen Master. It is the ASA official book used in Japan. From the illustrations inside it looks pretty straight forward sailing basics.

Whilst there in J-town we went to one of those floating boat sushi bar places.

Lady Z thought it would be like Japan cheap. It was not!

Although not great, it was not bad. Next time we'll go to our regular noodle shop, which is ichiban!!!

Joy to the World...

2006-12-24T09:32:00.000-08:00

Whatever floats your boat
brings you peace of spirit
we wish you Joy this season
New Year filled with it.

Zen & Lady Zen

As the year sinks slowly in the west...

2006-12-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

Just in... a fitting cliff hanger for the Year end...
I just came back from a job interview with the City of Oakland Boating/Lake Merritt Boating Center. I applied for a Basic Keel Boat instructor position for the summer/fall season of 07... It seemed to go well. I will not hear anything until after the holidays...burn a candle, light incense, say a prayer, whatever floats your boat :-)

s/v Zen can use the money :-)

Thanks to all my new comrades, those I've met live and virtually for the memories, reads, comments, emails, etc

Happy Holidays...peace out

Islander 29- Part II

2006-12-14T11:18:00.000-08:00

There is a right way and wrong way to do & ask things. Put another way a courteous and a dis-courteous way.
As a instructor of Chinese Martial Arts, I am use to a certain level of respect, and manners. I do not tend to make a big deal out it when it is not up to a standard, I'm pretty low key. My parents taught me good manners, my Japanese Karate Sensei taught me more, my Chinese Sifus taught me more. So now when I speak to people I am generally polite, and respectful it gets me great respect when in Japan & other Asian places as well as here in the States.
Now I know that the level of respect and politeness here in the states is different. Lady Zen is often shocked how causal people, strangers speak to each other. I am generally ok, with it, I was raised here and do not expect much. However...
Maybe it is my age that combined with my training makes me sensitive at times.

What does this have to do with an I-29...?

Well, the search engines, google, yahoo, ask, etc find this blog and someone looking for info on an I-29 ( islander 29) will come across this, as may have been the case in the past, and will be again.
This is for them.

I am more than happy to pass along any info or contacts I have on the I-29. I was helped , I will help others. HOWEVER. show some class, some manners, some style, some courtesy.

Start your inquiry with, a salutation eg:
hello, greetings, dear sir, hi, yo, sup, bonjourno, something polite.
I am so and so...

End your inquiry with : thank you

Do not just start off with what you want, eg: I need such in such.
signed; so and so.
WTF!

Not good! rude! Impolite, uncool, I will ignore you. I am not a parts dealer or paid consultant.

show some class...

peace.

Now back to our regular scheduled programming ...

Inspiration

2006-12-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

The Tillerman asked for us co-bloggers to blogversate (coined word from EK4, is that a real word) on who was the person that inspired us to sail. Hmmmm, well since the T-man is one of the 3 who encourged/inspired me to continue this blog, when I was having doubts about doing this, I,ll share what I can.

I did not have sailors in my family. I grew up near the water but not on it. I really thought more about powerboats than sailing, since I liked to go fast and loved fast cars. Typical guy.

When I came to the West Coast and got into the Hippy/love child scene, some friends & I all went out on another friend's sailboat. It at one time belonged to the actress Jane Mansfield. It was called the San Souci. NICE sail boat! I do not recall the size, but it was at least 40-50 ft. We sailed to Catalina one weekend, and other time to Santa Barbara Island. Being a flower child there was a lot of sub stories involved with that, but that is another story...
We'll stick with sailing. Other than the almost being run down by a Oil tanker it was a great trip. I did not find out later how close we came to dying by that tanker, but again that is another story, I digress.

That was my first sailing expreience and last one for many years. However it stuck with me. It was that cool!

Years later I had a friend who owned a old classic motor yacht, I spent many days and night on there. It was a great retreat...

Still later, I would be traveling around the bay watching the sailboats thinking it would be great to be out there criusing, exploring lil coves and what not, taking pictures. The girl friend at the time agreed.

I later took a job at a printing/graphics firm. The owner was a sailor. He had me do some things with his boat photos and I heard some of the stories about the sails he went on. I thought how cool...more on him later.

A while later I came across I think was a lazer sitting for sale in someone's driveway. I thought it was a good price, reasonable for a boat. It was the right size for little adventures and learning. I took pictures and showed them to my boss. He thought it looked ok and told me a few things to lookout for. Going back later the boat was sold...which was a good thing.

Shortly after this time I started looking for a boat as a livaboard. I was thinking a houseboat, something to live on and still go places in. I looked at a few, but did not click with any, and about this time fuel cost started going up. Next I looked at cabin cruisers, nice, closer, but, still not there, then figured it would cost at couple hundred bucks to fill up one of those monsters. Hmmm time to rethink this...

My friend and adopted sister said, you should get a sailboat. She told me about some times she spent on one. Hmmmm, thought I, that maybe the ticket. Environmental good, much gas. The right one could be a liveaboard. If things got to weird here in the states I could sail away to Costa Rica. It was fun on the San Souci, yeah I like it!

So started the hunt for a sailboat. By luck after checking out boats several in my price range, which was low, came across a Person Ariel. I did not know much about saiboats, well nothing really. I did know what I wanted as far as living space, and some things to avoid. I spoke with my friend/sister's husband who had built boats and he gave me some insight. The price and the features where right on this Ariel, as was the reputation of these boats. So I moved fast and purchased it. WOW.

Now I had a boat but did not know how to sail. So I read and understood the basics. After some cleanup and reading, I got in touch with my former boss from the print/graphic shop. I asked him for a short lesson and to checkout the boat. Sure he said! He came out one day, went over the boat, and aproved. He thought I did well. We hooked up everything and went out for a sail. It was great! I was nervous at first, but he talked me through the basics and with a bit of coaching I was handling things well.
We went back to the marina and I was jazzed. I could do this!

Fom there it was solo practice, more reading, watching tapes, more practice, running aground, more pratice, a safety class, more practice... and the rest as they say is history.

So who was my inspiration, hmmm. I do not know if it was just one person, but to pick one I would say my sister, Wild Rose for putting the bug in my ear and Captn Ron who took me out on the San Souci.

Year sunset...

2006-12-12T22:04:00.000-08:00

The rainy season it seems is here. Wet, sometimes cold...brrrr.
For reals not my favorite time of the year. Mornings are dark when getting up, dark when leaving work. yuk!

Now comes the time for inside ship projects, well after the holidays that is.

With the year closing down on the western calendar, my thoughts turn to next year.
Year of the Boar.
The projects, the trips, the adventures.
However some reflections on 07' first.

What a busy year...
Japan; made some good connections, this blog; an interesting trip, sailing classes, teaching certificate, the journeys, new friends & acquaintances; some from both sides of the world. The Tao is pretty amazing, boat upgrades, ceramic projects, new band, the sailing goals, closing the studio, Kung Fu class reunion in Las Vegas, wheww.

So what are the plans/goals for next year, lets see:

Boating:

Bareboat charter course (April)
I had planned on taking this in Oakland, with the Afterguard school, however I came across a good deal at the Tradewinds school. That is where I took my teaching test. I could not pass the price up. I can save some money, almost 200.00 bucks. Awww yea!

ASA Navigation course.

USCG 6 pack ( Sept) I figure Sept will give me enough to to get everything lined up I need and study in.

Basic Coastal Crusing teaching certificate (May) This will take a little planning to make it come together. I need to get a full grasp on Coastal Navigation, perhaps the bareboat class will help enough for me to do this before I take the CN class.

Trips:

Half Moon Bay sail (July) The first bluewater passage... this is still a maybe. The harbor does not look that easy to get into. I will need to research this more.

Overnight in S.F. Bay Angel Island/Teasure island and Alameda ( July & Aug )

Benica

Napa (overnighter). I'm thinking this for a Autumn adventure. Looks like the vineards will be nice to photograph that time of year.

