Friday, March 20, 2009
Getting ready.....
Sunday, July 22, 2007
50 Miles to Go!
We are currently monitoring the radio for information on other finishers, and do not want to use battery unless absolutely necessary.
It's been a great - and largely uneventful - race. Great group of guys on a great boat in mostly great conditions. First place in our division - baring a strange turn - is locked up by Reinrag^2. We congratulate them on a great race. As I write, we're hoping to secure second in division and hopefully second overall. The latter will largely be determined by conditions - which presently are favorable for us. Kokopelli 2 sailed a great race. Congratulations to them on their first in division and - hopefully - their THIRD place overall.
We'll try to post some photos in the coming days and more upon our return to the mainland.
Thanks to all those who followed along with the blog and for all your good wishes.
And, on behalf of the Cipango Transpac 2007 crew, many thanks to Bob and Rob Barton who generously enabled us to share this wonderful experience with them.
Aloha,
Bob and Rob
Jon
Kevin
Jay
Joe
Matt
J.B.
and me, Barry
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Saturday, July 21, 2007
July 21, 01:00 PST
Heading to bed for a new shift at 5 am.
JB
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Tres belle nuit en comparaison de la precedente ou les grains avec 30 noeuds de vents nous on bien chahutes. En ce moment Cipango marche a 12 noeuds de moyenne avec des pointes a 16 noeuds dans les surfs le tout dans 20/23 noeuds de vents de Nord-Est. La lune est pour la premiere fois presente et la mer presque ordonee. Nous sommes toujours en 2nd position dans notre division and aussi 2nd sur l'ensemble de la flotte. Notre position 100 miles plus au nord du premier de notre division "Reinrag 2" nous laisse esperer la premiere place. Mon prochain quar est a 5 heures et mon banc m'appele.
A+ JB
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Friday, July 20, 2007
550 Miles to Go!
We've clicked another 132 miles off in the 12 hours since 0600 - at the same rate of yesterday's 262 mile run. Not sure we'll have last nights hell-raising surfing conditions, but we'll see... Last night's top boatspeed allegedly touched 18.7. That might not seem fast, but it's scary fast on a sailboat like Cipango. (and a whole lot of fun, so long as everything stays together!)
We replaced our spinnaker pole with our spare, today. The one we had up was flexing quite a bit, and fissures were developing from a "chink" in the outer skin. It would have been just a matter of time. Minutes? Hours? Certainly not days!
Currently enjoying 21-24 knots. It should be a fantastic sunset, too.
Great wind most of the day. Hot and sunny - absolutely stellar. (albeit a bit muggy down below :(
There's no shortage of food aboard the Cipango. We probably have enough freeze dried for another lap! The crew have been pleasantly surprised, and more than a few have been eating "seconds." Tonight's delicacy was beef stroganoff with a side of corn. The blueberry cheesecake and raspberry crumble deserts ain't so bad, either. I won't even begin to inventory the junk food. Suffice it to say that probably nobody has lost weight on this trip.
We're still enjoying fresh oranges, though they're just beginning to "go off," and the milk might have one more day left in it!
We're already beginning to look forward to the hospitality of our Honolulu hosts from Creekside Bar and Grill. Thank you Shawne and the rest of our Creekside friend!
At present, it looks like we're 2 1/2 to 3 days out, rumbling towards the islands. We're still pleased with our course towards Diamond Head. Only time will tell if we can make up ground on Reinrag 2 and nip her at the finish. We don't have details on the two retirees from our division, but can only assume that they were suffering in light air to the north and decided their diesel was the best sail to put up.
Matt's given birth to his third monkey. We'll see if that one can make it to Hawaii. Nobody on board is taking that side of the bet, though. Apparently Joe's Octopus gave up the ghost today, too. Fortunately for me, my pet inverter, PC and instruments are hanging in there!
Lindsay: Kevin got to read Connor's poem today - he was thrilled! Thanks to all who posted comments to the blog - they were received via email today, and the crew got a chance to read them!
Time to go enjoy the sunset and then 3 hours of sleep - hopefully!
Cheers all!
Barry
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Poor Monkey
Again.
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17 knots of boatspeed in 27 knots of breeze!
(at 3am PDT)
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Notes from Kevin
Going on watch in a few minutes - getting my gear together and preparing for another evening of light squall activity (22kts) and fun slides. Last night we had some rain and I expect nothing different in a few hours as the clouds chill. Water is getting much warmer and that should be a hint for me to bathe again. DD. Nobody is shaving and we're all looking pretty ridiculous. Good times. I had better get on deck.
Namaste baby,
Kevin
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Today must be Thursday
Others are beginning to notice a certain ripeness to the boat - because they finally bathed!
