Urban's Limerick

Duct tape on our windows outside and in
Patches on sails ready to trim
After chili for dinner, the odors were abundant
I guess you can say the air was rather pungent
Junk yard dogs of the sea, we took on the fleet –
Victory in reach would be rather sweet.
We turned north, though our margins were thin,
we were taking a risk but we knew we might win.
While we thought we’d go fast, instead we ended up with our thumbs up our….
Ask us why we did it!!!
If it would have worked out we’d have cleaned the fleet out.
We look a little ghetto although we’re pretty cool.
After all, the boat is called Urban Renewal.

Home at last

The Urban Renewal crew crossed the finish line at 3:28 a.m. Monday morning. Family and friends headed out on Ho'onanea to meet the boys at the finish line. We left Kaneohe Yacht Club at 1:30 a.m. and headed out to the R-2 buoy. Navigating in Kaneohe Bay at night is definitely a challenge. Throw in some squalls and it is a bigger adventure. We braved the elements to get the first glimpse of our loved ones. There were several boats finishing at the same time and it was hard to tell which one was Urban. After a lot of is that them, no that is them, no they're over there, even driving past a boat and cheering (oops not them), we got to Urban and yelled, screamed, cheered, and clapped. It was a wonderful experience to meet them at sea. Thank you David for taking us all out at such an early hour.

After docking we greeted each other on land giving leis, hugs, and kisses. It is great to have them back at home. Especially Ellis, Don, and John who have been away for over a month. I am sure I speak for Gail and Ruth Ann when I say we missed them a lot.

Cathy

P.S. I have posted a bunch of pictures. Look to the left of the site and click on the links. I am working on putting up more, especially the video of the start. It takes a long time to load so it is taking some time. I will post a blog when they are all up.

Final Hours

Aloha,

4:50 HDT, Sunday evening

Friends and family, We notified the race committee that we are 100 miles from the finish. YAHOO!! The sight of land is still 9-10 hours away. This adventure was greater than my expectations. The scope of things learned, about sailing and personally, rivaled any college credits one could amass. (Even though some of us are challenged by wind direction, like East vs. West).

Our current position: N22*33 W156*21
Wind: NE 12-16 nmph
Boat speed: 7.5 to 14 nmph
Swells: 2-4 meters

We had one of our bags fall into the SSB (single sideband radio) and put it out of commission for the remainder of the race. We have been using an iridium phone to keep officials posted. Daily, people are very concerned about each boats whereabouts and safety. This fits with our program well. If we are interested in safety, why are we having cans of Stags chili on our last night? Could be an interesting finish after all.

Mahalo, for your support and interest, this will be the final E-mail from "Urban". Our E.T.A. for tomorrow morning, should be 6:30 - 8:30a.m., always, subject to change. Thanks again, Sailing Safe

Your Crew and Friends,
John, Rocky, Les, Don, Randy and Ellis

WHAT AN ADVENTURE / MAHALO / LAST EMAIL

0200 hrs Sunday just coming off watch, Squalls and stars, driving constant 8-10kts / even hit a 16.1 my personal best / crashing water on deck / pitch black one min / stars and the milky way just unbelievable / on our watch 36 nms average 9 kts for four hours - -that is some hot stuff for me!!!. What a great adventure this has been for me. We started preparing about a year ago, then did the delivery and now the race - - WOW!!! For all of you that have supported all of us/me for the delivery and now the race - - it was great having you part of my life and knowing you were following along with your thoughts. If the wind Gods are willing we should finish sometime Monday morning - - looking fwd to seeing all of you at KYC - - and for you off shore people hope to see ya' soon on the mainland. Thank you Ruthann for allowing me to be part of this and supporting me all the way.

PURPLE FLASH OUT!!!!!

Day 11 - 292 miles to go

Aloha,

5:22 p.m. Saturday

"Ready or not, here we come." In San Francisco we met a captain, his quote, from his wife, "How can I miss you if you never go away." Well girls, we've been away, but I don't think it will become a habit. You are stuck with us. We are anticipating a Monday morning landing at Kaneohe Yacht Club. For those interested, we will be radioing KYC from 100 miles out, 25 miles out and 1 mile out. Then calling KYC at the finish line for an escort into the club.