Boat repairs:

Install boom preventer
Repair or replace sea cock in head & get the head in operation.
Haul out-clean and paint bottom
Reseal chain plates.
Install solar panel
Manual Bildge pump
LED lights

Personal stuff:

Continuing Wheel ceramic - Next class Jan

Improve Japanese skills.

Trip to Hawaii, it has been a long time since I've visited the islands. Lady Zen has a dream to just hang out, our late honeymoon on Oahu & Kauai. Maybe we will meet up with my in-laws there, that would be fun.
Trip to Japan (both by air) I am really looking forward to this year's visit. There are several people I want to meet face to face. I'm thinking/planning for Oct. Hopefully get to see some Autumn colors and still be warm enough for a sail with someone.
Improve keyboard skills. Well since speaking with my new buds in Kobe. The plan is to start a band once I get there. Since there is already a Bass player, I will bring my piano skills up to playing that instead of bass. So we'll have Bass, Piano, Sax. Just need a drumer and guitar player. Guitar players are a dime a dozen not a biggie.

I think that is enough, however ... I tend to do more than planned if the Force is with me.
It should be an interesting year if all goes well.

So a short trip on the wayback machine... wrrrrr zipzip zok

I had planned on doing some water/boat ceramic pieces this year, However I was lead elsewhere. I did do one water motif piece.

which is ok, but I was not feeling it to do any more
than that .

So I produced some other works. Which I am mostly pleased with.

I feel much more comfortable using the wheel now. I prefer the manual kick wheel over the electric.

Next year I have some other ideas .

Somethings with dock rope patterns.

Thanks to everyone who came by the site and left me comments or an eMail. Those who write understand the emotional return from that small act.
It was a pleasure meeting and/or chating with you, all those that I connected with. Fairwinds to you in 07' may we all prosper and survive another year of the Baby Bush regime. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays..

Improve Japanese skills. Trip to Hawaii, it has been a long time since I've visited the islands. Lady Zen has a dream to just hang out, our late honeymoon on Oahu & Kauai. Maybe we will meet up with my in-laws there, that would be fun. Trip to Japan (both by air) I am really looking forward to this year's visit. There are several people I want to meet face to face. I'm thinking/planning for Oct. Hopefully get to see some Autumn colors and still be warm enough for a sail with someone. Improve keyboard skills. Well since speaking with my new buds in Kobe. The plan is to start a band once I get there. Since there is already a Bass player, I will bring my piano skills up to playing that instead of bass. So we'll have Bass, Piano, Sax. Just need a drumer and guitar player. Guitar players are a dime a dozen not a biggie. I think that is enough, however ... I tend to do more than planned if the Force is with me. It should be an interesting year if all goes well. So a short trip on the wayback machine... wrrrrr zipzip zok I had planned on doing some water/boat ceramic pieces this year, However I was lead elsewhere. I did do one water motif piece. which is ok, but I was not feeling it to do any more than that .

Tai Chi, Sailing and Laser racing

2006-11-25T20:01:00.000-08:00

Yup this is one of those post. I read the Tillerman's, a well respected sailing blogger's post about racing and taking snapshots views instead of video . What he started doing, by seeing "snapshots" is what I will expand on but, I will to speak on it from different perspective and another level. Anyway he got me to thinking, sometimes that is dangerous an old girl friend use to say, one reason why she is an old gf, remarks like that, but I digress...

Once a upon a time not so long ago the T-man asked for suggestions on what he should so to help his training. I said Tai Chi. He no doubt thought I was being humorous. I was not. Explanation to follow later...

We say Kung Fu helps with everything you do , it is not just about fighting. That is the smallest part of the training.

One of my old teachers who was not a Tai Chi Master but a Arnis /Kali Master, that knew Taichi at least the principals & fundamentals, many of which were used in Kali ( A Philippine martial art). He was hired to work with the Dallas Cowboys at one of their camps. Why you may ask, because he could help them move and deal with energy.

Now that is only one part of expanded use of Tai Chi, which I have spoken of before. As in dealing with wind energy and the transfer of that to the boat and sailing.

Now, we have another saying the Kung Fu makes you more "aware". As in, aware of yourself and your environment as well as others around you. Feeling the "vib" as I call it, or as they said in Star Wars the "force" Tai Chi is a form of Kung Fu. In Tai Chi we start with that awareness training internally, within ourselves and learn to expand that to others. To know your opponent first you must know yourself.

We start with the single form, learning about our body, how to balance it. Then we move to partner practice, where we learn more about ourselves and balance, our weak points our strong points. Next step is expanding that "awareness" to your partner their balance their weak points when they move, & when they are still. Using that expanded awareness you learn to contract or expand that awareness, extending the force field you can say. Expanded, walking through a strange area, looking , feeling for something strange, danger or in the case of sailing feeling the wind, looking/feeling for shifts, feeling the boat, the water. Is it balanced, am I balanced in it, if I was sitting in another position would it be better balanced with itself, with the water, with the wind. Same as if using a weapon or a double weapon, the weapon is no longer something that you are holding it/they is/are part of you. You and it/them must be in balance, the old be one with the weapon saying. In this case, being one with the boat, wind and water.
With a partner feeling their weight shift, the balance change, tension. Learning to read their body. In awhile you can do that without touching them, seeing how the body is set, weighted to move.

So, in racing and sailing we need to be aware of the wind changes, patterns. Taking in the environment, feeling and seeing not just what is in front of us, but small changes in the water, the body of the competition. Looking feeling, sensing, seeing small things while looking at big things...
Not only the wind, but the feel of your boat & yourself everyday we are a little different. The training, forms, breathing, drills helps us stay as centered, balanced as much as possible...aware. Add to that the mind/mental state of being in meditation, calm, but actively aware.
The more aware you are and better able to use that on multi levels the better you sail.

Post Thanksgiving Sail

2006-11-24T19:30:00.000-08:00

Post Thanksgiving Non-sale sail

It was a good day, Mild temps, in the 60's light wind.

I headed to the Marina.

My first encounter with the owner of the Choy Lee ketch . Great looking boat, 30 ft, teak decks, desiel motor, full keel. Nice I would love to have this boat!

We chat a bit and I head down to s/v Zen and get her ready to sail. I was set for cool weather, I had my silk Long John's on, and my heavy Zen sweat shirt. However the weather so far was perfect, cool but not cold. Wind about8-10 knots.

I cast off easily and raise the sails...

Casting off is so much easier these days, once I figured it out.
I think it helps having a taller boat, I could never quite get the hang of it with Kuan Yin.

Not much going on a very easy sail, only one tanker to dodge. There are only a couple of other sailboats out today. It is generally quite in this area except during the summer months when we get a few racing yachts passing through. Beig that this is the first day of wind on the weekend I thouhgt there would be more boats out. For the most part the water is mine...

Easy sail around for an hour or so then head back to the marina...

It is starting to get cool, as the sun is behind some clouds and going down. The few others that are out are also heading back in now.

Now I'm glad I wore the long johns.

So back to the marina and an easy dock.

I'm putting sailing away and shockingly another sail boat come in to my dock. For the most part I am the only one of the four sailboat there that goes out.
I go to chat with him a bit turns out he is new.

He is only been around for a few weeks and has been disappointed about about the lack of winds over the last few weeks.
Sound like he ia a regular sailor. So now there are two if us.

It was a good day. Thankful to get my sail-on.

Trees stilll show their colors
Sky is blue and fluffy white
My sails are full, life is good

The Water Course Way

2006-11-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

The water course way is another name for the way of Tao, it was coined by the late philosopher Alan Watts. Life has many paths and crossings, like streams and rivers making it's way to the sea or to put in street terms, Life is a Trip...

