By Brian
Hendrickson. Owner of ‘Sirena’. Yokohama Japan. August 2003
Being a
“Trailer-Sailor” in Japan
Following the background of how and why I
imported a 15 ft West
Wight Potter from the manufacturer in Los Angeles, which I mention on
Sirena’s
Website , I’d like to offer some further details, as a warning or
encouragement of others here in Japan who are thinking to do the same.
Why a Trailerable Sailboat? - “Freedom”!
*-Freedom to import the boat in the first place! Using ‘roll
on/roll off’ shipping on it’s trailer, as if you were shipping a car, it cost
only about US$1500 to ship from Los Angeles to Yokohama. Otherwise
the costs of shipping in a container would be easily double to three times that
amount. This is what made the importing of the boat a real possibility, I
wouldn’t have considered it otherwise.
*-Freedom from expensive slip fees and marina
contracts, if you have a place to keep the boat on the trailer.
*-Freedom to explore a variety of cruising
grounds, not just the typical 15-20 nautical mile range that a weekend cruiser
is limited to. Being able to cruise at 60 knots on the expressways can increase
your options considerably!
*-Freedom from paying for accommodation on land
when in transit between cruising grounds. Some of the newer parking areas along
the expressways have Onsen baths, tennis courts, hiking trails. Parked with the
trucks overnight one can enjoy the benefits of cruising on land. As the number
of camping places increase around Japan, the trailerable sailboats advantage of
doubling as a caravan when on land will become more apparent. Also a small
trailerable boat can carry a lot of gear, mountain bikes, golf clubs, camping
equipment for a recreational road trip.
*-Freedom from haulout fees and bottom paint.
*-Freedom to sell the boat to a wider range of
prospective buyers. You can ‘take’ the boat to the buyer rather
than be limited to those who could come to inspect the boat at the marina.
And some marinas (such as mine) won’t allow you to change the annual contract
to a new owner of the boat, the sale of a boat before one’s contract ends
becomes a rather complicated process done ‘under the table’, which may also
limit prospective buyers.
The Trailer-Sailor reality in Japan
Now that we have the dream in mind, let’s have a look at the reality .
*-To trailer a boat in Japan with a normal
drivers license the combined weight of boat and trailer must not exceed 750 kg,
and combined length of car and trailer not exceed 12 meters.
This limits your options of available boats considerably. Forget the McGregor 26 , they
are shipped two per container on their trailers to Japan, but as far as I
know the trailers are never used. To move a boat of that size over land in
Japan I understand would require a special permit, perhaps even with a police
escort. They are still popular boats in Japan, but not for the
‘Trailer-Sailing’ aspects.
*-Importing a boat was rather simple and
straightforward. There was a flat 5% consumption tax on the value of boat,
trailer and shipping. The inspection process took most of the day and required
me to buy all new lifejackets and mandatory Japanese safety equipment (most of
which went directly back to the shop owner for a refund a few hours later). It
turns out that my U.S. made lifejackets, fire estinguisher, and flares were not
‘certified’ for use. I was amazed how carefully they measured everything, and
drew a sketch of the boat which was suitable for framing. The mast, stern and
steaming lights did not pass muster, however. I was told that if I
wanted to register the boat to sail at night I would have to bring the boat to
a warehouse where they could simulate night (bureaucrats only work during
the day) and verify that the lights actually turned on, all at my expense of
course. Additionally I was told that I’d have to have a radar reflector, and no
– the ball of crumpled aluminum foil at the top of the mast would be not be
acceptable.
*-While the inspection of the boat is fairly
simple, the trailer follows a completely different path. It falls under the
regulations of the ‘land transport’ laws which govern the inspection of all
motor vehicles. The first inspection of a trailer which has not been imported I
understand can be very rigorous and take a lot of time to complete. Then,
depending on the size of the trailer it falls into basically two different
categories, ‘light’ and ‘ordinary’, similar to the Yellow license plate of
‘light’ vehicles. After the initial inspection the ‘light’ trailers need to
return every two years for their ‘sha-ken’ and the ordinary ones every year. I
think the limits on what defines a ‘light’ trailer are up to 14 ft (boat size)
and 350 kg (boat weight). So the light trailer seems to be the size for the
popular lighter jet skis.
*-To register a trailer and get the license
plate, you need to have proof of a parking place, same as a car. I’m not sure
but I think this restriction is being waived for those trailers which fall into
the ‘light’ category. Until a few years ago, the regulation further stated that
for personal (not commercial) use trailers the registered parking place of the
trailer had to be within 5 km of the primary towing vehicle. There are several
good websites in Japanese with people’s experiences of dealing with the process
of inspection and registration. Here’s one
. There is one website of a guy who imported a
collapseable boat trailer rated for 1000 lbs (454 kg) in the USA, but the
maximum the Japanese authorities rated it for was 200 kg , and the
inspection process was a nightmare taking months to complete As the
regulation seem to be constantly changing, you had better go directly to the
Land Transport ministry for the latest details.
*-Imported trailers need to be brought up to
Japanese standards to register. In particular the placement of reflectors, and
the use of three colors of lamps (Red - running & stop lights, Amber – Turn
signals, White – backlights). If the trailer is from the USA, most likely
the Amber and White lights are not there, and the wiring is usually only
made for the Red stop, turn and brake lights.
*-Once you’ve got your boat & trailer
legal, you’ve got to deal with actually driving around Japan with it. During my
drive from the commercial port in Yokohama to the place where I launched,
I was surprised at the number of ‘gawkers’ in other cars and people along
the streets. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen anything trailered like this
except for the odd jet ski or aluminum bass boat. People slow down to check out
the boat, which creates traffic congestion. Pulling a boat as small and as
light as the Potter was a breeze, there were times I nearly forgot it was
behind me. While we stayed mostly on fairly wide streets and out of the
sidewalk sized neighborhood streets, it was not a problem at all. I suppose it
could go wherever any of the 2 or 3 ton trucks could go.
