Now it’s time to decide on what the priorities are to get her ready for cruising. This is a bit tricky. We are not retired but our schedule is somewhat flexible so we are able to spend about 10 days a month from August thru February at the boat. Hurricane season we are home working. We are on a budget so need to decide what to do ourselves and what to hire out. Time vs money….always a compromise.

Most of the boats systems were close to 30 years old and in need of repair or replacement.

Electronics – this was easy, all needed upgrade. After much comparing, we went with Ray Marine since we had a contact that could get us a steep discount. New radar, touch screen multifunction display, AIS, VHF radio, wind and depth instruments. We had a friend who is good with electronics come out to help install everything thinking it would take a few days. At the end of the week, the radar was installed. Clearly, we had underestimated boat electronics, pulling the old systems out, including wiring and the challenges of working in the hot humid weather.

Transmission – After Clark started the boat in full gear instead of neutral and to our surprised rammed it full throttle into the dock, we knew it was time for a new tranny. The challenge of disconnecting the transmission when two of the aft motor mounts are connected to the transmission means the motor had to be jacked up to disconnect the transmission. This was a big job we decided to hire out so work could be done while we were home working. This ended up taking 3X the money and the time to get done, even using a reputable service. Reputable is difficult in Florida, lesson learned; there are lots of people wanting to make money in the boating industry not all are on the up and up and even getting someone to show up can be tough.

Living aboard comfort – What do we actually need vs what we want and are used to having? The air conditioner was a big decision. We didn’t want to have one, we really wanted to be able to acclimate to the weather but in order to work below for much of the day in South Florida, it’s a necessity. A low wattage microwave was another decision. Saves time by being able to eat in more and not have to warm up the interior using the stove top. Eventually a toaster oven joined us as well. These things may not make the cut once we start cruising but for now, we will happily enjoy them.

Dinghy –  We bought a newer used dinghy and reinforced the davits to haul it behind the boat. We wanted a ribbed dingy light enough to manage but powerful enough to allow us to explore. We chose a ribbed inflatable with a 15 hp 4 stroke outboard.

Inventory list –  Going through everything, deciding what to keep and what to toss, then making a map and list of what was where. On a boat this size, there are cubbies and storage spots everywhere. Without a list and map we would spend much time and frustration remembering where every tool or part was. We still need to go through all of the extra boat parts the 2 previous owners left behind, good to have them but it’s a big job.

Safety Check – we contacted the local US Power Squadron to come help us with what we needed. They share the duty with the Coast Guard who sent out a nice young man to help us get up to date. Everything needed to be replaced, EPIRB and Life raft were last recertified 20 years ago!  Still working on this.

By this time, we are starting to get comfortable living aboard our new boat home and learning how to function day to day in her space. We have yet to move the boat off the dock vs into it.

One of our favorite activities is to explore the endless waterways and fingers in Ft Lauderdale in the dinghy. With places like the shallow “Sandbar” area (where the ICW and the New River meet up) and many boaters convene for music, beer and cooling off, we are having a great time. This is also educational for us. We have a 33 ft boat in Santa Barbara so getting comfortable with motoring/sailing a 55ft boat and navigating the busy waterways of Ft Lauderdale with its endless draw bridges, currents and winds not to mention absolutely gargantuan yachts in competition for the same small strips of river can be a daunting task. The 50 mile crossing of the Gulf Stream to get to the Bahama islands was the least of our worries.

                                                                            

September 9, 1942, the I-25 class Japanese submarine was cruising in an easterly direction raising its periscope occasionally as it neared the United States Coastline. Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor less than a year ago and the Captain of the attack submarine knew that Americans were watching their coast line for ships and aircraft that might attack our country. Dawn was approaching; the first rays of the sun were flickering off the periscopes lens. Their mission; attack the west coast with incendiary bombs in hopes of starting a devastating forest fire. If this test run were successful, Japan had hopes of using their huge submarine fleet to attack the eastern end of the Panama Canal to slow down shipping from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Meanwhile, a Nebraska forestry student Keith V. Johnson was on duty atop a forest fire lookout tower between Gold’s Beach and Brookings Oregon.  Keith had memorized the silhouettes of Japanese long distance bombers and those of our own aircraft.  He felt confident that he could spot and identify friend or foe, almost immediately. It was cold on the coast this September morning, and quiet.  The residents of the area were still in bed or preparing to head for work.  Lumber was a large part of the industry in Brookings, just a few miles north of the California Oregon state lines.