When I was younger one of my favorite series of books was by someone called Tuesday Lopsang Rampa. They were purported to be Rampa's autobiographical tale of his study and mastery of Tibetan Buddhism. He underwent many hardships and lessons in his life. I never took it for real however the thought behind it...I always was intrigued by the stories and the Philosophy that came with it. He was in the course of his waterway (Life path at least in these stories) to have much contact with the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dali Lama ...

Back when I was beginning to put all this trip together about going to Japan, toying with the birth of this journey. I thought...hmmmm I can study some ceramics there, teach some Kung Fu, do some sailing around the islands, perhaps study some Zen teachings...

Later when doing some research on sailing to Japan I came across stories on a couple of Japanese sailors who had made the trip from Japan to S.F. and beyond. I read some of their stories and was impressed...

A one point I wanted to find a Japanese book for my wife so she could read about sailing basics and I could pickup some Japanese terms. I did not have much luck , well really none...

Later on this watercourse I came across a Gentleman in Japan who knew one of these famous Japanese sailors. It also turns out he is there near where we are planning to move. I also find out later he is a Zen master and lecturer. Talk about things that make you go hmmmmmmmm...

After a while of doing this blog I write a piece about Zen, Sailing, Taichi and the Tao or something near that. It inspired me to write this Zen master and introduce myself. I figured why not, he is a sailor, I would like to meet him on my next trip to Japan and speak of Sailing and Zen. He was receptive and responded, even said he would look at my article and respond if he thought it was called for. He never did so I guess he thought I was on the right track or full of it :-) ...

Time passes...

I progress with my sailing studies and seek another teacher to move to another level. I come across a lady, who started the program where I had my basics, but she moved on to start and run her own school. I contacted her about training and testing. After a few discussions, she surprises me with the statement she not only knew the Zen Sailor but taught him as well. He was responsible for having the ASA Standards manual done in Japanese...

Times passes...
I complete my ASA teaching basic level. I figure hmmmm I should really teach the Lady Zen, I can having her challenge the ASA Basic Keel Boat to get certified as well. She will know what she is doing and can help when I get some students who speak Japanese, Like her Brother-in-Law and any other friends. Mostly she will be able to know what to do and be helpful when sailing and not feel so helpless, if something happens. I remember there is something in Japanese print by the Sailing Zen master ...

I contact him again, hoping he will remember me and I'm not being bother ( eg: pain in the butt). I ask about a lead to a book, he remembers me and informs me he has 2 available via Amazon.com. I mention about speaking with his teacher and the Universes way of having paths cross...

He replies likewise and adds the meanings show up later.
He also mentions he had just spent 3 days with the Dali Lama & found him also a great Taoist...

Life is a trip.

Zen & the ASA the Teaching certificate

2006-11-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

As I start this entry I'm sitting in Tradewinds sailing school. Just across from San Fransico, Ca.It is Sunday, I have just finished the final module of my ASA teaching certificate class for Basic Keel Boat.
I am waiting for the instructor to return with the last of the candidates instructors doing their afloat teaching modules. I'm glad I got mine done early.

So lets use the Wayback machine and start from the beginning on Friday Nov 3rd. This has been a Long weekend! It started on Friday @1600 hrs it is now Sunday @ 1500hrs.

Fri . 11/03/06

I took the day off. Things were slow at work, again. I figured to using the day to get some extra study in for the test coming over the weekend. There were 3 at home test to complete. This was nice I can use my books to make sure I am correct and as a study aid for the big test at the class.

It started as a cloudy windless day, there had been a lot of that happening lately.
I had to go to the marina to let in the Phone Guy so I can have a land line down at s/v Zen. This way I can use it an an office for my Shaolin Enterprises.
It turned out to be a complicated affair, but I use the time while waiting to study.

Around 3:00pm I head out for class over in Point Richmond, CA at the TradeWinds school

I arrive shortly after 1600 hrs due to some traffic. It turns out others were MORE late than myself. Some of which were almost 2 hrs late! They, I found out had quite a ways to travel, some a 3-4 hour dr.

The evening progresses, we cover what is going to happen over the next few days, fill out papers and mark the tests we completed at home. We marked each others test. It took awhile as some answers were challenged.

I was happy to just recently done these test as a student so I was already comfortable with the correct answers to ones that were somewhat worded weird. That combined with research at home, the test was fairly easy. I got a 98 on one and 95 on the other. That one more advanced and I was never clear on a few answers even with research. No biggie! I got 95, I needed 90 to pass

The evening ended about 9:00pm with our assignment for the next day. We were to prepare a lecture on a drawn/choosen topic. Mine was on Man Overboard recovery or MOB drill as called. This was to be a 10 min lecture using whatever means we chose to help get the point over.

Sat:

The day starts at 0830. I use this military term because that is what the instructor does. He is holds a USCG Master License. He turns out to be an excellant Instructor Evaluator ( IE). Helpful, relaxed,knowledgeable, a good example of teaching professional.

It is a very Foggy day over this way, foggy and low wind again. I arrive on time, but others are there before me. I get selected to do my on the water solo sailing with the morning group whilst the other half of the group does the instructor paper test and prepares for the lecture.
My group heads out.

After checking out the boat we set off. Seas are calm, as in almost mirror calm. In spite of the calmness I am surprised that another guy testing for instructor cert. gets sick and is hanging over the rail for a bit. Perhaps it was his breakfast ... bummer for him.

We pick turns to do the test. I go second, I want to get it over with. The first guy, does his almost perfect through everything.
He had been teaching for the Tradewinds school and was familair already with the boat and the teaching style. We are suppose to do everything solo but talk like we are telling students what we are doing. Meanwhile the IE is making notes...
I was nervous and glad to go second.
The drill generally takes about 15- 20 min to do everything, with no wind the first guy took almost 1 hr. That did include getting back close to our starting mooring after the current pulled us way down stream. Part of the long time lag also because we had very low wind.
My turn...gulp! Breathe...show time...

This is my first time sailing off a mooring. I did it, but had just a bit of trouble. I got dinged 5 points :-(
listed as not enough control. I had a small accidental gybe in the shifty winds. If I ever had to do that again I would start with only the jib.
The rest went fairly smooth. I was nervous about having to speak the whole time, and got a few terms mixed up, another ding. Otherwise things went smoothly considering I had light to no wind, and the little that was there kept shifting.

Now time to pickup the mooring. Again my first time, fast current and mostly no winds and shifting at that. I was able to pull it off. So I'm done, other than getting a low point for poor sail trim, something I need to watch on beam reach. Still other than that I got 95 % out of 100%, whewwww, I can breathe. It took me 45 min. Awwww yeah over! wahoooo!!

After taking way too much time and zero wind after me, we head in as it was getting late.
We have lunch and the next group goes out to try their luck with the winds. Meanwhile we get on with the HARD written test!! Gulp!
This test takes a couple of hours, hard questions, many of which I had not planned on or studied . Day signals on boats, towing questions, USCG Navigational rules, Yikes!! We do have some lead way, we only need 75% to pass.

Next phase the lecture...
I setup things.

The gent before me uses a powerpoint presentation. Smooth talker, the has all the answers type. It was polished. I followed, I did a few drawings on the board, and used some props, with a few joking remarks, it went well. No one knew I am uncomfortable in front like that.
Pick a friendly face, like the cutie in front and talk mostly to her.
Whewww that was over...

After 2 other's lectures it was time to mark the MAJOR quiz, no a test over 100 questions is not a quiz!!!! The other 4 lectures would go tomorrow for 8 total.

The big one...I was nervous. It was set in my mind I would need to come back and redo this part of the test. No one else seemed confident about it, even the other student with the USCG master Lic.
We as a class go through each other's test and check and discuss the answers. Some of the answers were direct, some were open to interpretation, others had more than one answer, there was much discussion. After another hour of that we finshed grading the test. I needed 75% to pass... I got 83.3 , wahooo!! What a relief
I'm thinking the worst is over, but no there is more...

