Off the grid
 

I was all ready to start the season (PSCR) when I received a call from my daughter. She is spending two years in Japan. I need to go assist her on a matter. I will be gone for a couple of weeks.
Hopefully, my friends will see this and know why I'm not answering my cell:D

See ya when I get back:)
5th

Dangit Marty. I was hoping that we would be burning your gas:) I will text u pics. The least a buddy can do:D

Have a safe trip!! I really hope to be in the water by the time you get back. If you want, I can keep the batteries charged up on your boat so she is ready for your return?? :D

As long as Mlag does the towing.:D
5th

Please leave credit card for fuel (and maybe for a trip to Marty's next week?) :D

Mark- I guess you're at the wheel! ;)

Works for me;)

If it's boyfriend trouble - beware , some of those guys throw vicious leg kicks. :D

Hopefully one of us will have fish dialed in by time you get back.

Have safe trip.

Konnichiwa, Mr. Carter you have such big planer boards.

Hey Guys. I survived the flight over. First flight was from BWI to Toronto. Not too bad. Flew in a small prop plane that was really neat. It was a Bombardier, wings up high and twin props. It was like a plane is suposed to be. The takeoff was like being in a corvette, it threw you back in your seat and you felt like yelling "yahoo" as you barreled down the runway, it was a short takeoff and we were airborne in no time:D
the plane banked and turned and you could almost feel the pilots hands on the yoke. it was a fun ride to Toranto.
The flight from Toronto (Air Canada) to Tokyo was miserable. I had a middle seat:mad: and spent hour after hour watching movies or reading. I watched four movies, none of them would I have paid to see in the theater. All had some good moments, but none will be classics.
First I watched Brad Pitt in "World War Z", then George Clooney and Sandra Bullock in "Gravity", next came Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas in a movie about 4 old guys going to Vegas for a bachelor party, lastly, lastly, lastly, the film was so bad I can't even remember what it was I watched:eek:

Anyway, Japan is really neat. The women would be prettier without wearing the surgical facemasks all the time. My daughter says its for both protection from the flu and pollen. The Cherry Blossoms are busting and very pretty. I took a long walk this morning and found a park with a big pond full of Koi and carp:) I also found a baseball diamond and watched a couple of innings of ball.
I am just outside of Yokohama. Maybe I can get a good set of tires cheap:rolleyes:
Allan didn't know I was over here so he kept texting me that this coming Monday, Tues Wed was looking like good weather; and was I taking my boat out. I told him he was costing me a fortune to receive and send texts while roaming charges apply. I got that straightened out this morning, and now I have free internet capabilities.
I will check in occasionally, I want good reports when I get back.
See you all soon,
5th

Marty, Is there any truth to the rumor that you are really in Japan looking for a buyer for our Rockfish from our new "Wicked Rockfish" production?

bhl (Bruce

I can just see a Wicked Rockfish production, guys bring the fish to a dockside buyer, he starts looking the fish over and says, "This one is a nice fat butterball, it has good looking skin with no sores":eek: That one you brought me last week was half eaten up and the filets were terribly thin and strangely soft with an ugly white (almost transparent) meat:mad:
But this fish looks good:). I'd say $3.50 a pound. With this being a 12 pound fish, that's $42:D
The captain looks into the camera and says, "$42, for that fish; after fuel and paying my mate, I'm only $125 in the hole":rolleyes: "Quick, lets go catch another one".

The show ends with the commentator saying, "The fishermen of the Chesapeake Bay have never been the brightest bulbs in the fishing industry":eek: "Tune in next week, Bill Judge installs new electronics on Greg's boat, and Mike tries to catch rockfish on something other than Rattle Traps!"

One thing I notice about Japan. It's like turning the clock back to the 50's in America. Family structure is so very important. Also, crime is almost nonexistent, my daughter says a friend of hers left her cell phone in the basket of her bicycle, went to work, and it was still there when she returned. I was walking in a big square yesterday, there was a big tent for giving blood. My daughter explained, only Japanese blood could be given, no foreigners could give. Imagine the picketing in USA if we tried something like that. The Japanese see you (foreigner) coming, and if the don't speak good English, they bow their heads or look elsewhere to avoid eye contact. I saw two old guys fishing yesterday. They were using live shrimp. I went over to them and asked, How's the fishing? He tried to explain he didn't speak English well. I showed him several photos of big rockfish and photos of our Florida Keys trip. His eyes lit up and he grabbed his cell. Photo after photo was exchanged by the two of us. We never did "talk" to each other, but we certainly communicated. I watched him fish for a while (nothing caught) and when I got up to leave, he bowed from the hip, I returned a small head nod put out my hand, and we shook hands before I left.

