Sayonara Japan, Aloha Hawaii 5 April 2011 MV Starr is departing from Osaka this afternoon at 1230, Tuesday, April 5 in Japan We anticipate that the passage will take us 3 weeks, so our ETA will be sometime around 27 April to 1 May. You can follow Starr on our passage by clicking on the link directly above this entry in the website. We have a very experienced and compatible crew:...
Stretching the Fuel Range to Cross the Pacific Part 2: Fitting the auxiliary fuel tanks. Guest blog entry by Viktor Grabner, crewmember Don has already written about the challenge of making our fuel last the 3800 nm voyage across the Pacific. He discussed fuel saving strategies and stretching our fuel capacity by using Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) as auxiliary fuel tanks to add another 1000 gallons of fuel for our voyage. We...
News Flash: Change of Watch aboard Starr 1 April 2011 Preparations aboard Starr for her voyage to Honolulu are in full swing. Unfortunately, we have to make bit of a startling announcement: Don decided to not take this trip with Starr, but instead retire from cruising effective immediately. Having just taken delivery of, and “commissioned” his first granddaughter, Don can’t wait to see her again! He’s taking the plane back to Seattle to...
What’s really going on at the Fukushima Nuclear Power PlantMarch 17, 2011Sent to us by a friend in Ashiya, JapanWritten by Bill Andrews and emailed by the Dean of Engineering at the University of Washington:Here’s a little more measured and accurate article than what you have been seeing in the media about what’s going on at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. It’s written by the Dean of Engineering at the University of Washington, but he’s...
Newly Homeless Re-Establish Order Amid Chaos - NYTimes.comMarch 26, 20100Please read this article from the NY Times. It touched me to deeply that I cried. ...
Life in Japan Today March 24, 2011 Sharry's Note: The Japan death toll is now 9800 bodies and 17,500 missing.It is so easy to stop watching the news regarding a disaster like this: it is so far away and life moves on. Don and I are returning to Ashiya on Tuesday, 29 March. We know that we will be entering a world of mourning, a world that we Americans can relate to because it is...
Back to Japan March 24, 2011Note from Don: Go to "DON’S LOG" for additional articles regarding preparing for our passage to Hawaii: “Getting Ready for the Passage to Honolulu” (1 February) “Stretching the Fuel Range to Cross the Pacific” (9 March)We are packing our duffel bags for the return to Japan on 29 March. We anticipate that our departure from Japan will be around April 6 (?) Survival suits, tiedown straps, etc. ...
Additional response from friends to 3/11:(Please note recommendation for donations to relief effort below in red) From a friend in Kobe, who checked our boat immediately after the earthquake/tsunami:“Thank you very much for your kind email.In Kobe, there was a slight low frequency earthquake but I could not feel it.Also there was Tsunami in Osaka bay but the height was 30cm.I checked my boats and "Starr" but there was no problem.Please see attached photo which...
Life in Japan after 3/11 March 17, 2010 When the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, Don and I were in Seattle waiting for the birth of our first grandchild. During our year in Japan we have made many friends, and shortly after the quake we emailed them and asked if they and their families were OK. It was a tremendous relief to us that all responded in the affirmative. The...
How do we avoid the dangerous debris from the 3/11 Tsunami? March 17, 2011 Starr is in Ashiya in the inland sea next to Kobe, and was not impacted by the Tsunami. Our plan has been, and still is, to return to Ashiya at the end of this month, finish fueling and provisioning, and then head out toward Hawaii taking whatever route that seems most prudent. BT (before tsunami) our course would have been to...