Today was another very strong performance by "Urban Renewal", we should sail close to 190 miles for the 24 hr. period. We are gaining on many, but, too little too late. We moved to 5th in our division. For dinner this evening, ham, potatoes and apple sauce or peaches. At this point, we are trying to empty out refers, storages, etc. Spirits are high with the anticipation of landfall, and your smiling faces.

See you SOON !!!!!!!!

The Crew, John, Don, Les, Rocky, Randy and Ellis

492 to go

Aloha,

Time: 6:48 p.m. pdt Friday July 25

Support team, "Urban Renewal" is charging towards the finish. We jibbed a few hours ago, yes, finally we are heading south. We could, conceivably, keep this tack right across the finish line. As noted above, we are 492 nm to R2 buoy. For the last few days we've been averaging 175 nm. Ahhhhhhhh, the flying fish,(inedible) have been landing on the deck every day, during the delivery and race. One of which is our mascot. We should have had this little guy leading us out of the "parking lot", 5 days ago.

Our position: N26*36 W150*47
Bearing: 221 degrees
Wind: NE "Trades" 10-16 knots
Current boat speed: 9.8 nmph

The day began with steely blue water. It is now a deep clear blue. Beautiful stuff. Tonight, we are finishing the turkey and dressing. Prepared by our guest chef, Rocket J. Squirrel. We are hoping for a Monday landing. Your support has been tremendously appreciated !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Crew, Don, Les, Rocky, Randy, Ellis and John

Parking Lot Sale

Aloha Family and friends,

After spending nearly two days in the parking lot looking for good deals, I mean wind, it was time to push forward. Yesterday, we recorded more miles toward "the finish line", than 6 of 7 yachts in our division. Finally, we gained a little ground. Today, was another very good day. There is hope of at least a respectable finish?? We currently have 668 nm to the finish line. Looks like a Monday or Tuesday finish. (Always, subject to change.)

Current position: N 27*33 W147*01
Wind direction: NE 10-14 nmph
Boat speed: 8.4, averaging 8 nmph for the last 5 hours
Swells 1-3 meters, surfing rarely.

To nights fine cuisine, Dinty Moore stew, presented by master chef, Randy. Our provisions are holding well. The ice is on its last stand. (much better preformance than delivery crews). Dry ice was key. Could be the last chilled beer tomorrow, that's still much better than anticipated.
Sailing fast and safe,
The Crew John, Randy, Les, Rocky, Don, and Ellis

Day 9

Aloha,

7:36 p.m. pdt What a concept, we kept the boat moving all day and night long. A few days ago, not sure how many, we spotted a hundred to one hundred and fifty dolphin swimming in front of our bow. They were in a big hurry, splashing as they went. The line of dolphin stretched over one half mile. It looked as if they were herding other fish, but they swam a straight line. Perhaps they were the prey, not the predators?

Today was gorgeous, skies and water were blue and company was good. We are currently 828 nm to the finish line.

Our position is N27*55 W144*22
Bearing is 233 degrees
Wind is NE, blowing 10-15nmph,
.6 oz. spinnaker has been used all day.
Swells are 1-2 meters

This evenings dinner was baked lasagna. We ate the entire thing. For the race, we have been using dishes and cutlery made from vegetable by products. It's odd how quickly we volunteer for K.P. everyone is enjoying good health, and spirits.

See many of you sooooon in Kaneohe Bay.
The Crew, John, Rocky, Ellis, Don, Les and Randy

Light but steady

We are out about 885 from Kaneohe Finish line. moving pretty close to the mark, but at least away from the effects of the HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM that haunted us for the last 3 days. we figure we lost at least 2 days, mostly going 1 to 2 knots, sometimes we had to drop the main because the heavy sail created such a disturbance to the spinnaker when the boat rolled. This put us out of the hunt for 3rd place which we were close to when we ran out of wind. now we are trying to get out of the lace where we were yesterday, a short way ahead of the other j-35. Last night we had our half way party, nice steaks on the bar-B beer and wine and Ice cream sandwiches for desert! I understand from sup op Supply Operations, that we are down to our last 30 beers and one bottle of wine. we also have a bottle of Gran Marnier so we will make it one way or other. John, Com Ops, is getting quite comfortable with the radio reports and plotting the positions of the principal competitors. Randy and Rocky handle fab ops (food and beverage). So we await the next report and the next puff of wind. looks like sometime Tuesday, late Monday if we get some good wind. Hope all is well ashore,

