50 Miles to Go!

As I write this, we are 50 miles from the Diamond Head Finish. We're heading towards just west of Kalaopapa on Molokai and than the blast across the channel to Diamond Head. By the time you read this, we will have already finished - estimated ETA 23:15 H.S.T. Chances are, we will already be rocking and rolling on land in Waikiki and a great party thanks to Creekside!)

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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July 21, 01:00 PST

Wow beautiful night so far. This is the end of my shift. Rob, Barry, Joe and Jay are on deck. Total opposite of the previous one. We have excellent conditions: moon light, almost organized sea, no squall, steady breeze in direction and velocity (20/23 knots) which push us to Hawaii at a nice 12 knots speed average over the last 6 hours. We are now under the 500 miles from the finish. And hope that our position, about 100 miles northest than "Reinrag 2" will help to pass them.
Heading to bed for a new shift at 5 am.

JB
--------------
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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550 Miles to Go!

070720 @ 1800

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

Matt's monkey died.

Again.

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17 knots of boatspeed in 27 knots of breeze!

Ya F$%king HOO!

(at 3am PDT)

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Notes from Kevin

Day eight, 5:51 PM

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

Because my watch and the GPS say it is...

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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And Today IS another day...

2nd in Division, 2nd in fleet.

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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Just Another Day

It is of course, 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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Who is "Cosme" anyway?

Lest anyone become alarmed due to irresponsible network news coverage, we are well aware of a storm passing some 500 nautical miles due south of us, on a WNW track taking it just South of Hawaii. It's a compact storm with a well defined eye, according to Wally Barnes of the National Weather Service. We expect that it will have little effect on our projected course to the islands. We'll keep an eye on it, though. (or at least on eye on the NWS, who are keeping an eye on it!) More NWS details are at the end of this post.

What kind of name is Cosme for a hurricane, anyway?

We've had a really great day of sailing. Our 2A running kite continues to get a workout. We've gybed 4 times or so on sustained shifts with an eye towards a little more southing to stay in good pressure. We've seen 16+ knots of wind much of the day, allowing us to sail fairly deep angles. With puffs to 20, we've had a few good wave rides, too!

We're pleased with where we are, and think we're probably 3rd or so in our division at this point, on corrected time. (this is our estimate based on what we think will happen to the guys positioned farther north of us) The guys we think are "ahead" are only ahead by a half hour or so on corrected time... There is still a lot of race course - and weather - to jumble the mix. It looks like it'll be a boat race though!

I know Kevin and John have mentioned "settling into" a routine... At about this time, you get used to the minor unpleasantries of nine guys in 56 feet of space, shared with 8 sails below, personal gear, safety equipment and food stores. Baby wipe "showers" and cans of deodorant keep things civil! Food was again plentiful today, and downwind conditions made eating it quite pleasant. Rob's proscuito, salame and cream cheese wraps were a lunchtime hit. There were no complaints about the freeze-dried Beef Stroganoff and corn, either.

It's a great group - and mix - of guys aboard Cipango, starting with the Bartons. You wouldn't know they "owned" the boat - they never act as if they do - they're just part of the team. Both Bob and Rob go out of their way to do whatever they can to make life on board as enjoyable as possible. Rob takes on more than his fair share of cleaning and meal prep. Bob steps in whenever, wherever to do dishes, make hot water, spell someone on deck so that they can eat. He grinds at the pedestal as hard and fast as anyone on the boat.

We're heading just 10 degrees south of the islands on our present course... Enjoying 15-17 knot winds from 55-60 deg M.
Our position at 2115 on July 17 is:
23 25.29N 131 47.46W

(just cut and paste that lat/lon in Google Maps, if you don't want to bother with the race tracker.)

Before I forget, I want to thank my brother Steve and his wife Annie, who came down to Long Beach the night before our start and took me to dinner. It was nice to see them, and my nephew Samuel. It was great to have a chance to show him Cipango and all the other boats!

Hello and best wishes to my family, friends, and all those following Cipango across the Pacific.

Aloha!

Barry

.SPECIAL FEATURE...
HURRICANE COSME AT 14.5N 131.4W AT 16/2100 UTC MOVING WNW AT 10
KT. ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRES 987 MB. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WIND 65 GUSTS TO 80 KT. NUMEROUS MODERATE CONVECTION WITH
EMBEDDED ISOLATED STRONG CONVECTION WITHIN 120 NM OF CENTER.
COSME REACHED HURRICANE STRENGTH THIS AFTERNOON WITH A WELL
DEFINED EYE AND GOOD WRAP-AROUND DEEP CONVECTION SPIRALS...
NEVERTHELESS SST HAS DECREASED AND SYSTEM IS MOVING INTO A MORE
STABLE AND DRIER AIRMASS WHICH WOULD EFFECTIVELY WEAKEN IT
WITHIN NEXT 24-36 HRS.

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Day Five

Things are shaping-up with our Southerly route. A tropical depression strengthening to the South keeps the route in front of us a not-so-straight line. I briefly scanned the standings this morning and I see we're climbing the ladder "Exactly as planned" (wring your hands and use your best Monty Burns voice for that one). I remind myself to not get too attached to standings as we have lots of distance to conquer. A lesson for life, I suppose.