Ok guys, I here nice weather is coming to Maryland soon. Get those boats out for shakedown cruises. Bruce, move your boat down to Herrington Harbor South; Rob, get yours down to Solomon's Island; Skip, get ready for Breezy Point, Greg, yours goes out of Sandy Point, Allan, yours goes out of Back Creek; we will have them surrounded.
See you after the 10 th of April.
5th

I just tried to upload some photos, but my Internet seems slow this evening. I can get text through, but photos won't upload:mad:
I'll try later.
5th

Schweet!!! Still under the radar:D I am glad to see that Japam is having a calming affect on you:rolleyes:

PS......don't worry about your boat,....... Bruce, Jeff, Allan, Rob, Skip, Greg, Don and some guy named Mike and I have a trip planned on your rig with your fuel on Wednesday. We decided to use our tackle as we do want to catch some fish:D Pics forthcoming!

That is so cool how fishing can overcome language barrier.

Just imagine the world if politicians fished.

Marty great to hear from you...Hope all is well where you are....

Awesome that you got to watch someone fish, but man while you are there you need to stick your "pole" in the water....

Would be an awesome story to tell your grandkids...Yeah back in 2014 I flew down to Florida to catch some fish, then took off to Japan to catch some fish, then I got back home and caught some fish....What great fish stories !

BTW - Where did you put your rods ? When we get ready to take your boat out we might as well use your rods...The numbers on our rods might not match up with your spread...

:)

Mike, weighted umbrellas and six packs are loaded in the transom fish cooler. Rods are in the cabin:D

My boards look like crap. I was going to sand and paint them this year. I have fluorescent green, fluorescent orange, and bright white paint falling off them from years past.:rolleyes:

Tell Tawn, I might get that barrel spot tank completed before livelinning season.

Thanks guys, it helps talking fishing. Trying to help my daughter through a tough time over here. Her POS husband back in USA is causing real problems.
5th

Sorry to hear that. Maybe you should be planning to do less livelining and a little more chumming instead......:eek:

Jeff, it's spooky scary how easily retaliation creeps into your mind when a loved one is getting hurt.

But off that subject, I found a great tackle shop this evening. The owner said "striper" when he saw my photos:D. When we got to the Keys pics, he knew most of those fish as well. He went to the Florida Keys for his honeymoon:eek:

My daughter was there to translate, but I told him I would be back to buy and look around his shop. One day while she is in school, I'll go back and root through all his stuff to see what I can bring back. I wonder if Sampo Swivels are cheap in Japan:rolleyes:
Not much is cheap over here, that's for sure. Again, I can't get over the culture shock. The kids are so well behaved. Nobody would consider cutting in line for the damn escalators. They all line up and patiently wait to step on the moving stairs. In the USA kids would be knocking you over. There are no gang "tags" on any walls. The store owners leave there goods and wares out all evening without anything getting stolen.
We did have a 2.0 earthquake. My first:D. I was with Don fishing when the one in Maryland hit a few years ago. Because we were on the water, we never felt a thing.
I have never walked so much in my life. Everybody walks or rides bicycles to a store 5 miles away. Fuel is pretty expensive, about $1.75/liter. My daughter says that's down from near $3/liter not long ago.
Mopeds, motorcycles, and small cars are the norm. I know most cars wouldn't pass the USA crash test. Just about every gas station has a car wash. I asked my daughter how come. She said they wash their cars almost daily. If you have a dirty car, that's a reflection on you and how you treat your possessions. If you have dirty possessions, you must be dirty too!
That reminds me, you rarely see women smoke (men yes). A woman seen smoking is a wild woman with no morals. I keep watching out for a pretty woman who smokes :D. I hope she speaks English:eek:
If you forget your change, they come running out of the store to find you and give you your money. If you buy something from a "Mom and Pop" type family store, they follow you to the door, bow, and thank you for your business.
Most every store has a little tray next to the cash register. You always put you money in the tray, never hand it to them. They in turn, place your change in the tray. Money to them is "dirty" and handing it to them is a bit of an insult.
There is NO tipping. When someone delivers packages to you apartment, no tip. If you try to tip, they realize you don't understand their culture. They will stand there waiting for you to take the money back.
They have such a high regard for whatever their job is. Whether its a window washer, a guy that lets cars out of the parking garage (in uniform and white gloves), or a corporate executive. It would be an insult to their family if they didn't give their best, no matter what job.
As you can tell, after just a few days, I'm amazed at how proud they are to be Japanese. Back home, everyone wants to be African-American, Mexican-American, Italian-American, Arab-American or whatever.
It's safe to walk the streets at night. Many Japanese work a 10 hr day, then go to dinner with the other office personnel, and arrive home late in the evening. The high school kids go to school all day, play sports after school, and take SAT Prep type classes at night to try to get into the best Universities; so they are coming home late as well.

