A bit cooler today, with a cold 20 knots coming in off the Sea of Japan, we anchor off this dramatically featured island. Nearly 200 rugged islands make up this archipelago, which was designated a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2014.
People have lived here over 30,000 years and during the Stone Age its obsidian rock was traded all around Japan.
We transfer to a local boat to sail around the steeply dramatic west coast of Nishinoshima Island. We get through a canal and out to the west coast, but Neptune flexes his muscle and we are forced to turn back to calmer water.
On the pier a couple are selling postcards and stamps, and a wooden over water building houses an origami shop dominated by an ancient stringed instrument, hauntingly played by a kimono clad lady.
Outside, Carol samples a local oyster. Huge! It took three bites. She followed with a dried smoked and spiced sardine of some sort.
However, she survives, and the Zodiac returns us to our floating home.
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