A little about what we're doing:

Everyone on board is on a "4 hours on, 4 hours off" rotations system. This goes on 24 hrs a day. For example, I get on at 2:00 AM and am off at 6:00 AM, then back on at 10:00, ... you get the picture. Every hour someone comes up from their bunk and rotates-in and relieves another. It takes about 2 days to really get into the swing, then it comes much easier. I won't say it ever becomes second nature.

Regarding roles, each of us has a general working knowledge of each other's position and could fill-in in a pinch but the idea is to generate routine, so we have very specific assignments. This is for several reasons, but not the least of which is to accommodate fatigue. During a gibe, for example, we can all do our roles half asleep because it has become so repetitive. By the way, when a maneuver is called for, its typically an all-hands affair and you're called out of your bunk JUST as you start to fall asleep -or so it seems.

My father used to say that every day you are on a boat it gets two feet shorter. This can be the case, but overcoming this challenge is one of the brilliant components of this sport. Aside from pushing hard from a physical and skills perspective, you find yourself tested as an individual on a team. Patience, diplomacy, diligence, kindness (sounds trite but hugely valuable)are always in play to keep the competitive edge. I have been on a crossing where it has fallen apart. I'm sure you can imagine.

Last night I slept for a bit in the forward section of the boat. I would call it the forward cabin, but accommodations have been removed to keep the bow light. There's really nothing up there but the shell of the hull and deck - no foam mattress, no gear bags, just hull. The noise of the water rushing by echoes intensely and one gets an eerie sense of speed. I put in some ear plugs, spent a few minutes with my new book "The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Wisdom" and replenish the mental stores for another day before passing out.

Others are looking over my shoulder now, so I'll sign off. Jay says to tell you all that there's no need to worry about us running out of food. Apparently we have Lot's of Pringles.

Currently: 80 degrees, a dead run in 18 kts breeze, mixed 3'-4' swell/chop, boat speed average 10 kts and hitting mid-teens on occasion.

All my love to Lindsay and Connor,
Kevin

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Naviguessing

Sorry about the lack of message output from the boat... Others promised that if I set-up the blog, they would write... Maybe in time ;-)

There hasn't been that much "news" to report... Although the weather and sailing has been unusually pleasant so early in a Transpac, we're all a little anxious about our routing... We think we've done a good job following the advice we paid for (forecast and recommended routing) AND observing and reacting to the actual weather! We think we're in a good position skirting the ill-formed mispositioned high, while trying to sail as few miles as possible. It appears that a tropical storm well south west of us could provide some benefit - but HOW MUCH FARTHER south to go?! We expect a gybe in our future, away from the high (painful to sail almost due South, though.

In the meantime, Sail, Eat, Sleep. Pretty much in that order of priority.
No complaints yet about the food program... Still have plenty of fresh fruit, fresh deli wraps made aboard(today's pastrami, swiss and cole slaw wrap went over well), and junk food. The freeze dried veggie lasagna went over well, too. The freeze dried ice-cream was more of a conversation starter than desert, though!\

Hopefully we see some gains in the daily position report tomorrow... (we expect that the northern boats - although closer to Hawaii, will begin to suffer).

Cheers,

Barry

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Sunday, Day 3

Hello Sports Fans,

Well it's Sunday and we are jogging right along headed south southwest at about 850 miles west of Mag Bay on the Baja Coast, for those of you with a map of the Mexican Peninsula. The race started with a "Rock Star" start. We nailed the start and led the fleet across the channel to Catalina with all the Paparazzi on the water and the (3) three Helicopters in the air taking pictures and filming us from all angles. We have been diving as far south as the weather routing suggests, although we are now keeping an eye out for the Galapagos Islands (ha ha ha).We have been settling in to our routines so far and doing well on the course. I know it looks like we are letting everybody get by when you look at the tracking map, but we have a plan. The weather maps are showing the winds to be way south and the northern side of the course is real light, so here we are going fast and far hoping that it will pay off and make us first to the Island.

Sleep is the thing the most in short supply here, we have plenty of freeze dried food (astronaut food), fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals and snacks, but sleep is the thing we all need more of. A typical day goes something like this.. there are four guys on watch all the time and every hour one of them goes off watch and one comes on. A typical watch consists of Trimming the sails for a half an hour or so then a half an hour on the grinder, then driving for a half an hour or so and we rotate the next four hours this way. when you go off watch you have four hours to eat, sleep and do what ever hygiene rituals you do. This all sounds fine until you factor in the ever present Gybe or sail change, which requires all hands on deck as we all have our own part in the maneuvers. These can be as fast as 15 minutes for a Gybe or as long as a half an hour for the sail change which includes repacking the spinnaker so it is ready for the next time you need to change back to that one. O.K. so imagine trying to sleep in a bed that is leaning to one side and keeps trying to throw you out.....now some one comes in and call out "ALL HANDS ON DECK FOR A SAIL CHANGE". Your sleeping in most of your clothes but still have to get on a coat and life jacket with harness and run out on to a wet leaning, pitching deck in the dark to wrestle up 3600 square feet of sail and then take down the one that is already there, IN THE DARK. When that is all done and the watch that was already on settles back into their routine you get to take that sail down below into the boat with the other four guys who are also trying to get their four hours and repack it into it's launch bag properly. O.K. now that your all done with that you can get back to whatever is left of your four hours to sleep so that you can be on deck at the correct time to relieve your counterpart and then he can try to get as much sleep as possible with his four hours. 11 DAYS 24 HOURS A DAY.

