Sailing in Okinawa

  THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2008 EAST CHINA SEA (Nov. 27, 2008) -- The "other woman" finally met Scarlette. My  wife doesn't share the same passion I have for Scarlette and boating in general. But since she can't cook Turkey (our stove is just too small) and we both had the Thanksgiving Holiday off (it's an American federal holiday for us here too) she kind of ran out of excuses as to why she couldn't come aboard and tool around off the coast of Chatan, Okinawa on the South China Sea. Since owning the boat last May 2008 this was the first trip "the other woman" had made on Scarlette. She smiled a lot. She played along. She didn't get sick. But she admitted, that she wished the boat could go faster. Maybe Scarlette was a little jealous and didn't want to show "the other woman" a fun time. I'm batting 0 and 2 with my wife when it comes to sailing. After getting my sailing certification last year we went out on a rental Catalina Capri...

  SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2008 Kou's first sailing trip Boy, 4, completes deckhand duties aboard Scarlette Nov. 23, 2008 -- EAST CHINA SEA -- Kou Johnston completed his first trip as a deckhand aboard Scarlette -- a 23-year-old J/24 sailboat -- just 13 days after his fourth birthday off the coast of Okinawa in the South China Sea. Capt. J and Kou's older brother -- Kai -- also crewed aboard the 24-foot, sloop-rigged racer/cruiser built by Nissan in 1985 under license with J/boats. "I tethered both the boys to Scarlette to help avoid a man-overboard situation," said Capt. J. "Kou didn't get sick and he seemed to like standing back by the rudder when I was at the helm." "It was fun," said Kou. "I want to go again." "That's music to my ears," mused Capt. J. "One of the reasons why I bought Scarlette was to do something with the boys that we could all do and maybe teach them a skill, too." Kou seemed at ease aboard th...