Sunday:
I'm thinking today will be easy, no pressure, just do a quick bit of a teaching routine on the water and I'm home free. Turns out to be more than that! There is another classroom lecture as well.
Ok, so I get picked to go out with the first group, ok, not so bad. Get it done then relax for the most part.

I head out with the 1st group. What I was told would be a few minutes, like about 30 sec around robin turned out to be about 10 min talk rounds, on different aspects of sailing like we had a boat full of students, except there is someone watching and making notes on your performance, again yuk!

One of mine was leaving the dock for the first time. Not bad, were the comments. After another round it was me again this time, on heading up and bearing away. Comments this time were "unsure in the beginning, but got into after a bit". Heck yeah! I was nervous, then I figured I could shift the burden to the students by putting things into more of a question form. Then using the right answers & words to clearify. It was a good plan.
After another person did their two modules, and we start to head back as again there is NO wind! At least nothing to really work in. But everyone had their 2 rounds.
So we fire up the motor, go for about 5 minutes, then the outboard DIES!!
There we are with no wind and no motor!. The fuel line had fell off and we ran out of gas. Not a big deal you may think, but after replacing the hose connection, the motor still would not start. Everyone gives it a try to get the motor going. Nothing! How many sailing instructors does it take to start a motor?...We have the sails back up now but are mostly just a drifting!! A boat full of instructors, with no wind and no motor! Great!! There are a bunch of kids in Lazer like sailboat buzzy around us...There we are a bunch of grown adult instructors, for the most part stuck...priceless.

We drift for about 15 min waiting for hopefully the motor to unflood after replacing the hose. If that was the problem. Luckly after the wait the motor did start and we were off to port. We were almost 1 hour later than we had planned on being back.

So we have lunch and prepare for the afternoon lecture for my group. The second group heads out for their final on the water check.

The second lecture is easy goes smooth, I finish in 5 min. Nice! No pressure since this one is done without the IE there, the other instructor candidates grade your lecture.
and we are done!!!! Whaoooooo relief, now I can relax.

We have to wait for the rest to return before we get to the final wrap up stuff.
I take a stroll around the area.
I had no idea there were such nice, home$$$ in this part of town. More so right on the water. Some were even able to have their boats right outside the back door. Must be nice!! Of course it does not insure happiness, but it is comfrortable. :-)

There is a boat there like an old schooner, or something, made of CONCRETE at the dock. The guy took 20 years to build. His wife left him in the process. Everyday he is out cleaning it, I saw him chasing birds off of it.
That says a lot eh...

After a 30 min walk I head back the office, I start writing this and get very sleepy, so nap time while everyone else is chatting away. We are all waiting for the second crew.

Finally they return and we settle in for the final chat from the (IE).
After filling out and learning about more paperwork. We are done. The group wants to head over to a Hotel bar/cafe for the final debriefing. I was not that pleased, as I am not the bar dinking type, but went along. It was a nice place over in town. I had a glass of wine, the others had beer and shots. While the IE held separate talks with each of us and signed our official books, Yeah!!!!!! Finally I was done!!
I headed home, Lady Zen and I head out to our favorite Japanese restaurant for a celebration dinner. Stuffed and happy we returned home to relax.

So how was the class... more complex than I had thought, it was a challege, as I was told it would be. I'm glad I put in the extra study time and took it seriously. It was a good exprience and makes one feel the certificate has some real value.

A special thanks to Bill of Bliss in Kobe, Japan for turning me on to this learning/training path and his helpful study aids.

So what is next...
A bit of a rest then, onward. I should start teaching the Lady Zen to sail. Then she can challege the ASA BKB student level test and get certified to sail. Also it will help to have her knowing what do do on the water and help teach/translate in Japanese when needed.

Though I guess the next real things is to find an outlet to teach so I can stay as an active instructor. I di not know about that part until after I signed up. Well I have a shot at getting on with the city of Oakland Program. Some P/T work with them would be good.

I'm pretty sure Coastal Navigation is the next study, then Bareboat student level.
The USCG Power Squad offers Celestual Navigation & passage making classes for free to members. Since I took one of their safety classes I am able to become a member. I'm also thinking about the limited USCG six-pack. It will not be of any good in Japan, but the knowledge learned will be, since I will need to do testing there to get a Japanese License to sail.

Ideas and Members

2006-10-30T12:31:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, I had considered joining my local Yacht club. I figured it would be good to meet some new people, share some stuff, etc. After doing some reading about some adventures other clubs have, and hearing a few things, it seemed like mostly it was a reason to get together and drink. Ok, if that is what you like, fine. Responsible drinking is ok.

Now my local club I found out had very few sailing members mostly powerboaters. Hmmm, now we are into a different realm. The idea of powerboating somewhere & drinking does not do anything for me. Nor does the thought of that kind of crowd, not that they are bad, just I'm different. My local club does not have docking facilities, nor a space that I could use for teaching my classes, nor sailors, so that idea went out the window or port as it were.
Being mostly a quiet type and not a big group animal , I figured it was best. Not much gain for the amount of time and money needed to be a member, at least for me.

I came across this on-line group, they had a charter, bylaws, blah blah. So I hooked up with them. No output maybe a few connections when overseas as the Commodore was currently in Japan. The Commodore is quiet for a long time, turns out is is making ready to go to Spain and is looking for someone to run things. I can do that I figured and was appointed the position as Vice-Commodore.

So I'm thinking maybe with a little effort this could work into something. There are many many on-line groups that have sailing stuff, tips, jokes, etc, etc, sail parties. So I'm thinking more on the lines of just an international network of folks will to lend a hand/advise to another when visiting, or at least direct them in a needed direction. If they are in the same area and just want to hook up so much the better.
eg: sailing to Spain, need some local info, help, parts, direction, check in with the Commodore. In Indonesia check in with blah blah. In Japan, In California, etc, etc. Maybe even get a few real time clubs to give some type of affiliation, courtesy visitor pass, etc, something.

So I am looking for ideas and members to make this go . It cost nothing and may help someone , including yourself down the channel.
Give me some feedback.

Partly cloudy

2006-10-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

Seems like I was not not quite in balance this weekend. I had 3 days off but, I seemed to have lost track. The time switching and getting a little sick last night , as well as some frustration, may have added to todays feeling of lost time.

Lets see, Friday...ah , yes, I went down to s/v Zen. I got a call on Thursday saying they were turning on my business phone line there, but the Phone co. only takes it to the Harbor house connection, then they, the marina handles it. Hmmm turns out they do not. They gave me the number of someone who does. I thought this would have been fairly simple since there is already a connection box there... but no. Oh well next step...

So I did a few misc things on the boat. Installed a heavy flag line and replaced the string. I took a lil bit of a movie of raise the burgees. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll post it.

Friday night off to my Sifu's for Kung fu practice. Learned some more of the Chu Tai Chi Sword. This is the Tai Chi Mantis, Tai Chi sword form One of my goals is to finish that and a couple of other items before heading off to Japan. I have a lot to reveiw , record and practice before then. My "Uncle" wants me to put more time into the Chen Style as well.
Will this all come into use in Japan, who knows. But it will give me stuff to practice and stay in shape. Hopefully I can pickup at least a couple of students to pass this on to and have a Japan branch to The Chuk Kai Tai Chi Mantis Federation, besides me.

Sat. morning a quick review and filming so I wil not forget stuff from Fri. Then off to Ceramic class. I have no class on Sat, but I can go into the shop and work. Turns out my sushi plates are ready from the kiln. I am pleased with a couple. Two got kind of warped but still ok. Colors are not like I had planned, but still over all they are nice. Lady Zen liked them. I finished up triming a new sake bottle while there. I think this one will be the best. I wll not have much time this week to play with ASA studies to do... more on that later

Next off to "uncle's" shop to work. I put in a couple of hours on the computer mostly working camera stuff for him. Whihc reminds me I need to update the photography website.
So then I pickup sushi for dinner so Lady Zen does not have to deal with making dinner. We can have a relaxing evening watching Fuji TV, our Sat night Japanese programs.