Aloha, Les, Nav Ops, Master & Commander (Don Likes to call me that), Owner of Urban Renewal, and Northern Goat!

today's update

Aloha,

A day and night of intermittent squalls provided us with wind. Not enough to keep us from dropping like rocks toward the bottom of the fleet standings. Nonetheless, great fun, laughter and experience is being had by all. We will have stories to tell. This morning we reached the half way point, 1038 nm. That equates to filet mignon BBQ tonight. Sounds like more entertainment to me. Randy caught a 30-35 pound Aku (tuna), early this afternoon. We released it. It would have caused much havoc on deck, plus dinner was already planned. Perhaps, tomorrow will bring similar success. The real success will be brisk winds all day long, we don't want to miss too many festivities at Kaneohe Yacht Club. We will keep you posted.

Current standings: 7th out of 8 in the fleet. (however, we did pass some poor suckers today) Current position: N29*41 W141*56
Current bearing: 231 degrees
Speed: 5.9 nmph, ugh Squalls surrounding us all day

The wine is breathing,

The Crew, John, Rocky, Don, Les, Randy and Ellis

FISH!

Just getting ready to take the helm on my watch this Tuesday afternoon and looked at the fish lines, one was TIGHT. We caught a 35 lb ahi. it was a huge fish and had to slide gaff it to get it on board. argh, too big, too much, lot to waste, we did the right thing and let it go.

yes we took picks. Randy

Ooops

Aloha,

After much discussion, we decided to sail West, rather than drop South like most all other boats. Well, we dropped several places today, after recording THE lowest mileage in the fleet. Our theory, "Go for the Victory", failed. Now, we are trying to get to Kaneohe in time to enjoy a few of the parties mid week. We have been sitting in little, to no wind for over 24 hours. We are having a great time...but, there is no need to create space for any new trophies. Dinner tonight was corn beef and cabbage.

Our current position: N30*47 W140*51
Miles to R2 bouy 1069 nm (the half way point is 1038- so some time tonight, hopefully, we'll be on the down hill run)
Bearing is: 229 degrees
Swells: 1 meter
Wind speed was 6-7, just dropped to 2-3 (we'll see you as soon as we can)

It was very beautiful out here all day!!

We are sailing safe, but we wish it was a much FASTER safe, T

he "Urban Renewal" Crew, John, Les, Rocky, Don, Randy and Ellis

words from the crew

Aloha Family and Friends,

The "Urban Renewal crew is enjoying a glorious day on the water. The sun is glistening off the deep blue water, white billowy clouds dotting the horizon and a breeze NE 5-11. Sounds like a good afternoon for a bucket bath off the bow??? It smells like the time. This mornings breakfast was bacon and egg burritos, very tasty. Thanks to Rocky and Randy.

We are still competitive within our class. "Boys Night Out" is still the theme, but we are paying attention to details. Are goals are clearly defined. We'll let you know the results after the awards are presented??? We have 1175 nm to the finish line.

Our exact location is: N31*45.684 W139*06.625
Boat speed is 7.7 mph, but has been slower through out the day.
Swells are 1-2 meters

We changed spinnakers this morning. Now we are flying a .6 oz. spinnaker, the wind has been moderate at best. This has been the slowest going since we left S.F. But, we are all in shorts and t-shirts, the foulies aren't put away for good, yet. Once again, "Life is Good". Except for the fishing....the lines are getting rinsed off behind the boat. No fish seem to be interested. We have plenty of tuna aboard, ugh!! Tomorrow evening we should be half way home. At which time we will BBQ steaks and perhaps a little vino rosso to augment the menu selection.

