Wordless Wednesday: Island Sign Language

Island Image: Start of the 2017 Sailing Sabani Race

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

Location: Furuzamami Beach Zamami-jima Okinawa Japan

Date and Time:  JUL 2 2017  8:42 AM

Animation: Zamami Island Hula Dancers

Gals from 8-80 Do the Hula on Zamami Island

Not wanting to pick on the youngest, I photographed some middle age ones.

The very young girls were talented but, sort of shy, around and old bearded guy with a camera.

The elderly ones, I'd be shy around them. They could probably beat me at armwrestling.

When, one of these Hula ladies, smiled at me, I jumped up on a picnic table and began shooting.

Camera:  Pentax K1

Lens: Pentax 18-250 at 42 MM

Exposure:  f/5   1/1000   ISO 1600

Location:  Zamami Island Port Okinawa Japan

Date and Time:  JULY 1 2017  7:02 PM

Statues of Two Famous Kerama Island Dogs

Shiro

The statue of Shiro may be seen on the island of Aka, just inside the ferry terminal.

 The dog named Shiro became a movie star, back in the mid-1980's.

The photo was taken from aboard the ferry to Zamami-jima, as the engines were idling.

Aka-jima is a stop, made enroute to Zamami but, I couldn't disembark.

So, the camera lens was zoomed to 220 MM and, a few shots were taken.

One of these days, I'll go back to that island and, spend a few days, doing photography.

Besides the dog statue, there are some deer on that island, I'm looking forward to meeting.

This dog statue is facing towards Zamami-jima, where the other dog lived.

Maririn

Maririn (Marilyn in English) is, the other half of this movie star couple.

Shiro, used to live on the island of Zamami but, his owner moved to Aka-jima.

Three kilometers (about 2 miles) away from his lover, Shiro would return to visit her.

The couple became famous, when a movie was made of their escapades.

Maririn ni Aitai (マリリンに逢いたい) Marilyn I want to meet you, made the dogs very popular in Japan.

For those, who would rather read the story, links to references:

Flash Fiction and other cultural nuggets from Japan

Find a Grave Marilyn Dog

Postcard: Zamami Island on the 1st of July 2017

Camera: Pentax K1

Lens: Pentax 15-30 at 16 MM

Exposure:  f/11   1/1250   ISO 400

Location:  Zamami-jima Okinawa Japan

Date and Time: JUL 1 2017   10:46 AM

12 Animations from the 2015 Sabani Sailing Race: Zamami Island

The GIFs Can Do the Talking

 

 

In no particular order, have a peek at these traditional Okinawan boats sailing.

When I go to this annual event, I am escorting one team.

The sabani boat, they paddle and sail, is called the Umimaru.

The photo above, shows them leaving the port at Zamami Island and heading out to sea.

Rehearsals for the big sailing event take place months in advance.

Each member of the boat team must be in good physical condition and somewhat coordinated.

 About 40 other teams compete in this race each year.

At the start, a mad dash to the boats on the beach begins the final race.

It can get fairly crowded boarding the boats trying to depart the beach.

It's a good idea, to try and be one of the first sabani boats to hit the open seas.

The teams sail and paddle, trying to gain a lead to the fleet.

Sometimes, I wish the Umimaru, had a purple sail so, it would be easier to follow.

 Once, I loose sight of the Umimaru, any sabani boat, sailing by is fair game, for the camera.

Close to the finish, I spot the team, I am with, sailing along smoothly.

 The wind was blowing the wrong way near the finish so, paddles provided all the power.

This team, looked like they were signaling something about, drinking beer.

So, after this series of photos was taken, I went looking for some !

Related Posts:

12 photos from the 2014 Zamami Jima Sailing Sabani Race

Incredible Adventure: The 2013 Sabani Boat Race (Photos)

Observatory Tower Scenery: Kaminohama on Zamami Island

This lookout tower is on the western side of the island.

Looking back towards the east, sailing sabani boats were practicing for the next day's race.

The event held on Zamami-jima is called the Maririn Cup.

Maririn was a famous dog who resided on the island and, was featured in a 1988 movie. 

Camera: Pentax K5

Lens: Sigma 10-20 at a focal length of 20mm

Exposure: f/16   1/100   ISO 100

Date and Time: June 26, 2015  4:29PM

5 More Photos from the 2014 Zamami-jima Sailing Sabani Race

Catching up on the processing of photos from this race may take awhile.

This boat, with the yellow sails caught my attention, the night before the race.

 A sabani with an outrigger, I had seen before.

But, it was the first time, I had ever seen one with two sails.

They seem to move a lot faster than a single-sail sabani boat.

But, I bet, it takes twice as long to learn how to sail them.

Plant Photos: Powderpuff Tree (Barringtonia racemosa)

These Flowers Could Be in the Doozies Files

 

Always on the lookout for something new and unusual, I spotted them on Zamami-jima.

Another thing I always do, is look for karaoke bars when I'm on another island.

It was late at night and there were spotlights turned on the tree.

Sitting down on the ground with the tripod I was trying to get the blasted camera to focus.

There was way too much beer in me already.

Along came a pretty blond girl and pack of guys who had way too much something, too.

And, they were looking for a karaoke bar.

So, off we went.

There's only one karaoke joint, that I know of, on that island.

We found it and sang songs plus, had a few more beers.

After everybody drank themselves under the table, they went home.

So, I stayed a little bit longer.

It was way past midnight when I got back to this flowering tree.

Just when I figured out how to get my camera focusing, the lights went out.

So, I asked the guy who flipped the switch if he'd turn them back on, for just a second.

 The rumor, I had heard was, these things only bloom at night.

Click, click, click and I was out of there.

ISBN4-900668-63-X is a Japanese book, I used to ID the plant.

That's where I got the name Barringtonia racemosa.

None of the sources I found online mention the flowers being night bloomers.

So, maybe, I'll have to re-visit that island and see if they bloom in daylight.

It could be a myth or, they have some sort of hybrid growing over there.

It would really be nice if I could capture these flowers in daylight for you.

Then, I could pack the camera away and go karaoke without it !

More about:  Barringtonia racemosa