Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Brad McVetta kicks off the Tsugaru Channel season tomorrow at 4 am local time in northern Japan.

After his 14-hour journey from New York to Tokyo, he had another 5-hour travel to the northern reaches of Honshu where he settled in his hotel overlooking the Tsugaru Channel. To wait and wait and wait. The anticipation has to be unnerving.

White caps and winds framed the channel every morning, afternoon, and evening, an ominous sign of rough water for his 19.5 km crossing tomorrow. No calm conditions and constant turbulence is the welcome mat in Japan. But finally after 72 hours, the winds died down. But as winds calmed, a dense fog arose from the channel and prevented any clear view of Hokkaido on the other side. Only a faint outline of his goal was visible as McVetta squinted off in the distance.

“There are no white caps today, but in 3 days, I have not had a clear view of Hokkaido. However, the day before the swim, I can make out the outline of Hokkaido through the dense cloudy haze.

I just met with Masayuki Moriya of Ocean-navi and Captain Mizushima-san. The captain says currents are running strong so it is best to start from Kodamori instead of Tappi Misaki. We will dive in at 4 am tomorrow after a 2-hour boat ride. So its time to get some sleep,’ reported Triple Crown swimmer Brad McVetta

Sleep well because tomorrow is going to be one memorable adventure in the northern Pacific across the always challenging Tsugaru Current.

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