Furuzamami Beach
Last Sunday was my 5th time traveling to Zamami Island for these races, as a photographer.
It's sort of a working vacation, for me and I stay fairly busy but, always have fun.
The folks who paddle and sail these old wooden boats, are a great bunch of people.
Before any sailing event, they hold a beach cleanup. Everyone participates even, children.
They have great respect for nature and, the ocean.
This race is one of the biggest affairs of the year. Look at the sea and skies. They were awesome.
For a minute, I thought this was going to be a fantastic day for sailing the 37km race to Naha.
Normally, sabani boats cross the finish line in about 4 hours. That's when the wind is right.
From what I heard at the finish this year, only 3 boats finished in the 6 hour time limit.
About 10 hours, I was bouncing around on an escort boat, taking photos.
A typhoon, headed towards the mainland, pulled some tricks on the sabani boats this year.
The wind and waves, were pushing the ocean from east to west.
Our objective was to race from west to east. So, it took a lot longer, to get there.
Everyone survived and, we made sure plenty of liquid refreshments were consumed.
No sense in getting all dehydrated, when they have huge quantities of beverages available.
Those of us, who didn't have to work Monday, just spent the night in Naha.
We kept nourishing our dry throats, until the wee hours of the morning.
It was Monday, at home when I first noticed, my body was as red as a lobster.
All of a sudden, today big chunks of my hide, flap in the breeze and, are falling of me.
Nobody wants to see a picture of that. Do you ?
For now, I'll just give the photography specs used in this travel image.
Camera: Pentax K1
Lens: Pentax 15-30 at 15 MM
Exposure: f/11 1/1000 ISO 400
Date and Time: JUL 2 2017 8:42 AM