Oh well, my wife says the snow is off the boat and better weather is on it's way. I hope the winds lay down to Light and Variable.
Have a good one,
5th

Japanese tackle store

Got a small country? Need to solve a parking problem?

Maybe we should revert to the 50's also.
Other countries are never what they seem.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangster.../yakuza/1.html

Leave it to you to find a tackle store. See if they have any Japanese speaking rattle traps for Mike!! :D

They stack cars like that in Manhatten too. I'd worry about a hydraulic failure leaving my car stuck for hours.

Seems like you are getting a good, quick lesson in their culture. Is your daughter there teaching english in the schools?

I always hear about how incredible the reels in Japan are. Shimano models that don't exist here. Have you seen any in the stores to compare?

Reds, I couldn't agree more about it not being everything I've mentioned; but this is what you see everyday. I'm not seeing "behind" the scene. If I compare Harborplace, or Kingsdominion, a baseball stadium, or a football event, I can hardly stand to be there. Some punk kid or drunk adult pisses me off about something. Most times we shrug it off, sometimes we have to say something like "would you mind not using the F word while my kids are watching the game.:eek: That doesn't happen here:D

Mark, just stopped in the tackle store briefly (was on my way to dinner). I will go back and spend some time with him later. The store looked like a holding tank for Wish A Fish:eek: He had some new items and some used items. It was not like Alltackle:). But this guy fishes and had pics around his store of mostly tuna caught by him. Looks like he had lots of new terminal tackle but not rods and reels ( they looked used).
I just spoke to my wife, sounds a bit windy today but with warm temperatures. Has anyone ventured out?
No need to post that C/R fish being held vertically by its gills with blood running down its side while dropping eggs on the deck on CBA; but you can send the photo to my cell phone:D. Just kidding DNR, just kidding, don't have a cow:eek:
Wife also says all the little red maple tree blossoms are about to drop on the boat and leave stains (great), but my son and she may put on the back curtain and a drop cloth on the deck to protect it while I'm away.
Mlag, I might need to call Jim Catterton when I get back.
Got to go, getting ready to start another day here (6:48 am)
5th

Marty - you have to check out a strip club there.

Drop this name :

巨大なウナギ


:D - Have fun.

Skip, I just learned how to buy stuff at McD and 7-11; I'd really get in trouble trying to stick one dollar coins under garters:)
5th

Everyone uses poles about 10 ft long but they don't cast them far, just out a little. I haven't seen a fish caught in two days:(

Mike, Mike, Mike
You would love it over here. The girls and women wear such tiny skirts and shorts. Their ass cheeks are just barely covered. Throw the two inch platform "hooker" shoes on top of this, and Mike would blow his mind.
Now not all women dress like this, but many do. My daughter says there is no disgrace with wearing the short skirts, but that you will never see bare shoulders on the women. Evidently, that's a no no:eek:
I know, I know, you want pic's. I'm afraid to get thrown into a Japanese prison with a bunch of Sumu Wrestlers for photographing young girls:D
Mike, if your Firm ever opens an office in Japan, you have to come over for a while:)
Many of the women are simply stunning. And, the longer I'm over here, even the marginal ones are looking better.:eek::)
5th