And that's all I have to say about that right now, I think I have used up as much of my four hours as I can spare for now. Stay tuned more to come.

John and Team cipango

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Naviguessing

Sorry about the lack of message output from the boat... Others promised that if I set-up the blog, they would write... Maybe in time ;-)

There hasn't been that much "news" to report... Although the weather and sailing has been unusually pleasant so early in a Transpac, we're all a little anxious about our routing... We think we've done a good job following the advice we paid for (forecast and recommended routing) AND observing and reacting to the actual weather! We think we're in a good position skirting the ill-formed mispositioned high, while trying to sail as few miles as possible. It appears that a tropical storm well south west of us could provide some benefit - but HOW MUCH FARTHER south to go?! We expect a gybe in our future, away from the high (painful to sail almost due South, though.

In the meantime, Sail, Eat, Sleep. Pretty much in that order of priority.
No complaints yet about the food program... Still have plenty of fresh fruit, fresh deli wraps made aboard(today's pastrami, swiss and cole slaw wrap went over well), and junk food. The freeze dried veggie lasagna went over well, too. The freeze dried ice-cream was more of a conversation starter than desert, though!\

Hopefully we see some gains in the daily position report tomorrow... (we expect that the northern boats - although closer to Hawaii, will begin to suffer).

Cheers,

Barry

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(no subject)

Day three, Saturday.

For those following along, we are on a Southern track conceding some distance to the finish in hopes of gaining favorable winds/angles later in the race. Not always an easy discipline.

Did Barry already post about day one and our Catalina rounding in rather dramatic (perfect lay-line from 26 miles) and rock star like (helicopters, chase boats, cameras) fashion? I suspect so.

Currently we're diving into a path that feels much more like day six than three - very deep angles, warm and steady 15 kt winds. sunscreen, big hats, etc. Jay Crum, our awesome navigator, is responsible for putting us in this (what feels like) favorable position. He has done this run more times than I have fingers and toes, so I am feeling good about it as well. Have you noticed that it's us and our friends on Kokopelli and Reinrag down at this latitude? ...Northern California representing.

I had better hit the rack.

Kevin

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Nice Exit!

Our fans up on the bluff (ok, so "fan" might be more appropriate) confirmed what we felt was a great start... There seemed to be quite a pile-up at the boat end of the line, and we felt the pin end was closer to the West End and that we would lay the West End easily. As it turned out, we were first around the "mark," though just a couple of lengths windward of the rock. Started with our #3 jib, and transitioned to our #1 when winds lightened.

Now moving nicely (2am) under Jib Top and staysail, with about 9.5+ knots of boatspeed in 15 knots of WNW breeze.

Hi to all, and thanks Mike!

Barry

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The LBC

Greetings from Rainbow Harbor, Long Beach. (the "LBC," the most diverse city in the US?!)
We escaped Santa Barbara's Harbor Patrol, and managed to get down here safely - WITH the boat.

Thanks to John Hayes, who joined us for the trip down.
I'm here with Barry and Jay. Once Kevin shows up, we'll head up to the Skipper's Briefing and the send off dinner. (first start is tomorrow - ours isn't until Thursday)

We'll get our delivery sails and gear to the Hawaii container tomorrow and do some provisioning.

The rest of the crew shows up on Tuesday for a light practice. Hopefully a quiet day on Wedsnesday, final fresh food provisiong and final calibration of our instruments with the help of Bob Congdon from B&G. Thanks Bob!

Thanks to Jeff Thorpe and Quantum Sails, Scott Easom and Easom Rigging, Gilles Combrisson and our entire crew for getting us to the starting line (at least close!).

-Bob

Cipango Transpac 2007

The crew is set and eyes are forward to this summer's 44th Transpac from Los Angeles to Honolulu.

Our start is scheduled for July 12.

The start is set off the cliffs of Point Fermin near San Pedro on the Palos Verdes peninsula. Leave Santa Catalina Island to port, sail across the Pacific and finish off the Diamond Head lighthouse just east of Honolulu, establishing a distance of 2,225 nautical miles.

See Google Maps

The course will be from the starting line located near Point Fermin, California, leaving Santa Catalina Island to port, thence to the finish line near Diamond Head, Oahu, Hawaii.