So now it is Sunday already, gosh. I sleep in a little. Then breakfast and some computer stuff. I give some thought to getting in some sail time. I have ASA teachers test coming next weekend. I should get out and go through some drills. I kind of put that on the back burner as it is still somewhat early and low tide is around noon. It is now 10:30. So no point of going until after lunch.

I give some thought to the test and go over the paperwork sent to me. YUK! There is a lot of stuff to study. So I have at it, reading , reading , reading checking questions, researching my books. Blah, it is good I have some good books to research. Some of the things that are going to be coverd are not even on the level I am testing for. ????? What up with that ??? Grrr.
Hmm now it is getting late, and I just figure out there is a time change today not next week. Hmmm. after some more thought I figured I am less concerned with my on the water test than I am with the written stuff. So I put aside sailing for today and get back to the book work. Addtionally researching some of the water manuvers I will need to do. eg: sailing off a mouring, docking to a morning. I have not done these, but using some logic and comparing that with some book samples, it does not seem that complex. Similar in a way to the man overboard drills. I am fairly sure I can handl it. Not need to rush through them anyway I can tak emy time. This will not be a race.
The big thing in my mind is the questions, so more research turns up alll the answers I need. So I'll spend the next few days packing it all in my brain, and hopefully I'll be able ot re-access it when needed.

This testing over 3 days, written, on the water, lecture, given topics to mock teach both in the class and on the water...I'm preparing.. but still nervous about the un-known.
Kind of like looking at the Golden Gate bridge in a fog bank. You know that the bridge is there, what it looks like, how it functions, what is suppose to be there, but you can only see the tip of it from a distance. What in really on it is only a guess...

Windless

2006-10-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

Sunny Autumn day
Glassy water reflects windless sky
How sad... no sailing

Sailing, Sake & Sushi

2006-10-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

It was a clear day; looking out on the lanai I could see there was some wind. Not much but some. More than yesterday, so things were looking up. The forecast said 8 mph winds.
We were waiting for the Tokyo/Monterey (we’ll call them AE & Sakura) delegation to arrive.
We got the arrival call just shortly after 11:00, perfect.
After getting them in, and the greetings thing done, I checked with the Benicia Marina for docking space, which turned out to be a no-go. Bummer! Oh well Chisai koto ( no biggie)
Plan B was to go to Glen Cove. However with light winds, and Glen Cove itself although cute was not as interesting as Benicia for out of towner’s first visit. time for plan C

We head off to the Japanese market, pickup a light lunch, sushi roll, Inari, some plums, pack some wine. They grab some things to take home since Monterey does not have a Nippon Market. So the Sakura from Tokyo is happy to get some home food.
Then off we head to the marina.

Down at s/v Zen we unpack and setup for lunch.
Some wine and sushi and floating puts everyone in relaxed mode.
The weather was perfect at the marina, cooler than inland but very comfortable.

Afterwards we prep for a sail. Since there is not much wind and already getting on with the tide timing the plan is to just sail around. Before that though I wanted to get my line setup for burgees flags. I volunteered the Lady Zen since she is the smallest. She was not too pleased about it, but went along with the plan after I explained it to her a couple of times.

It went smoothly; afterward she said it was not too high after all. Now I have my string up so I can host the SailJapan Burgee. I thought it was in keeping with the Kobe /Tokyo connection aboard today. Later I will pull through a heavier line for the burgees, which will include, SailJapan, SailFar.net, This Old Boat, & International Yacht Club.

Side note I am now the Vice-Commodore of the International Yacht Club. Sounds impressive it not? Over 75 members…. It is an on-line group, but maybe I’ll check into to getting some real time affiliations.

Off we head out of the marina, a small mishap on launch as the docking line catches and hangs us up. We free the line but come out of the slip at a very bad angle, but we make it and off we go.

Winds are very light, so mostly we are just above a drift rate. Very relaxing and pleasant going. We have some tunes going and chit chat.

Sakura feels the need to nap, as the sun, and wine fully kick in. It is nice cruise we make slow time but soon we are over at the Benicia entrance, I swing around and head away an over to Seal Buoy.

Today as most nice days there were couple of sleeping big guys napping.

After a few more turns around the area we head in under power as the wind by this time was almost nothing again with a glass-like surface.

A smooth docking back at
the slip and we are done.

A bit of a photo op and we are off.
We take a quick sighting drive through Walnut Creek downtown for our guest and we head home.

Lady Zen prepares dinner, sushi, spring rolls, salad, and garlic rice.
MMmmmmm.
I break out some Sake brought back from Kobe, smooooooooth, fresh taste MMmmmmm

We settle in for the evening with a game of Mahjong. The Nippon ladies hold the victories on

the round. Lady Zen wins 1 hand with Sakura taking 3 hands. No fair, AE & I are wearing the
clothes, drinking the drink and they are winning, wazz up with that!!!

Part II the next day.
Lady Zen has to work, so I am up early fixing breakfast for the team. Sausage links (veggie for me) fried apples, Fried potatoes with onions and peppers, corn bread and Spanish omelets, with Mimosas to wash it down.

I take the crew, less Lady Zen to Berkeley to the

Berkeley flea market, one of my favorite stops there.
We hang out, AE gets a massage, afterward we chat with the soap lady who gives us the run down on her soaps, gels and bath salts.

We purchase a few and she gets a small interview for the podcast. After a few other booth stops we are off to Tokyo Fish Market which, turns out to be closed. Bummer!!!

Next stop, Jack London Square. We stop at a few farmers market booths, check out some art, head over to World import and Bed, Bath & Beyond. On the way back it is a Ben and Jerry Break from there a stroll back to the car, taking in the autumn
leaves.

We head up into the Berkeley hills on the way back to Home Base. I show them one of the best view spots of the area.
From the vista we see, Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Marin, and Alameda. The fog was in and heavy, but it made the view in way more interesting.

So finally stop on the way in is Jo’s Sushi Bar in Pleasant Hill. The best Sushi place Lady Zen & I have found in our area.
There we have a light dinner of OSHII sushi, some misc chit and chat and joshing with the waitresses. Sakura is pleased with the taste, and AE is impressed with the Chief’s skill level. Next time it is at the bar with a bottle of Sake.

So ends a much needed playtime weekend for all. Now is the time to study down for my up coming test in two weeks!!!! Recess is over.

Becalmed friday

2006-10-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

So you may wonder what does this picture have to do with being becalmed... answer nothing!

It is here for two reasons
1. I did not have a picture for the day.
2. A few months back I said something about doing a new ceramic class . I have yet to do anything nautical other than a few waves on some sake cups. However it is a filler and it something from the ceramic venture. One of the few things I am really pleased with. The cups are cool but the pictures do not look good. There are a few more pix on Flicka

Onward...

Clarity:

I had a visit to the blog from one of my favorite blog writers, Butiku-san. His blog, laughing-knees is not about sailing and water, but the other element earth/mountains and his life in Japan. He has wonderful photographs. We use the same camera, nice. He sent me an email saying he liked boating but it was like a different planet from the mountians. He was also a bit purplexed about all the Zen's. :-)
Since he doesnot have a direct email on his site I'll answer that here for him and anyone else that drops by , Ok here goes

I am Zen or aka Captn Zen, Vice Commodor Zen, some combo of that. Mostly just Zen.