Just returned from the tackle store

Damn, I even took the photo 90* off center to try to get it to turn out correctly:eek: looks like I was 90* off on my calibrations. Now it's totally upside down:D

Well, you get the picture. I just had to support the local tackle shop. I picked up two packs of barrel swivels (size 1/0). These are labeled "Power Swivels" and the package says they are good up to 212 kg. That's pretty hefty. I weigh 195 lbs and that equates to 88.6 kg:rolleyes: These cost 350 yen each, or $3.50 US for five in a pack.
Next is a 3 pack of ball bearing swivels (80 kg) and they were either $5 or $6. I can't tell by the receipt :p
I also picked up a package of hooks for livelinning. Looks like a pack of 8 hooks that are rated for 100 lbs for (again) either $5 or $6.
Finally, I got some fluorocarbon line for $15. I had to get 22 lb test line because all the 25 lb was gone. It must be a popular line in Japan also. The spool has 110 yards, so that's not to bad.
All told, after tax, everything came to 3,300 yen:eek:, or $33 US.

He had an app on his phone where he could speak into the phone and English appeared. We got across some basic communication with the iPhone help. He enjoyed the photos of the Chesapeake 27 both in the water, in the snow, and on the trailer. He was very interested in the Honda motor. We had a good laugh because it was not powered by an American engine. I told him that Yamaha was a very popular motor in the US.
The last item you see on the table was a gift to me from him:). It looks like a large shrimp lure. I can see that it has small nasty hooks at the bottom (two sets of six hooks about a inch apart. Get these in your hand and you have a bad day. The body appears to be a silver plastic, but it's covered with a perforated cloth outer fabric. Really a neat looking lure, but I bet Captain John won't be making them in his garage any time soon:D

Before I left, he took a photo of us together so he could post it on his Facebook page:eek: Gee, even in Japan I am computer illiterate:rolleyes:

My wife talked to Captain John, he has been out only once, but did pick up a couple of fish. I don't know where or what size, but Charlie Schneider might fill in the details:)

5th (Marty)

My daughter asked what I wanted to do for my birthday so of course I wanted to go look at some boats:)
We took a trip to Yokohama Bayside Marina, the largest marina in Yokohama. They had a dealer there that was selling Yamaha boats. I didn't know they had a boat line.
I took a couple pics of some boats.
You have to always move the decimal point over two places to get price in US money. So, 10000 yen equals 100 US dollars.

Here's a new boat with price.

And the price.

This is the wrong price sheet. This is a used 31 ft boat. The price for the 24 is shown below.

A lot of them have sliding glass doors in the back instead of drop curtains.

Oops, posted wrong price sheet. Here is the correct one for the 24.

A lot of the late 70's early 80's cabin cruiser boats in US had those doors.

I was starting to think Don & Dawn we're never coming back.
Now your looking at boats in Japan.......


I have first offer on the judge after mark and Jeff get finished PSCR.

If Mark would let me drive, there would be nothing left to make an offer on!! :eek: :D

Here's an example of some Japanese yachts. Funny thing is, about half have Names in English.

Since I'm showing prices, here is a photo of a really popular car in Japan. It reminds me of the US commercial with the hamsters:D.
Many different car makers (Toyota, Mazda, Nissan) all make this same style. One thing for certain, you wouldn't have any trouble washing the roof:eek:

5th

Marty,

Couple of important items for you....

#1 - Stripper heels are not two inches, they are more like 5" and often are large enough for one of those hard working women to have goldfish or betta's in them...

#2 - Where in the heck are the pictures ?

#3 - Do any of them have a pair like our wondeful friend Kate has ?

#4 - Do these women come with blonde hair ? I am really, really partial to blondes...

#5 - It took three days but I finally got my boat ready...What do we need to do to get yours in the water ?

#6 - Any idea when you will be able to come back ? I am sure there are enough of us that would like to meet at Mike North and hear some of the stories from your trip...

#7 - Last but not least, I had to include one of my favorite Kate pictures to keep you warm, if this does not get you out to a fine japanese brothel where most services are legal, I don't know what will...

Hope things are well...

Mike