The Bartons have invited an outstanding crew to join them. The Team Cipango Offshore crew for Transpac will be:

• Owner: Bob Barton
• Skipper/Owner: Rob Barton
• Jay Crum (Navigator and Watch Captain)
• Joe Crum
• Barry Demak (Medical and Navigation)
• J.B. Louvet
• Kevin Moon (Watch Captain)
• Matt Siddens
• John Thompson
  

Hele On to Hawaii!

Divisons are Set

Still waiting for handicaps to be posted, but the division splits are here...

Racing against us in Division IV are:

VERIZON WIRELESS (ex-Stealth Chicken),Perry 56

THE SECRET, MacGregor 65

DELICATE BALANCE, Andrews 46

BOLT, N/M 55

RAIN CLOUD, J-145

RUAHATU, Concordia 47

LUCKY DOG, J-125

REINRAG2, J-125

Welcome

Welcome to Team Cipango. This is the place for public postings about the boat 'Cipango" and her crew. The boat, an "Andrews '56" is a lightweight "racer/cruiser" designed by Alan Andrews and built by Dencho Marine in the early 90's.

The boat is actively campaigned in San Francisco, competing in most "big boat" buoy and ocean racing events. Cipango competed in the 2005 TransPac and the 2006 Pacific Cup.

We will use this site (teamcipango.com) to post information for family and friends of the Bartons and their crew. When possible, we will provide information about the races we are participating in - including offshore postings from the boat via radio and sat phone, and links to the regatta web sites and the near real-time satellite trackers that are being used.

Big events for 2007 are the 800 nautical mile Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas Race in March and the 2200+ nautical mile Transpac LA to Honolulu race in July.

More to come...

Home at Last

Cipango is now resting at her slip in Marina Bay. Robin and I enjoyed a quick trip up from Monterey overnight on Thursday.

(we decided to skip the 30+ knot winds and big seas of Tues and Weds - a great decision!)

Due to the limping batteries, we hand steered much of the way. Thankfully, there wasn't too much sustained fog to cause us to miss the chartplotter or radar too terribly much.

The Bartons and crew wish to thank Jody, Scott and Dave who were an intrumental help in getting the boat back home.

Cipango in Monterey

Just in case anyone is still reading this...

We brought Cipango into Monterey Harbor on Thursday morning.
Somewhere around Pt. Sur, I discovered that the batteries had stopped
charging. The alternator wasn't putting out current and the
batteries were nearly dead.

We hand steered for a while, but switched back to Otto. The batteries
had just enough juice to keep the instruments and Otto happy, and we
came into Monterey for an absolutely stellar morning.

After some diagnosis in Monterey, it appears that a loose ground wire
and/or the flooding of the engine control panel created the problem.
Accordng to Robin, it appears that the batteries are now charging.

Current plan is to depart Monterey on Tuesday.

Cheers,

Barry

Checking in...

1215 on 3/21

Pushed through big swell and wind waves NW of Arguello. Launched coffee off the stove (in view of the Vandenberg launch pads) earlier today.

Still good size swell out here as we head towards Pt. Bouchon/SLO, but much less wind and some sunshine, so way more tolerable (it is the first day of spring, right?).

Engine alarm went off near Arguello... We pulled the steps and cleared the strainer of some kelp leaves - that might have been it. This could be much more serviceable if the intake plumbing could be improved/simplified.

Also, the panel was soaked (and leaking into the boat) so that might have been the cause, too... Oil and Eng temp seem inline again, though, and we're doing 7.5 over ground.

1220 position:

34 58.293N 120 47.559W
HDG 330
WIND 12-15 from 300

Hoping to be in Monterey for breakfast and Scott will leave us.

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And now the Central Coast

Picked up anchor at Cojo around 0530. Got the anchor put away, secured the spin pole and headed out towards Conception. This am's unplanned event was to replace the nut that came off the alternator bracket (I think) that apparently worked itself off. Couldn't find the original in the motor oil sludge of the engine compartment (and we had pumped it whilst still in MX), but were able to find another that fit.

(if there's a spare fasteners kit, I don't know where it is, but would like to!)

Rounded Pt. Conception shortly before 0630 and are enroute to Pt. Arguello, and then the best part of the trip - the central California Coast.

20 knots of wind from the North (that's a surprise, I know ;-) with moderate seas.
Position at 0640:

34 28.500N 120 30.550W

Cheers,

Barry

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A Good Day...

Up the east side of Catalina, along the backside of Santa Cruz, then between Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands... Dramatic lighting due to the overcast conditions...Frequent whales - all the way across the Santa Barbara channel through the shipping lanes to Cojo Anchorage, east of Pt. Conception. Currently anchored after transferring two barrels (60 gal)to the tank.

Gusting 18 in the anchorage, so we plan to spend a few hours here before rounding Conception...

Cheers,

Barry

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Bumpy and Lumpy

Cipango gets this wacky rhythm going where she rides a few big swells up, then down, up, then down - building a little speed each time and then on about the third wave - bammm! (different from the Emeril "bam!")

So, that's been the story for the last 4 hours or so... On our way across Vizcaino Bay towards shore. Engine seems to be running hot, so we've throttled back and hope to get into flat(ter) water and check/add coolant.

