What's missing from 2015 (January)

Two princesses on New Year's Day　(Belgium)

Trying out a New Year's present

snow on Monte Reale (18/01/2015)

Going on a trip to Japan (21/01/2015)

Auro and Tosca still talk about their day at Kids Plaza (Osaka)

Osaka Castle

Checking on Jan Haring (Sakai, Osaka)

Doutonburi and Shinsaibashi (Osaka)

A day at Eigamura (Kyoto), 2nd best place in Kansai to take kids to!

Meeting my sensei in Nara

Auro and Tosca on the path to enlightenment (Todai-ji, Nara)

Visiting the bar where I worked for nearly 7 years

We used to work together, but now my Canadian friend has her own bar/restaurant in Osaka

Last day in Japan: ride on the panoramic wheel in Umeda (Osaka)

Sailing trip

Last Thursday, we left Osaka behind and went sailing for a couple of days. Together with 2 other sailboats (Catch 22 and Oceantech) we first sailed from Sakai to the island of Nushima (沼島), a small island about 5 km to the south of Awaji island. Just to give you an idea of how small: the island is 2.5 km² 'big' and has a population of about 600 people. On Friday, Auro and I explored the island (lots of shrines and temples, and a beach!) while Remo jumped into the water to clean the hull of Jan Haring. We had planned to leave Nushima the next day, but rainy weather kept us in Nushima until Sunday morning. Not feeling like going back to Osaka already, we (Jan Haring and Oceantech) decided to head for the harbour of Sumoto (洲本), on the southeast coast of Awaji Island. On the way we anchored in Yura (由良) to have our lunch and by the early evening we reached the quiet port of Sumoto. Remo started the next Monday morning with scraping off the last bits of dirt on the hull and after a big breakfast we started our trip back to Osaka, where we arrived 8 hours later... tired, but very satisfied and refreshed!

New summer

Just when I thought summer in Japan was over (it was becoming pleasantly cool during the day), all of a sudden the temperatures rose again and on Saturday it was hot, hot, hot! Not that I am complaining, because even if the heat and humidity make me somewhat slow and lazy, I still prefer that too a cold and icy winter. So, while Auro and I spent our time being lazy on the boat, Remo worked hard on the covers of the cushions (with an industrial sewing machine he is stitching turquoise coloured covers for the cushions of the bed and sofa). And on Sunday, we went sailing ;-)

Bravo

For many months now I've been trying to teach Auro how to clap his hands together, but he never showed any interest. The other day, all of a sudden, he reasponded to my "bravo" by clapping his hands together! Now, every time I say "bravo", he drops whatever he is holding and starts clapping his hands! So, maybe he will not only be able to blow out the candle on his cake, but also to congratulate himself on his first birthday!

Reunited

About 2 weeks have passed since Auro and I arrived in Japan after a long and tiring, but nevertheless sleepless flight. Auro was 'slightly' over-tired and hardly slept at all the first night here in Kyoto. Completely jetlagged and (again) in a new environment, surrounded by new people and expected to fall asleep in a strange bed... it all was a little bit too much for Aurino! I was patient with the crying and screaming until about 2 am, but then I had absolutely no energy left. Luckily, Remo was there to take over and, ready to make up for the 2 months of being separated, he comforted Auro, sang to him and eventually just slept on the floor next to his bed.

After that first night, Auro quickly overcame his jetlag and his initial confusion, and after only a couple of days he started sleeping normally again. Just in time for the conference, symposium and meetings that I came here to attend. Remo stayed with Auro during the day and I was able, for the first time since Auro was born, to go out the whole day without having to worry about him getting hungry or sleepy! And, of course, we have also visited Jan Haring in the 2 weeks we have been here! The first time I took Auro to Osaka to see the boat, we stayed only for a couple of hours. Remo had prepared a car-seat for him in the cockpit and after having tied his seatbelt safely, we went out for about an hour and a half (there was no wind!) to accustom Auro with the idea of sailing. He did not complain ;-) Then, last Sunday, we traveled there again (2 hours and 4 trains from the north of Kyoto to the south of Osaka!), but this time we stayed a little longer, because we wanted Auro to get used to sleeping on the boat (no sailing). The back cabin, that had been reserved for him, seemed to be to his likings and he slept very well in the long and narrow bed, behind his safety net! Next, we are planning to try a short sailing trip for a couple of days!

Finally sailing!

As Caroline mentioned in some posts of her I was in Japan for about ten days. I had to go there for some university related stuff but the fun came, as usual, from being able to go to the harbor and working on Jan Haring. The idea, for this time of the year, was to go sailing 2 or 3 days but the events stopped me from doing it. Indeed, the day I had decided to check the boat out, I sailed out of the marina to find out that the maximum speed, with engine on, was about 3 knots. For people not familiar with boat it is like to have a car not capable of passing 30km/h. You can just not go anywhere! So, a sudden change of plans made me decide for hauling the boat out and clean its hull. Indeed the problem was exactly it: after one and half year of sitting still in the water the old anti-fouling had lost all its characteristics and a forest had grown below the waterline. So I decided to move Jan Haring to another marina (Shin-Nishinomya) where they were able to haul it out as soon as I had arrived. For four days I worked on the hull but finally, with also the precious help of some friends (Simon, Tom and Crip) the work was done. The evening before the day when I was supposed to leave Japan I had the boat put back in the water. That was the moment of the truth, in fact I had to check the speed of the boat (and I had also to sail back to my marina!!!). Luckily the gps gave about 6 knots without engine! What a relief! Definetely, the 400kg of "stuff" we removed from the hull were the reason of Jan Haring slow speed. That night I sailed back to Dejima with Tom and Prabhat (first time for him on a boat) and it was such a pleasure! Now the boat is there waiting to be taken for sailing as soon as possible. Well, July is not that far, is it?

Boat and graduation

Well, now I am back in Japan. My last student left behind at the Osaka University has to graduate. It will happen on the 18th so I had to come here to check on him. But, of course, in Japan there is the lovely boat too. I had the plan to haul her out during this period but unluckily the crane which was supposed to do the work broke down. So no hauling and repainting until the next Summer when I will be back once again. Because of it I had to find something else to do. On a boat there are always hundreds of things which need to be checked/fixed and I had no problems to find a couple. For example the Sika-flex holding the front hatch came off completely so I had to reseal the thing. This time I have used 3M product which I consider better than Sika-flex. Also one of the winches was not working properly so I had to take it apart and fix it. Finally I have also decided to start working on the last part of interiors which are still missing in the boat: the table of the living area. At this moment there is no table but we need one. So I started to work on it: I got the material and I designed the lay out. Then I started to cut and saw. Little by little it is coming and I predict about 5 full days of work to have it done (plus 30% because I never get it right at the first shot). As always hand crafting is a pleasure and OP Dejima Harbour offers a great facility to do any kind of work. At night you can even turn the radio on and work while you are listening to some music. Nice way of making things. Here you can see a detailed photo of the cockpit of the boat: it is made out of teak and it was built inside the workshop of OP Dejima Harbour. Oh, my student is going to give his final presentation. I better running ;)