August 1, 2004
by M. S.
Participants: Taro Aoki (IAC member/Skipper, Blue Moon), Eriko Gokita (Helmsman, Blue Moon), Seiji Noma (IAC member/Crew, Blue Moon), Atsushi Ito & Keiji Kameyama (Crew, Blue Moon), Keiko Takashina & Mutsumi Shimazu (IAC members).
It was just one of those nights when I got home late after work, and I saw Taro-san’s posting in the IAC mailing list. I thought, “Watching fireworks on a sailboat! Sounds nice. But it’s probably already full, as usual.” I had noticed that his sailing schedules always fill up very quickly because of the boat’s popularity and limited capacity. However, I realized that this announcement had been posted around 11:00 p.m. Perhaps not many people had seen it yet? I thought I might get the chance to join.
Luckily, I was able to slide into a spot before everything filled up by the next morning. The participants were Gokita-san, Noma-san, Ito-san, and Kameyama-san, who were the regular crew of Taro-san’s sailboat, Blue Moon; and Takashina-san, another IAC member, who was also a beginner like me. Takashina-san and I were worried about getting seasick, so we took some pills to avoid motion sickness before sailing. Then, Taro-san and Noma-san gave us some basic information and rules regarding the boat. We learned how to board and disembark, how to move around on the boat, and what we should and should not do. Since long journeys on a boat can be tough for beginners, Takashina-san and I were treated as guests and honored to have the owner’s seats, where beginners can sit comfortably without disturbing the other crew members operating the boat.
With Taro-san’s instruction, the sailboat began its journey to Yokohama Bay. It was nice to see the sails catch the wind. The sea was a bit rough due to the influence of a typhoon that had passed through a couple of days ago. When we started sailing, we got splashed quite a lot. But, thanks to the sunshine and wind, my T-shirt and pants dried quickly. Though, it would have been better to wear a raincoat or Gore-Tex gear from the start.
After an hour and a half of sailing, we reached Yokohama Bay, where the fireworks display was scheduled to take place. There were other sailboats, motorboats, yakatabune (Japanese houseboats), and lookout boats from the Japanese Coast Guard. It was still an hour before the fireworks were scheduled to start, but there were already so many people clustered on the shore. The crew worked together to anchor under Taro-san’s direction. It seemed much more difficult than I thought it would be because the bottom of the sea was covered with shells. The crew tried several areas, but Taro-san finally decided not to use the anchor. This meant that Gokita-san had to keep the boat operating during the fireworks display.
The fireworks finally started. One after another—amazing chrysanthemums and elegant peonies, followed by the powerful starmine. They even displayed one of the most popular cartoon characters, a Doraemon-shaped firework. Being Japanese, I had seen many fireworks displays since I was a child, but I had never been so close to them, nor seen ones as big as these. Since our sailboat got as close to the fireworks launching point as we were allowed, we could actually feel the excitement of the fireworks; we could even feel the beat and heat of each launch! It was like a summer night’s dream.
We were also fortunate to see more beautiful things besides the fireworks, such as the amazingly big and bright full moon and its reflection on the dark waters below. In addition, the lights of the Minatomirai 21 area were also fantastic. Of course, daytime sailing was interesting and fun, but the nighttime cruise under the moon was equally exciting and magical.
When we returned to Negishi port, Takashina-san and I realized how lucky we were to have joined the day’s activities. It was such a special treat that gave us the chance to experience three different events: daytime sailing, the spectacular fireworks, and the nighttime cruise under the stars. We are very grateful to Taro-san and the crew members of Blue Moon for providing such a wonderful opportunity.
