Today's
Report
A quick summary
of activities that have kept Saito-san and the Saito 8 Committee busy over
recent weeks.
The Skipper
We've lost track
of all the articles, interviews, and news clips in the national and local media
– newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, as well as web – that have appeared or
will soon appear. Some we are called about; others we only learn about later.
To summarize
them: Wow! Amazing!
And always: Minoru Saito is what disaster-shocked Japan especially needs
now.
At the top of
all this national exposure is the NHK music special that was filmed in mid
October and airs tomorrow night. It's a 90-minute charity show starring a
number of Japan's top singers, during which Saito-san is treated to a lively
on-stage interview by a team of presenters. Images from the voyage will be
shown.
If you have
access to NHK, Japan's national public TV network, you can watch it here:
Tuesday, November
29th at 19:30, "Kayo Charity Concert" on Channel 1 (NHK).
(Not in Japan?
We know of one Saito Japanese expat friend who plans to view it with her
husband on their cable -- on their cattle ranch in rural Texas.)
Congratulatory
Parties
Saito-san was
feted two Tuesdays ago at Tycoon Restaurant, where nearly 70 friends and
supporters came to congratulate him. Among the several highlights of the
evening:
- Brief congratulatory calls with Sir Robin
Knox-Johnston (in London), Rose Bliss (in Santiago), Don McIntyre (in
Fiji), and Brian Peterson (in Auckland). (See Note)
- The ceremonial signing of the circumnavigation
start and finish affidavits by Junya Hirose and Katsuhiko Ida, who were
the "official witnesses" for the circumnavigation record.
- An engrossing interview of Saito-san by Nico
Roehreke, president and CEO of main sponsor Nicole BMW.
- Certificates of appreciation to sponsors and Saito 8 Committee members, gratefully handed out by Saito-san and Hunter Brumfield, as the executive director of Saito Challenge 8.
Note:
We greatly
appreciate their participation with the calls, which were tricky across so many
time zones and with the tight party schedule. Each of these folks helped
Saito-san during the voyage; in the case of Sir Robin, history's first non-stop
solo circumnavigator, it was a chat between two long-time sailing pals. Our
only disappointment was not being able to complete the call with Dave Cooper,
who headed Team Hawaii and was instrumental in solving major problems over
hundreds of volunteer man-hours, allowing Saito-san to safely depart Honolulu.
We'd once more like to express our deep appreciation to Nico Roehreke and our Supporting Sponsors and contributors for making Saito Challenge 8 possible. And to the members of the Saito 8 Support Committee, started here in Japan and eventually spread to the far corners of the world.
Main Sponsor
Nicole BMW
Supporting
Sponsors
Albion
American Chamber
of Commerce in Japan
Barilla Japan
ClearPoint
Weather
Dave Cooper and
Team Hawaii
Fujiki Group
GPlusMedia
Japan Radio
Corp.
Harken
Henri Lloyd
Iridium
Nicole Group
Rogers
Investment Advisors
Sunsail
Tokyo American
Club
Tycoon
Restaurant
U.S. Dairy Export Council
Yasuda Gakuen
Alumni Association
Several other
parties are planned, including one being thrown in Saito's honor by his high
school alumni association this evening. Yasuda Gakuen Alumni Association
contributed funds and regularly updated its members on Saito-san's progress in
its newsletter.
The Boat
Nicole BMW
Shuten-dohji III will spend
a final week on the floating dock at Tycoon Restaurant in Yokohama, which has
also been Saito-san's home most days since he arrived. (He's also been residing
in Tokyo as the guest of an old friend, a Buddhist priest.) The generosity of
Kota Fujiki and his staff during the now more than two months that NBSDIII has
been there has been extraordinary, including not just the berth but also free
food, and the use of the restaurant's amenities, including electrical power,
security – and not least – a hot shower.
As attested to
by the arrival pictures, NBSDIII was severely damaged during the voyage, both
at Cape Horn and Punta Arenas in Chile, and through wear & tear on the
arduous "wrong-way" east-west circumnavigation.
So this weekend,
assisted by Saito 8 Safety Officer Mike Seymour, Simon Gougis, and Hisato Mori,
Saito-san will move the vessel about 90 nm to Arari Shipbuilders, a marine
facility owned and operated by Mori-san in a harbor on west Izu Peninsula.
There she will be hauled out for bottom cleaning and inspection, and a decision
will be made on whether to attempt a long list of repairs.
There's also
hope to sell her, but that's a decision to be faced probably next spring.