3/17 23:19
29 04.140N 115 23.75W

W 18 knots from 293 deg
bsp 5.3
hdg 328

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Next time I'm not calling in sick, I'm calling in gone!!

This was the title to a song we heard earlier and it seems appropriate for the kind of day we had. We woke up leisurely in turtle bay and after fueling up ourselves and the boat took to the northward path. We motored for a few hours observing copious amounts of sea life including whales, dolphins, pelicans, seals, etc. Right before the Isla de Natividad we set the main sail and motor sailed our way over to Cedros Island. We followed the coast of Cedros from point to point and I must say it was by far one of the most dramatic experiences I have had on this trip (both on the way down and now back up!) It is such a rugged remote island with colonies of Sea Elephants barking at you almost the whole way. The water is as blue as I have ever seen and the peaks ascend dramatically upwards similar to the Hawaiian Islands or maybe even the Galapagos. It is for sure a place I would love to return to to spend days mingling and exploring the beaches and inlets, climbing deeper and deeper into the mountain ranges above.
The only scary part of the day was bath time when three whiter than white men showered themselves off the back of the boat with joy dishsoap and pots of water warmed on the stove as no one would brave the "icy" cold 62 degree water. I don't know who was more upset, barry by the cold water or the elephant seals at the sight of the three men bathing on the back of an otherwise beautiful yacht!! As for me, I hid safely below till the show was over. Anyways, at least 3/4 of our crew arguably smell better...being too modest I of course made do with our Costco sized package of baby wipes! We have left the calm lee of cedros and have now pointed Cipango northward with a refilled tank of gas across the open channel aimed at Isla San Geronimo. It is a bit choppy but not bad with the wind speed hovering around 15 knots. Our current position as I type is 28 32.047N / 115 15.949W. Depending on how much we get set tonight we may have to avoid the Sacramento reef by adjusting our course for Punta San Carlos - known to some as a world class kitesurfing / windsurfing / and surf spot. According to Robin the Sacramento Reef is named after a US Mail ship of that name that left San Francisco and broke up on the reef en route to Panama. I am not sure if it was part of that same voyage but apparently there was a bunch of gold dumped at the reef that has never been discovered...maybe we'll get lucky!! I might send Scott down to take a peek! Apparently depending on wind & waves it can be quite a dramatic site. If my calculations are correct we will be passing it sometime late tonight or early tomorrow morning depending on how you look at it. We just had a fantastic meal of pasta with tomato sauce and mushrooms and sauted onions preceded by a delicious cabbage salad. I just polished off the dishes, Scott is up on watch, Robin is crawling into his bunk and I am about to head aft and jump in mine to leave Barry our chef extrordinaire and technical guru to zap this off to anyone who is actually reading this. As Robin says it best "Goodnight John Boy, goodnight Mary Ellen."

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Bahia De Tortugas!! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We pulled into Turtle Bay right on time at 0300 - 27 41.122N / 114 53.197W. We were in and out of fog last night and observed some vessel traffic. Robin was as usual his brilliant self. I swear the guy must be 50% salt water!! We navigated between reef and kelp completely uneventfully and into the anchorage where we set the hook in about 17 feet of water. I would estimate that at least 30% of the boats at anchor weren't using anchor lights which given the velvety blackness of the morning made the trip that much more exciting. None the less within 20 minutes we were safely at anchor. Immediately out of the darkness we were approached by a Panga with a man on board passing out his business card and offering us Diesel. It seems as though there is now more than one operation in town and the competition is fierce in the diesel business. That was confirmed when we were awoken at 7 am by the competition with their offer of diesel. Robin shooed them off until we had time for coffee and to get ready to receive diesel. Barry is making coffee and pancakes and taking orders for eggs (somehow they all always end up scrambled but don't tell him I said that!). I have made my best effort to introduce Scott to Nutella, he has so far turned me down. Sad, sad, sad. I personally couldn't go without chocolatey hazelnut spread. Not too much going on aboard Cipango beyond culinary delights, bad smelling crew, and our steady northbound trek. We will however keep you posted if any of that changes!
Scott just reminded us that it is St. Patrick's day (La Faile Phadrig sona dhuit). So have a uisce breatha (whiskey or water of life) for us!! I wish I had more to report...maybe one of the other crew members does. We have now successfully taken on just under 100 gallons of diesel. Robin is busily siphoning into the tank while we finish up with breakfast and dishes down below. From here we take off north on a path that will go on the inside of Cedros Island (maybe some sun and a bath??) and then across in the general direction of Punta San Carlos and then northward to San Diego.
Jody
This is Scott now - Boy we could all use a shower, but the weather so far has not co-operated. The trick for the next 400 miles is to stay dry. Ok, so along the way we have been very fortunate to have Jody a fluent Spanish speaker aboard. Hope all is well with everyone at home. We all so appreciate your support.
Beannaucht slan agat Scott & the Cipango crew.

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Your (Our) Tax Dollars at Work

Sometime at around 7 am - during my watch - I noticed a ship astern. It took well over an hour to close gauge on us, and eventually dispatched a patrol boat our way at about 9 am.