I won't name names, but I fear there's a few who haven't yet.
We're sailing along in great trades of 18-20, and 10-11 knot average speeds. (1300 PDT) Day high on the speedo so far was 16.7! (tying last nights record)
Beautiful, sunny skies with light puffy clouds and good wind. This is why you do this race.
We encountered quite a few squalls last night. Due to the timing of my watch, I've yet to see the moon. Between the squalls and the lack of moon or stars on the horizon, night driving has been challenging. (with great swings of wind direction, velocity and swell coming from two directions!) At times you really lose perspective and feel that you're hurtling through space with only the digital compass readout to guide you. You know you need to sail, say, 270 degrees, but no matter how much you turn to the right, you just can't find it!
The squalls bring cool, misty rain and some good wind on the front side! We had more than a few wild rides last night.
I've heard that the Transpac/FIS tracker system has essentially crapped out. I've been a bit reluctant to post our position to the blog, because it's quite possible that our competitors would have access to that information (legally) if I do.
We're occasionally puzzled by our instruments. First, there's the issue of them reporting current in the middle of the ocean - as much as 1.25 knots, though now showing .44 to 241. I suspect that the paddle wheel that logs speed has come out of calibration (we calibrated it last week before we left), enhanced by speed and mileage... Or, maybe the rotation of the Earth in orbit has changed while we've been out here.
Our displays in the cockpit (known as "FFDs") kept shutting down last night at the worst possible time. (it's nice to know the wind direction and angle to the boat, in front of a squal when the wind seems to be blowing at least 22. Our performance navigation software seems to be the culprit, and caused the instruments to reset while trying to display "external" numbers.
2 days ago, our onboard computer kept crapping out. We eventually isolated to the inverter. We got it out of our electronics compartment (it was white hot!), took it apart, and lubricated its fan.. Now, we leave it out on the chart table with a fan pointed at it. (its fan has died again) Matt has his monkey, Joe has his octopus and I have the inverter and the B&G instruments. I hope my pets outlive theirs. I think Matt's monkey may have died today.
I know there are at least 2 people who will appreciate this minutae. Hopefully the rest can skim through it!
So, about our position and the current "standings." We're still pretty pleased with where we're at. Yes, we're concerned that the guys below us have some "leverage" on us (Reinrag in particular), but we bet that winds would fill in on our course, and they have. Further, we think we're enjoying some of this "fill" before them. Again, we're trying to maximize our speed, while minimizing our distance. We made some decisions contrary to the forecasts due to our observations and expectations and Jay's intuition and experience. (this is Jay's 14th Transpac, and that's not counting Pac Cups!) Our competitors appear to be following their automated routing religiously. So, we still think we might have it right. Either way, we're not about to consolidate at this point. We'll find out over the next 3-4 days, won't we?
Aloha to all,
Barry
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Wednesday, July 18, 2007
And Today IS another day...
As suggested yesterday, we're currently bested on corrected time by Reinrag 2, who dug farther south, and gained more ground with better wind.
Matt and Joe have just given birth to two new shipmates. Matt's is a monkey, and Joe's is an octopus.
Like the original crew of Cipango, these critters need sleep every 4 hours. I give them very little chance of surviving the 1173 miles to Hawaii!
We're past the halfway point in miles sailed and handicap miles. From all accounts, we should be past halfway measured by time, still expecting to make the island on Monday.
Best to all, and thanks to those who provided the interesting halfway presents - well taken junk food and bizarre electronic pets!
Sailing along west in mild trades, 1173 miles from Diamond Head. All aboard are well, perhaps, except the octopus, who may already be suffering.
Cheers,
Barry
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Just Another Day
And a long way to Diamond Head.
1314 nautical miles or so.
But, it's still nice to hear "First in Division, First in Fleet."
It will be much more satisfying to hear that in 6 days!
We're working hard to sail fast on the shortest course possible to the island, now.
We have an eye on Verizon Chicken, Ruahatu and Reinrag in our Division, and I'd be lying if I said we weren't paying a bit of attention to our friends and foes on Kokopelli 2 in the 50/52 division.
We've also received reports that Cosme lost her hurricane stature as quickly as she earned it and is working more W than NW. I've been tracking her position reports, too!
Fleet coms also said the satellite tracking system is FUBAR. At the very least, they will "plot" our 0600 daily position reports that we transmit by radio. It's possible that they are getting more frequent positions from our transceiver, but we're not sure on the boat.
There's a twelve pack of Heineken in the cooler for a small halfway celebration. It's up to Jay to make it "official," but I look forward to my first beer in nearly a month! (some will find that VERY difficult to believe!)
Ah the sun has poked out... Perhaps some bathing today. You can only hope!
Cheers,
Barry
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