(John)

Les' comments: Had to do the dishes last night, tough duty on a green boat like urban, we toss our "potato starch" biodegradable bowl and sugar cane bagass forks go over as well-boys don't like the old way of doing dishes. the pots are done the old way but Don stepped up to that chore. With the light wind today we discovered a new field of information on the gps. we now get a number called VMG or 'velocity made good (to the finish line). so we can go at 6 knots right at the line or head up to make the boat go faster and see if we get there faster going faster higher by comparing the vmg on each point. we are already high of the fleet, about on the original rum line from SF. the forecast is for the wind to fill in west of us, north first, so that might work for us. have not seen the Sunday positions but feel it probably did not change to the good at any rate. John, Ellis and Randy have all become excellent helmsmen which really helps spread the driving load. I have been driving for my shift at night since the spinnaker in the dark takes more seat of the pants instinctual steering that only comes from experience. We put up the spinnaker net yesterday, goes between the mast and the headstay to keep the spinnaker from wrapping around the headstay when it collapses. This can be fatal for the spinnaker if it tightens up and can require the spinnaker to be cut away (I've seen it many times}. We still have dry ice and regular ice in the icebox. Cold beer and wine at the end of the day. All Right! Randy's research questions with the dry ice guy have paid off in spades. Gotten a little wordy so enough. Thanks for all the kind emails of encouragement. Aloha, John, Les, Rocky, Don, Ellis and Randy the "Urban Getto gang" (Urban Renewal is a sweet boat, but not the standard of most of the fleets )

Its about time. weather is great, shorts t shirt and a bath. only wish we had more wind now. last night and today has been light. Night driving has been cloudy without stars so concentration is intense, lots of fun! been trying to beat Les'14.9 surfing on waves but well see. we are counting on fish as an integral part of dinner tonight so i am working hard on that now... failure is not an option i know where the can tuna is. talk again soon. Randy

Actually I think we have enough food on board for a month. Plenty of good meals to come. We are not going to be losing weight on this trip like they did on the way over. Rocky

warming up but slowing down

We are starting to get more sun and the nights are less freezing, although we still wear are foul weather gear at night. During the day it shorts and shirts. Well that is the good news, the bad news is that the wind is down and the longer it stays this way the more ground we loose. We are still predicting a Sunday arrival but it may be late, so pray for wind. At the moment we are trying to catch dinner, we still have half a day. Our cold stuff is still cold and we are still enjoying an occasional cold beer in the afternoon, yeah for the dry ice. I recommend this for boats without refrigeration that are going to be out more than a couple of days, it works well. Don't leave bottles or cans next to the block or they will freeze, keep the block a bit insulated to last the longest and provide good refrigeration temperature. We'll hopefully see you Sunday at KYC, other wise we'll see you when we see you.

Ellis

spins

Few problems, changed to our 85 kite, worked good, destine for a 200 mile day but a late afternoon squall changed that when we blew out that spinnaker and went back to the 1.5 kite which was much heavier and did not do well in the lighter air we encountered. I accidentally ate my ice cream sandwich which I mistook for a granola bar in the dark. Was supposed to be for the half way party. We are at 1333 now, so I guess we are looking at Monday for that event. The weather map is starting to get dicey as the high is getting large and extending close to our area, should affect every one, but so far we seem to have a good breeze with some squalls. With the breeze a little lighter we have our 3/4 oz spin that much made for us in 1993. We are babying that to make it last. We still have lots of kits but all of them old. Actually we do have Rocky's new kite but it is a little small for the boat. Still in 4th place, the boat Begiua seems to be sailing well and we have to beat them in by 5 hours and they are only .1 miles further from Hawaii than us. The computer for the race estimates our arrival at 2:45 am Sunday morning if we keep our present speed, as of 9 pdt today. We haven't slowed too much making about 7.8 average speed for the course. We did 195 miles to the good yesterday, so our straight line strategy is working for us so far, we just have to sail faster! Ham for dinner last night, breakfast burritos this morning. Tomorrow will be the test. We have fish on the menu for dinner, barbecued but we have no fish on the boat. Do we just give us fish or do we teach us how to fish? We will put line out in the morning. I was corrected, we do have tuna in the can, though our Mayonnaise did go flying across the boat earlier in the week. Our dry ice is keeping our ice cold and we are still drinking beer cold at our cocktail hour so time keeps passing and I am enjoying being our here. The company is good and the sailors are getting better, more tomorrow. Note, this goes out the next time we hook up to the modem/single sideband radio.

