Sea of Japan, Scenic Cruising

Because of the rough seas caused by typhoon Wipha, our stop in Okinawa was canceled. The typhoon is in the north of Japan and well out of our way but left wind and waves in it's path. It gave us the added bonus of going thru the inland passage and having an interesting sea day. It was still quite windy when I walked after lunch. It is a lot harder walking in the wind. I came in out of breath and tired. But the sea was different shades of green now! It had been many shades of blue around the islands we had visited. We passed under many bridges and towns, large and small. And went by islands, some very close to the ship. 

Tonight was formal 'kimono' night so we all wore the jackets I had found in Kobe. We had an officer sit with us at dinner. He was the 2nd officer, in charge of navigation. He told us that it was an interesting day yesterday, making all the changes necessary to go to a different port. They didn't even have the charts they needed but were able to get them from the port. The shore excursions office was also scrambling to put together tours in Nagasaki and to get transportation for us. Two other ships will be in port at the same time so buses are limited. Of course we have no Internet so they had to depend on people onshore to help them out. The officer told us that late tonight we will go thru some straights that are less than 1/2 mile across. There have been 2 local pilots on board since Kobe. When we turn to go south there will be a different pilot on board until we reach Nagasaki. We will have some rough seas in the night, wonder if it will wake us up?

We are currently sitting in the Nagasaki Cruise Terminal. Free Internet, yea! We have 2 hours before the ship leaves. Time to catch up on everything.