Lady Zen is my almost perfect wife, who is my balance and partner.

s/v Zen aka Sailing Vessel Zen is our Boat, an Islander 29

:-)

Becalmed friday:

Today looked perfect outside, temps in the high 70's, sunny, great autumn day. I took off from work 1/2 day. Things are scary slow when they want you to be 95% billable :-(
anyway. I figured i'd take off the afternoon, without pay, and go sailing. I have my teachers certification class testing coming up in a couple of weeks, and I have not been out on the water for as many so, I figured today is the day. I can get some practice in. Man overboard, heaving -to, points of sail, etc. The Universe however had other plans, as in NO WIND! grrrrrr
it was beautiful outon the water almost glass, but not enough wind to move me. Sometimes just enough to tease but not enough to move. So I drifted for a while then motored back to the marina. Oh well...
Making the best of things I gave s/v Zen a wash down. Lady Zen will be happy she has been wanting to do that for a while and with company coming on Sat, it worked out well.
The weather cast says a bit more wind tomorrow we'll see...
We had planned on sailing to Benicia for lunch, however a call over there says they will be very full with a guest yacht club visit, bummer. I was told try before coming chances are slim though. Oh well. No wind (maybe) no dock space (maybe), let's see what the tide brings...

Autumn Mushotoku day

2006-10-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Autumn...

Who says we do not have seasons in California. When the weather is nice, in the 70's and it is sunny, it is nice, but some days, like today, cool & cloudy are not my favorite. Hard to feel like doing anything, more so when dealing with a bit of depression. Yuk, I need some play time...
It has been awhile since I posted as I said it would be. I had thought about it last week, being my 6 month blog anniversary, but I figured only I cared. I have learned a lot about blogs in that time and met some interesting people. Some who drop by read and leave comments, thank you and then there are the others... some of who I support their blog but...oh well, sometimes in life you're on a one way street. It is better to Mushotoku blog.

It was my hope today to get out for a bit of sail. Yesterday Sat. was wonderful weather. I was hoping to take Lady Zen and our Tokyo friends out but... things happen and plans change. We are hopeing for play time next week. Perhaps with a couple of couples. It will be the largest group I've had on s/v Zen.

Anyway, today I had figured on going out single- handed, however the weather although not bad was not good. Well at least to me. Weather report said a high of 66. For a Summer child of the topics this was not good. Yeah I know 66 was nothing, but cooler on the water. I was not into chill'n
However if the sun had been out I would have given it a go anyway.

I started out today on my lanai (balcony) garden watering the plants, cleaning up rodent poop. Yuk!, I had an invader, but he is history...
I was shocked to see those guys can climb up the side of buildings.

So after checking the weather and feeling outside I was not feeling sailing.

I had been to the marina on Sat. It was great weather, but things were off...

The Zen sense was flashing...things were not right in the area, the energy is weird. Someone had taken my water hose, used it and left it un-wrapped laying off the dock, as if trying to fill the marina harbor... weird. When I went on s/v Zen the door was fine but the cover looked like it had been messed with...but all was well.

So I look around...Other things were off in the marina,
there was a boat sunk across from me...

The boat next to me with livaboards was now empty...abandoned

Another boat across from that, same owners, under lock/chain & key...

another boat on my dock had oil pads all around it
and looked like the inside had been gutted, WTF...

several boats had locks and chains on them... I went hmmmmmmm.
Looking at the locks on the boats, I thought... hmmm they look similar perhaps these are people who did not pay their bill... I spoke with the dock hand, my bud, he told me yeah. The locks are on folks who have not paid their slip charges. Some are over $1,000... WOW!
There were lots of dead beats. I felt better knowing the real deal at least about that...

So today, I'm back down on s/v Zen I figured on doing some basic checks, running the motor and changing the oil for next Sat's adventure.
I had purchased a 12volt oil change pump, which I had yet to try out, so today was the day. It worked great!! It made the process very simple. Nice! A worth while investment.

Also, added gas stablizer to the fuel, since no way with winter coming I will use up the whole tank of gas. Checked out my new to me camera tripod,

took a shot of s/v Zen flying the Good ole Boat burgee, maybe I'll get in the mag, at least that is what they said...when I send it in. We'll see.

maybe a better picture though...

So enough of the marina day... I prepare to head home. As what happens 85% of the time I have to wait for the train to pass before I can leave the park. Today it is two Looooong frieght trains

So I head back in to the marina grounds to kill some time...

Grab a few shots, then head off to the store after the train passes and the road again is open.

I stop at the market, get some wine, a DVD rental, Xmen, (yeah very cool) and pop next door at Papa Murphy for a bake at home pizza. A Veggie gourmet delight. I doctor it up at home, fresh Basil from the garden, lots of garlic, veggie sasauge, bake... it is ready 3 min before Lady Zen comes home...good timing, we pig out!

So what else happening, you may wonder or not.

As I said slow time for sailing , of sorts. Next week we hope to have a Autumn Lzenzenzuyunandan (hahah for me to know)Benicia Adventure.
I do have my ASA BKB teacher's exam coming up Nov 3rd. I have a couple of weeks to study up for that.
I spoke with the lady who was suppose to give me the test but she did not have enough people to take it, so it was cancelled. I am going to another location for that test. I chatted with the lady some, she has all the other ASA classes going on at her school, Afterguard Sailing Academy that I want to take to prepare for the Japan passage. Also they are a good price. I'm planning on the next Navigation class with her, in Feb. As it turns out another small world omen, Japan thing happened. She turns out to be the ASA teacher who taught/certified the Sailing Zen master, Aoki, Yoh Sensei I have contacted in Japan. I will be taking the rest of my courses with her. What a karma moment to find that out! So I have another Sensei. Some things are just meant to be...God/The Universe/Tao/Great Spirit put us where we need to be.

The Monterey Japan connection

2006-09-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Ok my loyal readers, all 6 or 8 of you :-)
We are just back from a mini
vacation. Well sort of just back. I just came from Band rehersal...
But anyway, we are resently back from a mini vacation to Monterey/Carmel.

OK, so I figure less writing this time you can get the idea from the pictures

We got to Monterey on Friday for the whale watching. The trip was cancelled due to high winds. bummer...We reserved a spot for Sat.
and got a discount, cool!

After grabbing something to eat we walked along the trail over to the Monterey Aquarium. The weather was great.
Walking was way better than driving, we got to see some cool stuff.

The jelly fish exibits were outstanding. This poor picture
does not do it even the smallest of justice!

Sat. it was back to the wharf for the whale watching tour.

We got a ride on the biggest of the tour boats. I do nto know if that was good or bad. Perhaps the smaller boat would have been better. Less noise to the whales, easier to move about on the water...

It was good to get out in open water. I was wonder about the motion of the ocean since it has been awhile since I've been out on real ocean waves. Lady Zen did well, I did ok, I would have been better with a real breakfast I think. Maybe not, the diesel fumes, I did not care for, that made me a bit uneasy with the large waves. I did suck on some ginger, but did not get sick ,like a couple of people did, poor things.

We did get to see quite a few whales. Even one with a baby, well more like a teen. They seemed to be closer overall to the smaller boats. Lucky I had my good lens with me. I was hopeing they would come closer to the boat. As a Photograher I would have loved to get that one killer shot. There were about 6 we saw total on the trip...

Back at the wharf...

We hung out for a while waiting for another couple. We had not met before they were just in from Japan a few weeks. The guy was an acquaintance of mine from the Black Tokyo forums. Never seen him or his wife so did not know what to expect. Lady Zen says , how will we know them. I said they will look like us...

Our first Blasian friends. Hanging out with them for the rest of the day and into the evening turned out to be the high point of our trip. We got great and helpful info on living in Japan.
Also it was fun being tourist together. We all enjoyed being able to relate to each other.

The ladies hit it off well.
They started talking just like they were old friends.

The ladies in the classic Japanese tourist pose >>

After drinks and snacks at the wharf we went to Carmel beach for awhile an felt the ocean scene ...

