Sail-training aboard Japanese brigantine tall-ship 'Kaisei,' meaning Ocean Planet, 1992.

4. Iefr: Man battling
against tbe elements.
Centre: Build,ing team
utork a.mong a. cross-
cultural creut
Rigbt: Eating is a
balancing act on board
tbis "rollercoA.ster"
waddled in brggy oil-skins and layers I am an integral part of the crew. That's the
of bulky clothes, I totter on to the point. Anyone can for a price.
pitching deck and clutch a railing. -
The thrills of the Kaisei are available to
This is my first time at sea, the second anyone, ro matter what race, gender, nation-
night. Manchurian gusts aching ality or sailing experience.
-
with the cries of tormented dogs Anchoring in Misaki, Japan, jusr sourhwesr
are blowing rain horizontally before the brig- - of Tokyo, the ship has tentarive plans that
antine's red, white and green running lights. include voyages aroundJapan and calls at Hong
Sails overhead crack, whip-like, distended and Kong, Phuket and Singapore from its winter
raw. The 46-meter hull rises, wags across the base in Okinawa. The Kaisei, along with Out-
black horizon, dips to one side and ward Bound's Ji-Fung in Hong Kong, is only
THUUUUUMPS into a sea swell foaming the second such vessel in Asia out of the
white. approximately B0 accessible sail training ships
I am a trainee, reporting for midnight watch around the globe. The rest of the esrimared 300
duty. As I strain to hear the count . . . one. . . square-riggers are for merchant mariners or
two . . a deluge of Japan's Black Current military sailors exclusively the price here
arches across the two-master and slaps me in paid for in terms of time. -
the face. The brine is warm and tastes of soda. "Our 'sail training' is neither," says Kaoru
"This," yells the shivering watch officer, "is Ogimi, the suave, bi-lingual founder and chair-
a full gale. 7ear your harness! man of the Sail Training Association of Japan
"You, Reiko? Wake the engineer. The (STAJ), the Kaisei's owners. The goal of the
engine room bilge warning lights are on. And five- tol4-day cruises is ro instill young people
get your helmet!" with respect for teamwork, physical endurance
"You two, forward lookout. Peter, take the and nature. Lectures about the Kalsei's work-
helm?" ings, sailing theory, navigation, weather, even
I am busy wiping my fogged glasses. As one the stars, are just part of that process. Ogimi,
of 16 novices aboard the Kaisei, a new sail winner of the double-handed Melbourne-Osaka
training ship on the final leg of its 15-month, Yacht race in 1987 , says: "'We teach by living,
5 7,000km maiden voyage from Spain to not by preaching."
Japan,

5. around the corner and astern.
For 3 B hours, the storm,
which becomes a typhoon,
presents life at 30 degrees. Port-
holes below deck look into an
aquarium without fish. But walk-
ing and sleeping on this roller
coaster is easy compared to eat-
ing. One hand must hold the
plate aloft like a painter's palare
while the other stabs for food.
Drinks are part of washing up.
Since most of the trainees feel
seasick anyway, there's plenty
Trainees are divided into watch teams of of space in the mess room name I now
five to10 people with whom they work, eat and understand.
rest for the duration. About halfway through While the Kaisei is not necessarily a ship for
the voyage, the experienced watch leaders comfort, it is a comfortable ship. Bunkrooms
"disappear". Trainees 75 pet cent of whom sleeping six to eight have bathrooms with hot
-
are female, 30 per cent students must then showers. The diet mostly meat and rice
-
crew the ship in shifts totalling six to 11 hours is bountiful and -tasty. And the Kaisei-is
each dry. So, a housewife from Osaka can end equipped to be safe. From its global positioning
up commanding an American editor from system (GPS) satellite navigator and two dif-
Tokyo, a banker from Manila and a student ferent types of radar to dual skin life rafts and
from Taipei. Although it feels like the blind rubber speedboaff, all rescue contingencies are
leading the blind, it forces listening, commu- ensured. The eight officers, with more than
nications and interdependence from relative n0 years of global sea experience between
strangers: Team work. them, also make sure safety comes first.
And work it is. All the more-rhan-lOO But the most memorable part is the excite-
polypropelene ropes that raise, lower and coo- ment and the beauty. Furling a sail on a yard-
ffol the Kaisei's 15 sails must be pulled by arm 30 metres above a sea so dark blue that it
hand. Ary time, dry or night. And they're looks black, riding the bow sprit as it crashes
heavy. The effort needed to haul up a big nylon through white-capped waves flinging manes of
sail in a stiff breeze turns trainees into contor- spray or competing in the Kaisei's daily
tionists. Soft hands and flabby muscles get a "olympics" is unforgettable. As is gaping at
rude awakening. In addition, trainees must gleaming arches of porpoises as they jump-
clean, swab, scrub and polish an hour or two dive, jump-dive, jump-dive, a crab floating by
every duy, regardless of weather. There's also on a banana leaf miles from land, or the Milky
maintenance work. And, of course, galley duty. Wry glowing through the mast rigging. Even
"The more the work, the more the bond- the salty-dog pros pause to bask in the glow of
itg," says the Kaisei's captain, Chris Blake. the ocean turned silver and red at sunset. After
7ith 32 years at sea, 15 of it commanding sail all, the name Kaisei means "ocean planet".
training ships in Britain, Australia and Hong STAJ's Ogimi and Blake, as well as twelve
Kong, Blake is one of the most experienced cross-cultural staff and crew, are comrnitted to
training masters afloat. He says the Kai.sel is spreading the Kaisei's non-profit message of
actually designed to be inefficient so trainees teamwork, physical life and nature throughout
must work as a team. Uith a grin, he adds: Japan and Asia. And more than 50 volunteers
"Nothing brings people together like a srorm." from Japan and Hong Kong to Australia and
Amen. Poland have donated an estimated 10,000 hours
As I prepare to take the helm of our 180-ton to refit, maintain and crew the ship
testi-
sail ship in Force B winds and high seas, I study monial to its appeal. I
the current helmsman a bureaucrat from
Hokkaido -
cramming his yellow boots into
- The Kaisei will sail around Japan through
two blocks spread a metre apart and hunching the summer and plans to call on Asian
hls body against the big wooden steering wheel, ports, such as Hong Kong, Manila, Kota
his chin thrust forward to see the compass Kinabalu, Danang and Kaoshiung from its
swinging under his nose. He looks like a weak winter base in Okinawa. Voyage length
water-skier about to fall. varies. Current all-inclusive price per day:
As I reach over to hook in my safety harness Y13,500 (US$ 110) for students and
next to his, the teak deck lurches to a 40. Y18,000 (US$140) for others. Contact:
degree angle. My feet immediately go sideways Sail Training Association of Japan, 2F,
and down I slide across the bridge, off three I-14-4 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 1 13.
steps into water gushing over gunwatres
ASIA MAGAZINE 17