It was a pretty uneventful encounter... They stood off 30 or 40 feet for a few moments - looking the boat over and perhaps using electronics to sniff for stuff. They came alongside - seemingly wanting to board... With a few carefully chosen words, Robin convinced them it was very unlikely that they could do so without holing us. (their boat was a clunky aluminum tender, and we were in 2-4 foot seas.) Scott went down below to grab his camera to take a picture, if/when they did sink us.

The apparent officer in charge asked a few questions - the toughest one was asking Robin to spell his last name. (Robin WAS able to do so - in case you were suspect) A freckled-face boy - not possibly older than 18 years and a day, wrote it down. He seemed downright scared when he needed to ask Robin to repeat his driver's license more loudly.

They pulled up their fenders - giving up on the whole boarding thing.

Of course, we politely thanked them...

Underway at 09:20 from

25 52.917N 113 10.593W
Heading 310 @ 8.5 (towards the coast at Pt. Ascuncion)
Wind about 8 from 330
Partly cloudy

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Revenge of the Pepperoni Pizza! and the USCG!

This is Jody again...and I would just like to add that while I enjoyed my pepperoni pizza the first time,....it did not taste so good when I was feeding the fishies around 4:30 AM on my second watch!! I think I will skip breakfast this morning!! We had a mostly uneventful night...I don't think anyone else was afflicted by pizza revenge or at least no one else will admit to it. It is 9:30 or so and we are steaming along. I was awoken about 25 minutes or so ago as our rpm's were eased down and boat speed dropped off. After a few minutes when nothing changed I crawled out of my bunk (reluctantly) and into my foulies to see four Iowa residents in a US Coast Guard panga to our right!! After playing 50 questions with Robin about who owned the boat and where we were headed etc. They agreed to let us head on to San Diego. It truly was comedy the back and forth shouting of all the information as this poor sopping wet 19 year old struggled to write it down on a soggy piece of official paper blowing in the wind! In the end we were not boarded, thank god, because I think that thing would have put a hole in this boat and off we go on a heading of 309 and almost 9 knots in relatively flat water on to our next stop Turtle Bay!
Current position 26 00.194N / 113 17.009W

Hasta pronto!!

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Off to Turtle

Picked up anchor at 20:30... Skirted past the unlit anchored fishing boat and about to turn the corner of our protected anchorage towards Cape Lazaro and then northwest to Turtle Bay (224 miles).

We transferred fuel to fill the tank (nearly 50 gal), checked and filled oil, repaired the broken stove and finally managed to heat these nasty looking pepperoni pizzas. (the four of us managed to polish them off, so clearly we made do).

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Gentleman never sail to weather!! Good thing ladies do!!

It is currently 18:30 on a fantastic and beautiful evening. We pulled into Bahia Santa Maria (24 46.513N / 112 15.507W) about an hour and a half ago for some peace and quiet, maintenance, and some dinner! So far we have been waterproofing and refueling (both the engine and ourselves!) We had some fantastic (if I do say so myself) guacamole and chips and are currently all dried out and ready for the oncoming trip tonight! Barry is working on preheating the oven for our Mexican pepperoni pizzas (isn't pizza supposed to have cheese? Maybe not in Mexico!) and the Beach Boys are serenading us on our sirius radio!! I have to say for as remote as we are it is feeling pretty civilized. It is hard to describe the beauty of the Baja coast. It is so rugged and raw and yet right when you think you are totally removed a little panga will motor by with three youngish Mexicans lobstering. Their seamanship bravado and lack of wet weather gear astounds us every time. It is awesome to be out here and spend time with new friends, but it should be said that those loved ones at home are never far from our minds. Scott tells great stories about his amazing wife and daughter (Good luck on finals!! Spring break is around the corner!) Barry misses his girlfriend and his dog!! Robin never ceases to glow when talking about Miss Betsy. As for me, engaged for less than two weeks, well clearly I miss my man! (and kitties)! But nonetheless we savor every minute we have of this experience as we are so blessed to be able to experience what so few get to see....even if it is upwind!! So to our family and friends and the owners of this awesome vessel - we say Muchas Gracias for your support and love!!

We will be underway once again as soon as the pizza is done!! I am on first watch with Barry and gang to follow!! So until tomorrow wish us mild winds and flat seas!

Jody, (Scott, Barry & Robin)

PS - for all those at Scott's work please note he has been ill for the last 36 hours! Afflicted with too much relaxation and fresh air!! (so please give him some paid sick time!!)

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Wet

That's the description of the inside of Cipango...

We're presently (11:30 local time on 3/15) at:
24 20.795N 111 46.946W

(you should be able to cut and paste the lat lon above at maps.google.com, by the way.)

We're presently motoring up the shore of Isla Margarita, after a moderately bumpy and wet evening and morning.
Now, sun's shining, water's flater, wind's down and we're able to air out ourselves and the boat.

