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WaveRunner Touring "Discovery Japan 2009" in Izu

May 23 - 24, 2009

Izu Peninsula is blessed with a wonderful natural environment and easy access from the capital of Japan, Tokyo. It is a very attractive land with scenic coastlines, beautiful beaches, hot springs and mountains stretching out to the sea. In the summer, though, it is very crowded with tourists from Tokyo so we made plans to tour scenic spots in Izu on our WaveRunners in May just before the beach season.

24 crafts participated this time. The 30 crafts including the lead and tail crafts plus a rescue WaveRunner made for a big convoy.

Everyone's WaveRunners were tied to an offshore mooring rope at Numazu Yamaha Marina, our kick-off point, beforehand to make for a smooth start. We arranged for everyone to be taken to the kick-off point by boat after they changed clothes. This system allowed us to meet at 9:20, change clothes, have orientation, and depart right at 10:30.

At the pre-departure orientation, the cruising schedule, points to remember while cruising and flag rules were explained.
Two of the most important points to remember were:
Don't overlook instructions from the lead craft.
Don't pass the lead craft.

The convoy headed for our first goal just offshore of Mt. Fuji.

Mt. Fuji is the highest peak in Japan (3776m). Needless to say, it is a revered symbol of Japan. Although it is an inactive volcano, historically it does have a record of eruption. Its nearly perfect graceful symmetric profile gives a striking impression.

On the day of departure, the early morning fog made us worry whether we would be able to see Mt. Fuji, but later the sky started to clear and kept our hopes alive as we headed west.

Mt. Fuji of the day when it is fine.

Sadly, we couldn't see the whole panoramic view of Mt. Fuji but we could see the snowcapped summit. We all lined up for a commemorative photo, then we rode away into Suruga Bay with Mt. Fuji in the background and headed toward Kotoi harbor, our break area.

We took a break and had lunch at Kotoi beach where we could take showers and use the restrooms for free. Everybody was very pleased with lunch which was made up of a variety of local ingredients. Selecting the rest area is one of the most important points for setting up a touring course.

After lunch, we set our heading to the south and entered our main touring course.
The course this time was approximately 90km running along the colorful scenic coastline to the left. It was a spectacular sight to see the large group of WaveRunners riding with the beautiful landscape of western Izu in the background.

We stopped at the famous tourist spot Dogashima (Doga Island) on the way.
Since there were other tourist ships, we divided into groups of six and headed into the cave in the cliff. The sunlight streaming through the gaping hole of the cave's roof was truly fantastic.

We stopped again at Matsuzaki Marina for fueling and headed to Irou-zaki, the southernmost point of Izu Peninsula.

The waves were steep in Irou-zaki and the lead boat, as was to be expected, had to slow down. Participating boats headed to the day's last goal, Shimoda, while being tossed about by the 1.5m waves.

After arriving at Shimoda, we all finished refuel and mooring, and the grand feast, which is one of the great pleasures of a two-day tour, began. The weariness of a hard day of touring seemed to melt away as all the participants licked their lips over the splendid sea food.

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