Later just walking around the town, galleries, stores, early dinner...

Later we went sake tasting, sushi, chatting, and a late stroll

good times.

A future sail coming...stay tuned.

we'll be back...

So whats next? Well the ASA teaching certification class was postponed , Grrrrr bummer. Not sure when that will be. Lady Zen is off to Japan soon to help Mum, move. I would love to go but ...$$$

I have a Wedding photo shoot up coming. I am closing my Kung Fu Studio space so will need to move stuff SOON. I maybe getting a couple small sails in and just doing some misc boat stuff to prep for our next sail and the approch of winter rains. However nothing really planned for a while until Oct. So it maybe quiet around here for a while...

But you never know what the tide will bring...

ASA Coastal cruising Part II

2006-09-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

Sat. started early. My nearly perfect wife, the Lady Zen, got up early, unexpected by me and made me breakfast and lunch. It was a pleasant surprise as I was ready to do my make protein drink and grab a sandwich at Safeway sailing Sat run. So, nice breakfast of blueberry pancakes and a couple of sandwiches later. One Tuna and one vegetarian BLT by the way. I was off to The Second Part of Coastal cruising.

I was expecting it to be cold, thinking we were going to Angel Island. The weather report was calling for a high of about 60 degree. Therefore I planned it on being even cooler on the water. Time for the silk Long Johns, yup silk Long John, they are the bomb! Those plus a fleece jacket and my serious windbreaker from off Zen. and a extra sweatshirt, I was ready. Better too hot than cold is my motto.

Easier to take off what you do not need than to put on what you do not have

...book of Zen sailing edition.

So down at the dock, it is cloudy and fair cool, not cold but cool enough that I was glad to have on the John's. Which is most likely why it was not cold just cool.
So the guys are down getting the boat ready, sadly it was not the boat I was expecting and we were told we were using. That one, the 30fter had engine problems. Bummer!!! I was hoping to get on something larger than mine. C'est La Vie!

So we spend the next hour or so getting things ship shape and hearing the plan for the day.
We reef the Main sail at the dock. Even though the wind in the Estuary was not that strong, once we hit the Bay it would pickup seriously! So finally we and the Tanzer 7.5 are ready. This is a so so boat, at least all the control go to the cockpit. So we are off for an very uneventful day.

We head out of the Estuary, the winds are light, our progress was SLOW. Add to the low winds we were reefed. So after much tacking it is now Lunch time or after so we stop at Jack London Square the now normal spot for lunch.

It is the weekend of the Boat show. It was not the big Sail boat show of the spring , this was a smaller mixed boat show. One could not get in without paying. Which I still think is weird. They have a show for one to buy stuff , but you have to pay to go buy...

Well needless to say, I did not go, I looked at a few cool and VERY expensive boat from over the fence after I ate lunch.

We docked again in the free public dock there at Jack London. That is a great thing they have. If I am ever
over that way sailing I will make use of it. The Estuary is kind of a nice place to sail, if you can deal with lots of boat traffic and a lot of tacking.

After a bit we head out again, now the plan has changed, we are not going to Angel island too far , just out into the Bay a bit and sail around. Still we are making SLOW progress with the winds. Did I say I was bored, yes , way bored today. But at least I was warm, perfect. We did not do much in the way of learning something new, just practicing sail trim. By the time we made it to the mouth of the estuary it was time to turn around and go back . Did I mention I was bored.

We encounter a lot of traffic on the way by to our home dock. Seems all the others who went out for the day were returning the same time as us. We got to see several nice trimerans fly past us with their Spinnakers up. They are quick boats. Once the wind catches the Spin. they jump like stepping on the gas in a car.

Ok so we do a few man over board drills. The teacher
tries to do a surprise one on me, while I'm on a run. But I saw it coming...Please you have to do better than that! So no biggie. It did take me a couple of passes to pick up the "man". The reefed main, really effected the handling and dodging several boats in the way made for a bit of a challenge. So that was the most interesting part of the day so far for me.

After class the Lady Zen had taken the Train into Oakland and I picked up her at Jack London Square. Form there we headed over to Alameda to the Cal boat affair at the Encinal Yacht Club
Professor J of Spindrift ( in picture ) invited us over to meet and see his band. He also had a boat in the event. He was in charge of the event turns out. He had both of his boats there the CAL and the Islander "Dog days ". So finally after a while of reading his blog and missing him here and there, we got to meet.

Spindrift is the blue boat in the Picture, Dog Days is off the Port Bow

Great Guy BTW. We got a tour of the Islander, Lady Zen loved it.
It is a very comfortable boat. We would not mind having one like that. Of course, having the money to buy one like that would be nice!!!

We hung out awhile at the dock, chating with a few friendly folks. We got a couple of boat tours from a few nice folks, and saw some impressive boats.

So now we are getting hungry, so we head inside for dinner at The Club. (heheh hey Captn Bob I said it too)

We get a nice view of the dock for the bar room at first to get a feel for the place.

Then move into the dinner room

The menu was nicer than expected. There were two menus in fact. One from the bar grill another from the restaurant. Prices were reasonable we were surprised.
I had two fish tacos with a salad, which was excellent! Lady Zen had chicken lettuce wraps. She said they were also excellent, we both had Salmon Creek Merlot, again yup, excellent!

After eating our fill, we relaxed and listened to the band. Professor J the band leader on keyboard and the rest were excellent. They played, Standards and Classic Jazz. It was nice,

They looked like they were really enjoying themselves, even though the audience was somewhat small. Those that were there enjoyed it. It is better to play for a small group that enjoys it rather than a large group that could care less. It makes a difference in the energy.

So that was our Sat. It was nice ending to a long mostly boring day. Lady Zen was pleased to be out doing something new. She said she'd never been to a Yacht Club hanging out, so it was an event for her as well as riding the Amtrak train here in the states.

Home to bed...

Sunday the finals...

So now it is Sunday the last day of the class. Most of the morning was spent, well at least two hours of it spent on the paper test. Grrrr. That was the hard part. Really the only part I had concerns on. Some of the wording is weird as well as the drawings. Somethings are kind of relative and obscure. Somethings are only lightly touched on in the book.
So we sat on the benches answering the questions and fought off the ants. I was kind and just blew them away instead of smashing them.

After the test, we spent time getting yet another boat ready for the sailing of the day. This one was an Erickson. The nicest one we sailed so far. Roller Jib, handled well, comfortable, all lines to the cockpit. Sweet. So after the paper test, and the knot tying test, we had lunch and reviewed the paperwork.

From there after spending 1/2 hour trying to get the motor running, only to find out they had something set wrong we took off.

The day started out with zero wind, however by the time we got going the winds had picked up to moderate. Today had no plans to go far. Just to test us on points of sail we all got a couple of turns. It was a nice little sail, things had cleared up weather wise, which started out as very overcast.

So whilst we were doing our points of sail the instructor was making the paper test. After I had finished my turn at the helm, I get called down below. I knew he was working on the test, and I thought, oh no, I failed, he is calling me aside to tell me. However as I was going below he says to all. I just want to go over your test with you, everyone passed. Ahhh relief.

So we go over my answers, he said you do not have many wrong. We went over those few, one of which after I explained thing to him my feeling on the choices and answer he changed to correct. So my finally score was 96 out of 100 point. Sweet!

So we rotate around at the helm whilst everyone got their scores. Then we just sailed around for a while. After a while of not doing anything but sitting I got bored again. Thing got somewhat more interesting when we got involved in a race with another sailboat. Another Ericson in fact. They did not know we were racing but we did :-)

After they went into dock we headed back to home base. I sat on the foredeck and took a cat nap while the others sailed down the channel, wing n wing mostly.

After a bit I get called to take it into dock. I stretch and rise to the occasion. Give a few command, get the sails lowered and motor in. I check out the feel of the boat, and the current.
We drift a little, I check out our entry, and say. Ok, put it in gear give me a just little power...