Minor engine problems encountered at 09:30 this am... Since we left Cabo, the engine has stalled 4 times - including once in the marina just at departure. After losing RPM and stalling a fourth time this morning, Robin replaced the "O" ring on the fuel filter... OK for now... We'll attend to the engine later this afternoon - potentially anchoring for a few hours to make a real dinner and clean up the boat some...

All aboard are doing great.

Barry

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Whales up the wazoo & bat rays too!

Well we're here live and in person from the delivery crew of team Cipango. As I believe Barry has already introduced each of us, I will skip all that and say that we just finished a delivery of SC52 Lightning up the Sea of Cortez to La Paz where the sea life was spectacular.

The title of this message alludes to this, but since this is intended for family and crew of this boat, all my friends will have to wait to hear those stories at a later time. On our return to Cabo we found spring break in full swing and with the charter boats, jet skiers, lets just say we were glad to get out of there without a tattoo. Well it is 1720 now, but less than an hour out we enjoyed the entertainment of a mother and baby humpback whale fluking and breeching just like the Prudential commercial. We are off to a good start, moderate seas, 15 knots true, and making 8 to 8.5 knots of boat speed. Barry is getting ready to make quesadillas for dinner, what could be better than that. Current position 23 03.731N 110 09.017W. Until tomorrow Buenas Noches. Scott

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Return Tracking...

The return trip is being tracked from the FIS cruising site. Simply
go to one of our sites (http://www.fistracking.com

works just fine) and click
on the "cruising services" button. Then select the Cabo Return option
and select Cipango there and click on "Show Location"

That's where we are ;-)

(unlike the race, this data is much more current)

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And now, the return trip....

Hi all...

We departed Cabo San Lucas this afternoon, clearing the channel at about 15:00 local time. Aboard Cipango are:
Robin Jeffers
Scott Pryor
Jody Taliaferro
and me

Stay tuned for occasional position reports (apparently the tracker IS working.) You need to go to "cruising" section, however, not the race section... I'll post the link a little later.

We'll also keep you up to date on marine life, culinary feats and onboard odors.

Cheers,

Barry

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Second Place!

Hola!

Old news by now, but we're happy to report/confirm that Cipango finished third and corrected to second place, by a very close margin. If it had taken us a minute longer to clear that kelp, well...

So, hats off to the Bartons, Jay and Jeff (our watch captains) and the entire crew - all worked their butts off.

Thanks from the entire crew to Bob and Rob for providing us this great opportunity!

By the way - Cipango and Morpheus came together again. Fortunately, this time, it was off the water for a great dinner together at the "Trailer Park," following last nights awards. I'll refrain from reporting any more details...

Thanks to everyone who's been supporting us at home!

Regards from Cabo.

Barry

The last 150

O.K. sports fans, this race has come down to the last one hundred fifty miles. It has been a long and slow affair, with all the really low winds (when they could be called winds at all) keeping even the Big boats within reach. Cipango seems to be sitting in a very good position, if all the possible conditions fall into the right order, things could work out very nicely for this big blue cork (as my boss likes to call her) to take home some bling. Every night we run into some sort of situation that seems to set us back, at least in our minds, to some distant position in the pack. When morning roll call is completed and all the boats have been plotted for their position we realize that we are still in a place within real striking distance for first. The first day we jumped out of the blocks to take command of first position only to end up sitting in the calm with fifteen other boats from the next division up and couple from our own. When they all seem to get the wind before we did, we thought they had left us in the dust, only to find out the next morning that we were ahead of all but three. Every morning we think we have been passed by the fleet because of calm or even having to wrestle with what we call our "sea monster" (it was a massive kelp bed that we ran straight into in the middle of the night and had to tear loose from it by hand). This has all taken longer than we expected but should be across the finish line Sometime in the evening on Thursday, provided the wind doesn't shut down again. So the sprint is on and we may do better than even we expected, we will let you know how the drama unfolds.
Keep checking in,

Johnny T.

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Closing in

It's 2:30 and were reaching in about 8 kts of breeze and heading closer to shore to catch some compression and hopefully a favorable lift, then jibe to make gains on Blue Blazes and Valkyrie who are further offshore but on their way in as well.

The conditions have grown far more predictable in light of the new NW gradient. The sun is strong and it's wise to go below for a while during the day to avoid too much sun so here I sit at the keyboard.

The crew dynamic is particularly good and the topics have turned far more serious. Established now is "Who is hot" among our mutual friends, as well as the more effective ways to get a woman's attention.

We all need to do laundry. Desperately.

Kevin

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Sigmund The Seamonster

I keep assuming that those who are reading this blog - what little we've managed to get out to you - are also following the race tracker. I'm not sure how our 45 minute encounter with Sigmund is going to appear on the tracker - if at all. It was frustrating enough that we were ghosting along with just a whiff of breeze, which degraded to nothing. Sometime around 21:15, while struggling to keep the boat moving, we were optimistic of a puff coming our way. J.B. was on the helm when it started. Quite strange, really. The sails filled and the boat powered up just a little. Jeff repeatedly asked J.B. to head up to meet the puff, and increase our apparent wind in effort to get the boat moving. J.B. replied "I am trying, but I cannot. I do not know what is wrong." (say this to yourself in a French accent, for the full effect).