Aboard the submarine the Captain’s voice boomed over the PA system, “Prepare to surface, aircrew report to your stations, wait for the open hatch signal”.  During training runs several subs were lost when hangar doors were opened too soon and sea water rushed into the hangars and sank the boat with all hands lost. You could hear the change of sound as the bow of the I-25 broke from the depths, nosed over for its run on the surface. A loud bell signaled the “All Clear.”

The crew assigned to the single engine Yokosuki E14Ys float equipped observation and light attack aircraft sprang into action. They rolled the plane out its hangar built next to the conning tower. The wings and tail were unfolded, and two 176 pound incendiary bombs were attached to the hard points under the wings. This was a small two passenger float plane with a nine cylinder 340 hp radial engine. It was full daylight when the Captain ordered the aircraft to be placed on the catapult. Warrant Officer Fujita started the engine, let it warm up, checked the magnetos and oil pressure. There was a slight breeze blowing and the seas were calm. A perfect day to attack the United States of America. When the gauges were in the green the pilot signaled and the catapult launched the aircraft. After a short climb to altitude the pilot turned on a heading for the Oregon coast.

The “Glen” was launched via catapult from a I-25 class Japanese submarine. Johnson was sweeping the horizon but could see nothing; he went back to his duties as a forestry agent which was searching for any signs of a forest fire. The morning moved on. Every few minutes he would scan low, medium and high but nothing caught his eye.  The small Japanese float plane had climbed to several thousand feet of altitude for better visibility and to get above the coastal fog. The pilot had calculated land fall in a few minutes and right on schedule he could see the breakers flashing white as they hit the Oregon shores.

Johnson was about to put his binoculars down when something flashed in the sun just above the fog bank. It was unusual because in the past all air traffic had been flying up and down the coast, not aiming into the coast.  The pilot of the aircraft checked his course and alerted his observer to be on the lookout for a fire tower which was on the edge of the wooded area where they were supposed to drop their bombs. These airplanes carried very little fuel and all flights were in and out without any loitering. The plane reached the shore line and the pilot made a course correction 20 degrees to the north. The huge trees were easy to spot and certainly easy to hit with the bombs. The fog was very wispy by this time.

Johnson watched in awe as the small floatplane with a red meat ball on the wings flew overhead, the plane was not a bomber and there was no way that it could have flown across the Pacific, Johnson could not understand what was happening. He locked onto the plane and followed it as it headed inland. The pilot activated the release locks so that when he pickled the bombs they would release. His instructions were simple, fly at 500 feet, drop the bombs into the trees and circle once to see if they had started any fires and then head back to the submarine.

Johnson could see the two bombs under the wing of the plane and knew that they would be dropped. He grabbed his communications radio and called the Forest Fire Headquarters informing them of what he was watching unfold. The bombs tumbled from the small seaplane and impacted the forests, the pilot circled once and spotted fire around the impact point. He executed an 180 degree turn and headed back to the submarine . There was no air activity, the skies were clear. The small float plane lined up with the surfaced submarine and landed gently on the ocean, then taxied to the sub. A long boom swung out from the stern. His crewman caught the cable and hooked it into the pickup attached to the roll over cage between the cockpits. The plane was swung onto the deck, The plane’s crew folded the wings and tail, pushed it into its hangar and secured the water tight doors. The I-25 submerged and headed back to Japan.

This event, which caused no damage, marked the only time during World War II that an enemy plane had dropped bombs on the United States mainland. What the Japanese didn’t count on was coastal fog, mist and heavy doses of rain made the forests so wet they simply would not catch fire.

Fifty years later the Japanese pilot, who survived the war, would return to Oregon to help dedicate a historical plaque at the exact spot where his two bombs had impacted. The elderly pilot then donated his ceremonial sword as a gesture of peace and closure of the bombing of Oregon in 1942.