I made the approach, and say ok, cut it...

we drift in...

The bow gets right to the dock, I push the helm over a bit, the man on the bow steps lightly on the dock and the boat stops...

The instructor turns looks at me and says...

Show off!!

The grads Zen, Michael, Wilson, Anthony & the instructor Mike

People are like dock lines

2006-09-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

I did not go sailing this weekend. I had a foggy sort of plan to do so, but, I did not make it. I did misc stuff, which I may or may not post later, part of it had to do with the band

which is on the other blog for those remotly interested.

Some ceramic work.

So what does this have to do with the title... nothing just some filler because I had some pictures.

So anyway, I went to the marina on Monday, nice to have a long weekend... even more time to not get a lot done. But, you know sometimes that is a good thing...
but I digress...

I went to the marina. I had went down on Sunday. I did some hull de-yuking and took a couple of shots I was not happy with of my new SailJapan Burgee.
Direct from Japan which I was the second winner for going to the next level up on the Sail-Japan board. Yup Thats right the first and possibly only one in the US of A. Right here in Martinez, CA. Number 3 is in Australia. No. 1 is in Japan, but I believe it is lost to the world. This is one of the new photos. You have to see it up close to really see how cool it is. Oh, I lost my carp! grrr. Not unexpected. the string was too light for the steady winds there. No biggie I'll get another and restring it.

meanwhile back to the story...

So I head to the marina, I figure I'll do a few chores, check in with the office, take some pictures around the dock with my 300 mm lens, which I do not use that often.

I organized the cockpit locker, had lunch, checked in to the office to pay my slip fee. Ended up listening to this motor Yacht owner bitch about the overnight cost at Jack London square which was $75.00 for his 40 some ft Motoryacht. Steep for someone being on Social Security. Yup I felt him on that, Since I'm planning mine down the road but still planning. One of those things to think about, the world is not getting cheaper...

But again I digress... if you have not noticed I like saying that, it sounds very literary...

again...yup I digress. :-)

So afterward I grab the camera and start walking about and taking misc shots. I stop by Kuan Yin, my old boat. I redo her clanging halyard, readjust her fenders, and re-secure one of the dock lines that had broken. The current owner, a friend of mine does not get down too often. So whilst redoing the dock line, I notice the boat in the next slip has his lines chained like mine. Hmm So I take a picture just for the heck of it, then some others as well, I figure I'll make a pictures study of dock lines and just fiddle with some camera setting. Whilst in the mist of this I get a Zen moment...

People are like dock lines... They come is all sizes, colors, and layouts...

Some are kind of weird but
nice, they have their own way of living...

Some just work but just do not care...

Some try to style but fall apart...

Some can not figure out what to do in the end...

some just lay round under foot...

Some are all mixed up...

Some are neat yet colorful...

Some like to mix with others not their type...

Some are too
uptight...

Some are just regular...

Some are a mess...

Some can not figureout which way to go...

Some are very together...perhaps too anal

Some mix it up with anyone...both of which are slobs

Some just barely hang on...

Some just hang loose...

Some are not quite right, and the friends they hang with are crap!

ASA Coastal Cruising Part I- day 2

2006-08-27T20:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday starts like Sat. very overcast, and cooler. We start off as before. Today lesson maps & charts reading, Anchoring, Reefing, Heave-to.

We go over stuff at the dock and everyone sets the reef and releases. We go below and do a little chart work, setting course, judging distance, chart marks icons, etc. Afterward we head out down the channel. Some wind but we need to make time so we motor over to Treasure Island to do anchoring. I was suffering after a while I forgot to bring a wind breaker. I did have two sweatshirt, but it was still cold with the fog blocking the sun. However by the time we got to Treasure Island it had warmed up. Next time I will be more prepared for the weather.

Treasure Island for those who do not know is where
the Coast Guard Station is, it is also where the Bay Bridge
is anchored midway.
It was built from landfill for some year's Worlds Fair. It was also in the not too far past, a fairly large military installation at one point.

We went into a quiet cove, I got to pick the spot and helm the boat for the drop anchor drill. This is where we had a short lunch.
It is a nice spot quiet protected from too much wind and waves. Calm and deep. with a muddy bottom.

Afterward out into the Bay. By now winds had picked up to about 20 knots with waves about 3 ft. white caps. A typical day on the Bay. We practiced heaving-to and just sailing under real winds. The boat has a real funky tiller and rudder feel , like a dead spot in it, so it was somewhat tricky, but not to bad. After a bit of that we headed back to home port.

We can see up close where the new
Bay Bridge is being constructed.
Interesting from this view point

Once we got back to the Estuary Channel entrance we motored, in order to beat a large tanker coming in, so we would to not have to wait while to was manuvered into it's unloading position. There were lots of Tugs in and out of the Channel getting ready for this tanker and other through out the day. The Port of Oakland is a major shipping location so we had to dodge and look out for that all during our exit and entrance to the Estuary.

Some of the House boats in the Channel are amazing. Some have hugh yachts docked next to them. Must be nice to have that kind of money.

Next on the drill list was picking up moorings under power. Piece of cake really, after man over board drills under sail, then back to the dock.

In two week the final two classes. We will be on a 30 Ft sailboat . This time sailing over to a placed called Angel Island which is were once upon a time immigrants to this country were processes. Like Ellis Island but on the West Coast. Now a National park and popular yachting stop for the locals.

ASA Coastal Cruising Part I- day 1

2006-08-27T20:07:00.000-07:00

Day 1

Well, finally it is was here. The Coastal Cruising class. I had been looking forward to it for a while now and have been doing some study. So this Sat. past was part one.
We had five guys in class this time. A real mix of folks which was nice. A young brother from Canada, an Asian, a guy from Texas and another gentleman, I'm not sure where he is from but kind of a European accent. I will ask next time. A good bunch of guys.
The teacher was different also this time. Turns out it was someone I met in the last class who was doing an audit or something . Anyway always good to see a familar face. He knew my background, so that was helpful to us both. I told him I was also going for the teaching certificate hopefully later in Sept. So he gave me tips on things to be ready for. Of those things quite a bit had to do with single handing, which I do most of the time and he did rarely.

Sat. morning started out foggy and overcast, typical for this time of year here in the Bay Area. It cleared up later and got warm. We went out on a 27 ft Coronado ( thanks Cap't B) . The same one I had gone on before. It is a so so boat. Comfortable below deck , but rigged really funky, as were the winds for that day.

Most of the day we just sailed and reviewed stuff from the BKB class. So it was nice just to get familar with the boat and remember stuff. The water was fairly crowded. Lots of folks out.
Many sailboats, kayaks, racing dingies, plus the dreaded powerboats. The part that made my day was this. We were out among a large amount of sailing dingies, and kayaks etc. This fool in a powerboat comes flying through, dodging folks and making big wakes. About less than a minute after passing us and rocking the whole area, a police boat pulls his Dumb Arse over and tickets him for acting fool a no wake zone. LOL I was so glad to see that!
Afterward the police get on the loud speaker and say this is a no wake zone, SLOW DOWN! to the other Powerboaters there. hehehahahaha.

Whilst out doing manuvers, I saw a fellow sailing musician blogger Spindrift on one of his boats, Dog Days heading off for an adventure no doubt. He was too far away and underpower so I did not yell. It was a mental treat to see someone I kind of know.

Back to the lesson... so we sailed around tacking, tacking tacking, not much wind and very on and off. Finally we made it to the area called Jack London Sq, I docked and we had lunch.

After the break we headed back down the channel, doing wing and wing and jibbing (gibbing whatever) docking and taking off. After that we did man over board drills. Having practiced those on my own, I nailed my turn on the first shot, where the teacher took two, heheh. Sweet!