Aloha Les and Crew

No Fish Yet

Aloha Ocean Racing Enthusiasts,

We flew the 1.5oz. (heavier) spinaker last night. The evening was uneventful, for drama. That is a good thing. The competition came back to us a little. We are currently in fourth place in our division. But, the race has just begun. We have yet to see the moon, or many stars. We have seen a lot of ocean!!!! Early today the wind decreased, we changed spinakers to a lighter 85oz., making the steering much easier. The wind speed is 8-12 knots per hour. The ocean has swells of 1-3 meters. (No rogues, yet, Darlene) We have 1519 nm to go to the R2 buoy outside Kaneohe Bay, (which will be very near the finish line).

Our exact location is N33.33 W132.36
Boat speed currently ranges from 6.8 to 13.1 nmph.

You've heard of where is Waldo?? Where is Joe?? Not a line in the water yet, for the racing team. Hence, no fresh Mahi or Aku YET!!! We are not starving, however.

We are racing home, safely,

The Crew,
John, Les, Don, Rocky, Ellis and Randy

day 2 progress

Aloha all,

Today, the weather conditions improved. The sun popped out for a few hours, foulies were cast aside, sunglasses used and attitudes brighten by the suns glow. Yahoo....we hoisted the spinaker around 1 p.m., and are considering taking it down for the night. It definitely requires more focus. Yesterdays, "position report" had us third in our class and fifth overall. After this mornings report we dropped to fourth in our class and thirteenth overall. All the fastest boats haven't begun, yet. The race is just beginning!!??

Our current position is: N35.03 W129.37
Distance to R2 buoy: 1690 miles
Wind speed: 6-10 knots
Boat speed: 7.5 knots
Swells 2-4 meters
Current weather: clear, squalls on the horizon
Time: 3:59pm PDT

Tonights Bill of Fare....cup o soup....yumm

Sailing safe,
The crew, John, Les, Rocky, Don, Randy and Ellis

Day One

Aloha Family and Friends,

Tuesday, July 15th at 1:45 p.m., the race start, out the "Golden Gate", heading towards Kaneohe Bay, Oahu was exhilarating! "Urban Renewal" was third of eight under the bridge. Leaving San Francisco was bitter sweet. Saying good byes to loved ones and our great friend Larry Sweet, was emotional.

Larry, on Monday, July 14th while stepping on the boat, tripped on a life line, stumbled, lacerating his cheek and severely bruising his ribs. ER diagnosis, "no Pacific Cup for Larry this year". Larry you are missed. Ellis Abram, who helped on the delivery, is now with us on the return. Thank you, Ellis. We have just completed our first 24 hours. Weather was cold and gray, but the wind and ebb tide proved beneficial.

Distance to R2 bouy, just outside Kaneohe Bay, 1928 nm.
Course: 237 degrees
Position: N36*54 W124*43
Speed: 7.2 nmph
Swells: 2-3 meters, choppy seas
Wind Direction: N 10-15 knots

Last nights dinner, salami sandwiches. Oh yeah, another reason to miss S.F., "the food". We used the Single Side Band radio, to successfully transmit our position to the race committee this morning. Much thanks to Ron Dubois and Jim Young and many, many others, for their help!!!

Day One complete and still "Sailing Safe",
Crew of "Urban Renewal"
John, Don, Rocky, Les, Randy and Ellis

The Race Is On

Today at 1:45 p.m. the crew of Urban Renewal crossed the starting line on their race back to Honolulu. With one minute to go Urban headed to the line along with several boats in close proximity. As the time crept to the final start time one boat went over early with Urban following close behind. Les’ master sailing skills kept Urban just behind the line until the final signal and she crossed the line with perfect timing. All the boats sprinted to the Golden Gate Bridge and in no time were gone. The crew checked in via cel phone about an hour later and said they were sailing along in about 12 knots of wind and doing fine.

I was able to take a video of this exciting start and hope to put a link up on the blog site as soon as I can. I have limited resources here in San Francisco, especially now that Ellis isn’t here to provide his expert technical skills, so I may need to wait until I get back to Honolulu next week. I will sneak in a blog to let you know when to video is up. I am also working sharing some of the pictures from the delivery and Bon Voyage party.