*-Toll fees on the expressways should be
increased to the ‘next level’ when trailering a boat. That is, if you pay the
normal ‘futsu’ toll, then you should pay the next one – for heavy vehicles,
trucks or buses. I went through two or three toll booths with the empty trailer
along the Shuto, Yokohama Shindo, and Dai-San Keihin toll roads but
never paid more than the ordinary toll. I suppose that trailering by
individuals is such a rare event that the toll regulations are mostly
forgotten, or the toll booth attendant never thinks to look behind your car to
see if you are towing anything.
*-It’s important to note that most of this red
tape doesn’t apply when you keep a boat on it’s trailer within the confines of
a marina. Nearby Tokyo, along the river leading down into Sagami bay there are
several marinas which are basically parking places for trailer boats with
a concrete ramp for launching. In the Tokyo metro area these places are
still fairly expensive, usually about 15000 yen for a boat under 20 feet, and
then an additional 3000 to 5000 Yen each time you use the ramp to launch. This
price drops considerably for places 100 km or further from the capitol. Thus it
would be possible to import a boat on it’s trailer from the USA, drive it to
the marina and if stopped, explain that the nature of the ‘one way’ trip.
*-A huge disappointment for me was the
discovery that the beautiful public launch ramp built by Yokohama city (just 5
miles from Yokohama
Bayside Marina ), would not allow sailboats to be launched or
retrieved. We learned this just days before the arrival of Sirena in Yokohama,
as we had planned to launch from there, and the original idea of getting the
sailboat was having access to this ramp. This public ramp is very wide, enough
room for three boats to be launched at the same time, with parking for hundreds
of trailers and cars, and with running water to hose down the boat after retrieval.
It turns out this mysterious place was built to relocate all the lucky boats
that were moored illegally along the rivers and canals in the city. However it
is still mostly unused, of the 200 places we saw about 20 boats on
their trailers from behind the barbed wire fence. Thinking I might be able to
keep a boat there on it’s trailer was what inspired me with the whole trailer-sailing
idea in the first place. The reason for the no-sailboat ban was the
pedestrian bridge over to Hakkeijima Island which one must pass under to
get to Tokyo bay. Not a problem for the short masted Potter, but no amount of
pleading could get them to let me through the regulations. This fairly killed
the ‘trailer sailor’ dream for me.
*-I had planned to disassemble the trailer and
store it upright against my building chaining it to the 2 nd story veranda of
our place. I broke down everything that could be unbolted, including the
axles and wheels. Finally I was still left with a frame that was still very
heavy. Attempting to use the winch to right the trailer from the 2 nd story
veranda I had to stop several times as the aluminum railing on the veranda was
starting to bend! I looked at some alternate ways to store the trailer, such as
on it’s side but such a heavy piece of metal which could fall over on a child
or dog would give more liability than the building owner would want to bear.
While I had accurately planned for the length and width of the trailer for
storage, the weight ended up being a real problem. As the chatter among
the neighbors increased about this ‘thing’ in my parking place, I knew I had to
find some solution, fast. In retrospect, I have come up with a variety of ideas
of places to keep it, or where I could have least sold it. However at the
time with the pressure mounting I found myself forced to call a scrap metal
place and pay 15000 yen to come and take my beautiful new ‘hot-dipped-galvanized’
trailer away, to be cut into little pieces for scrap metal value.
Oh the agony!
What Now?
I’m thoroughly enjoying the state of the art facilities, and resort
atmosphere, of Yohohama Bayside Marina .As a city owned and run marina it
is very reasonable (25,000 Yen/month, no entrance fees for under 19’ boats) I’m
also doing a lot of sailing. Having the boat in the slip, ready to sail means I
can get out a lot, on a moments notice. With the summer sun out at 4:30 am, I have on several occasions slept
aboard for some early morning sailing, followed by a shower at the marina, and
the 8 am train, where I am at my desk in the center of Tokyo at the usual time
the boss is making his morning rounds at 9:30 am.
I’m getting my money’s worth and having the time of my life. However the slip
fees are still more than I want to pay in the long term and I still haven’t
given up the Trailer Sailor dream. I’ve learned recently that the Potter 15 is
actually only 14 feet, if you don’t count the motor mount. This means I could
use one of the lighter 14 foot trailers which are cheaper and in abundance here
in Japan, used mostly by the Bass Boats one sees at Hamanako, Yamakanako, and Biwa-ko.
When we’ve looked at moving from our current place, a factor which I’m
considering is to have enough room to keep the boat on it’s trailer. I’m also
looking at places out of town, as far away as Shizuoka-Ken where a boat could
be kept on it’s trailer, ready to launch for as little as 80,000 Yen a year.
So, if work or other life situations mandate that I can’t sail as much as I’d
like to, I will keep those alternatives in mind, and getting a trailer
gives back some of that freedom which I referred to earlier. I’ve recently
found another Japanese person importing a Potter 15 which he will keep at the
Dinghy Yard of Enoshima Island. Small means flexibility!
Finally – at this writing my company is talking to me about a move to
Singapore. If that happens I might exercise another advantage to having a
small, light sailboat. Generally I could ship furniture and ‘personal effects’
at the company expense. A standard half size 20 foot container would be more
than enough to store ALL our stuff including Sirena. So, whatever life has in
store for me, the future still seems to be lots of sailing on my little boat.
Either in Tokyo Bay, or some of the lakes and protected waterways of Japan, or
the Andaman or South China seas around Singapore., keep an eye our for Sirena’s
distinctive White & Blue sails, and Gaijin Sailors burgee!
Wishing you all following seas and fair winds.