The SIRENA Story
Beginnings…
Growing up in
Utah, a couple of days drive from the Ocean, I have always dreamed of the sea
and sailing. Now living in Japan for 20
years and working in the big city of Tokyo, I thought this dream would have to
be postponed until the day I once return to the U.S.A., as sailing is
considered to be a pastime of the very rich, and I was sure it was beyond my
means.
So I spent a
couple of years learning some basic sailing skills on my Windglider, and as part of the Hayama Marina Sports Club
(link in Japanese).
The idea of
owning a Trailerable sailboat in Japan seemed to be impossible with the
difficult regulations and costs. As it
turned out that was nearly the truth!
In any case – in February 2003 I couldn’t get the idea out of my head
and so I started the process to order and import a 15 Foot West Wight Potter
sailboat from International Marine,
the manufacturer in Los Angeles. There
were many hurdles to overcome, involving the importation, licensing,
registration, shipping, etc. To
operate any boat with a motor also
requires a 4th class Marine License, which required both my wife and
I to hit the books and learn a variety of subjects from Navigation to how to
drive a power boat through a slalom of buoys at 3500 rpm. The
preparation for the exams I received by the Tokyo Sail & Power Squadron were very
helpful to enable me to pass.
Part of the
decision to buy the boat was the idea that I could keep her on her trailer in a
parking lot somewhere near a public
launching ramp
into Tokyo bay. As we looked around at
places to keep her, we discovered that Yokohama Bayside Marina
had available slips for rent at a reasonable cost, which made the idea to
trailer and launch each time a little less attractive. Plus having the boat accessible by train and
ready to sail would allow a lot more single handed outings. So the idea was to store the trailer
upright at our home, and use it for trips and to keep the flexibility of moving
the boat should my plans change.
Finally, at the
end of May 2003, Sirena arrived at Yokohama port in a container ship on her
trailer. After paying the taxes and
handling the remaining details, I drove her out of the yard:
As it turned
out, the 10 km drive from the commercial port to the place where Serena was
launched was the first and only experience of being a Trailer Sailor in
Japan. Some unexpected regulations and
red tape which were discovered at the last minute made it completely
impractical to keep the trailer, killing a big part of my Trailer Sailor
dream. The weather and the
expression on my
face in this next picture make my feelings about that pretty clear:
Giving up the
trailer was painful. Still, all things
considered, with the cost and expense and hassle of importing the boat &
trailer from the USA, I ended up with a brand new little adorable
cruiser, for the same amount of money that I would pay for a new Dinghy here in
Japan. And alas the next day the sun
came out and with it our First Family Sail (next page).