Jeff came back and took the helm, and expressed his frustration, eventually exlaiming "it feels like the boat is anchored!." I got a high intensity flashlight over the side of the boat on the starboard side and saw nothing. But, when I looked over the port side, I saw Sigmund. His tentacles were flowing aft, emanating from the keel of Cipango. Alongside the boat was further evidence of his massive size. We'd run into a kelp patty - island more like it - that should have it's own postal code. "Yep, we're anchored alright," I told Jeff. With an immediate "all hands" we struggled to pull and cut at the monster for 45 minutes, hauling what must have been hundreds of pounds of kelp forward, away from the keel and cutting it away. Jay was ready to dive in, but the thing was so massive, that it was unclear what someone might do in the water. (it also seemed quite possible to get thoroughly tangled in the beast). We finally freed ourselves from the monster. The time seemed like an eternity, but we were quite relieved - albeit exhausted from the fight - to be underway again. We sent J.B. over the side on a halyard to assure ourselves that we were freed from our captor.

It's 06:50 on Wednesday morning. After our visit from Sigmund, we were eventually treated to a filling West breeze, which we were able to enjoy through a terrific Tequila Sunrise (feel free to sing along). We're approaching, some 60 miles or so to the East. With the end "in sight," so to speak, we're looking forward to a round of beers or three and some fish tacos - hopefully by Thursday evening. IF the wind gods and the Sigmunds cooperate.

Hello to all,

Barry, on behalf of the crew of Cipango

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Update

Day three has come and leaves with a sunset almost as beautiful as the last. After some miserable drifting last night, we're now moving along nicely. It's a slower race than hoped but has had it's interesting tactical exchanges - particularly last evening between us, the DK and Blue Blazes. Now we're on our own with with no visual contact of others but we get the daily post of locations at 9 AM. So far, not in bad shape.
Right now is great. Without using terms like "inverted lows", we've got winds now from the west at 11 kts, water absolutely flat and we seem to be in a favorable position. The VMG kite is pulling well, Sympathy For The Devil on the box, the smell of beef stroganoff starting to heat. You get to know your mates now as stories exchanged to pass time on deck become more personal. Good times.

Now someone else can get you updated with all the technical crap.

-Kevin

PS
Hey Connor! Daddy loves you!

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Rob's Nasal Wind Instrument

Again, apologies for limited communication from the boat. See, the agreement was that I would set up the blog, and others would contribute. Two have expressed interest, but none have been more motivated to sit in front of the computer, than to lie horizontal when given the opportunity.

I'm eying my bunk, too, after coming off an 0100 to 0500 watch. Overnight we saw windspeed of zero for nearly hours, while the light winds that followed seemed like 20 mph gusts! (really only about 5-7 knots) We've been chasing the wind and have been willing to go anywhere, in any direction, to get into it. I'm sure the track shows us doing donuts south of Cedros Island and Turtle Bay.

Oh - the reference to Rob's nose - almost forgot. It proved to predict - with 100% accuracy - when we could expect NNE breeze off the land - no fewer than 15 sneezes in fact. (and the land is 30+ miles away)

Off to my bunk and pleasant dreams about chips and guac - and a cerveza or three. Not sure when we'll be seeing them :(

Regards to all...

Barry and the crew of Cipango.

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Sorry you haven't heard from us...

Hello to our families and friends.

Sorry that you haven't heard from us yet. Hopefully the satellite tracking service provided by the race organizers has kept you informed of our whereabouts. You likely know more about how we're doing then we do (as I write this at 9:30pm Sunday.) Today's roll call had us fifth in class. Not bad at this point, but not pleasing to us, either.

This has been a slow race, with ever fickle, ever changing breezes caused by the upper level systems, Santa Ana conditions and the sea breeze trying to have its say. More light air reaching than we would prefer and much less powered up downwind sailing than we'd like to see.

Our exit of Newport was pretty good. We initially led our class to the left side of the course, and were doing very well into the night. Sometime in the night, it appears we headed more offshore, and a few of our competitors crossed to the inside and made up time.

The light and fickle conditions have led to many sail changes. As the new kite goes up, the old kite comes down - which means it needs to be banded and packed to hoist again. It hasn't been uncommon to switch back, just as soon as we've finished packing the sail we just took down.

All of this is to say that we haven't been getting as much sleep as we'd like wait we're gybing.
OK, back... Another gybe in 4 knots of breeze - trying to eek as much as we can.

So... Lots of sail changes, a humpback whale yesterday, plenty to eat and even new culinary delights. Tonight Rob treated us to pot charred stroganoff - just fine with enough hot sauce, especially if you ate fast, didn't chew and ate downwind of Bob while he was smoking a cigarette. ;-)

We'll try to get back to you soon!

Barry for Team Cipango.

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in process: About the Cabo Crew

Bob Barton
Rob Barton
Jay Crum
Barry Demak
J.B. Louvet
Kevin Moon
John Thompson
Jeff Thorpe