Buddy's boat. The Malitoa. It's a 26 foot sailboat moored in Kadena harbor. In a former life, Bud was crew on some race boats and had his own in Pt. Arthur, Texas. I'm stoked he's in a place where he can once again pursue sailing. He and some local sailing friends piloted it around from the east side of the island two weeks ago. Heavy seas and a strong headwind really put the Malitoa through it's paces. 13 hours worth. He said it's very stable for a small rig, and handled the big stuff no problem. While working on it last week, I could see the tropical fish (a puffer, and some other really bright ones) nibbling on algea under the hull. Can't wait to get underwater.

Been on the island for about 5 days now and am just getting around to creating a blog. Ryan Marle gave me the idea. His looked pretty cool, so I'm following suit.
I'm going to start with just some pictures and not so much editorial. There's just to much to do on the island and I'd rather be out, than thumping on the computer.
This is the view I awoke to the morning after I flew in. The "cliff house" was just finished in August, and is a mavel of Japanese engineering. All the homes here are built like bunkers to withstand any typhoons that come in from the pacific. It's located on Cape Zampa on the west side of the island. It faces the east china sea.

Looking down, it's about a 30meter jump into the neighbors pool. Then another 40m. strait down to the water. Sandy beaches are about a 10 minute walk. The water here is crystal clear when it's not choppy. You can see strait to the bottom. Okinawa is surrounded by coral reefs, so diving is huge here.

The weather has been in the low 80's (delightful) and more clouds than sun. Typhoon season is just about over. Everyone here is complaining about the weather being bad. I'm loving it. Can't wait to see what good weather is like.