Stay tuned, Cathy

change in crew

I am sad to report that, Larry Sweet, one of the original crew members was hurt on Monday as he was working on the boat getting her ready for the race. Larry tripped on the lifeline and fell into the boat hitting his face on the gear shift. He was badly hurt and went to the hospital. He received 15 stitches on both the inside and outside of his left cheek and bruised his ribs. Doctor’s orders were, no sailing! We are all extremely saddened by this unfortunate accident. Larry is a wonderful person who was very excited to take part in this adventure. It was a solemn day for us all.

Sailing the boat with five can be done. However, it would be better with six so an offer went out to Ellis to join the team on the race back to Honolulu. Ellis felt extremely honored to be extended this invitation and accepted.
Lonely in San Francisco, Cathy

Final message from the boys

Aloha,

Sorry for the delay, but got excited to reach land!!! and leave the boat (and computer). WE SET FOOT ON LAND, JULY 4TH, 01:35 a.m. in very foggy conditions, the visibility was ¼ mile. We began our run through the shipping channel at 23:15 hr..Don was at the tiller, Ellis hovering above his GPS, giving precise headings, Joe and I were at the rails starring into the fog, to find buoys. The sound of fog horns from different unseen ships passing through the shipping lanes was eerie. We could not see the “Golden Gate” until we were underneath it.

We were met, lovingly, at the dock by Ruth Ann and David, a very good friend of Don and Ruth Ann. Champagne was popped, photos were taken, hugs all around, walking on land a phenomenon. St. Francis Yacht Club has been terrific.

This concludes the first chapter. Stay tuned for the second chapter, “The Race Home”, beginning July 15/16.

They have arrived

Hurray, after 20 days at sea, the superior sailors on Urban Renewal arrived at the Saint Francis Yacht club @ 2:00 a.m. Friday morning (S.F. time) safe and sound. Ellis called me at 11:00 while I was still enjoying the Thursday after party at KYC. I proudly let everyone else at the club know they boys have landed. Harry played a song for Ellis to hear over the phone, "Should I Stay or Should I Go." What do you think that meant? The guys were fortunate that Ruth Ann flew over the day before and was able to meet them at the doc with cold beer and champagne. What an adventure for them, I am sure we will have stories to hear for months to come.

The next adventure begins on July 14th when Urban will shove off again for the race back to Honolulu. Stay tuned.

Cathy

Getting closer

Aloha,

Family and friends, as we head into Day 19 The wind god didn't want to visit last night, or this morning. We motored much, and sailed little, 2-3 knots per hour. This moment we are 61 miles to the Golden Gate. We need to be frugal with fuel as we enter the shipping lanes and then Bay. We will also be watching the tide charts, carefully. Last night the cloud cover, fog, was prevalent. We thought seeing the city lights a possibility, negative. At this clip, we will not hit land until later tonight or early tomorrow morning.

Our position: N 38*00 W 123*50
Wind: changing, 1-4 knots
Distance to the Gate: 61 miles

As always, sailing safe, We will keep you posted,
John, Don, Ellis and Joe

Fog

Aloha,
If there is fog, we must be close to S.F. Not true, we're still out 151 miles, and there is plenty of fog. However, not on these mugs. It is crystal clear, we are in range to hit the shore tomorrow, with just a little consistency. (Funny, we haven't seen much of that during these last 18 days.) We'll see???

Current position: N 38*20 W 126.01
Winds: ESE 8-12 knots
Swells: 1-2 m
Course: 82 degrees

We are now busy looking at charts of the coastal waters and Bay, plus, tide charts. Our first target is "Light Box", a location out 10 miles from the Golden Gate where ships stage, for their entry into the Bay. We will keep out of the shipping channels, but not by much.

More later, (but not too much more)
John, Don, Ellis and Joe

moving day 17

Aloha,
Family and friends, the last 24 hours have been excellent sailing. We made 153 miles on San Francisco.

distance to the "Gate": 321 miles remaining
current position: N 38.40 W 129.13
winds: ESE 10-15 knots
course: 80*
swells: 1-2 m

It was uplifting to have a full day of significant progress. We began July 1rst with the same conditions. The weather maps are suggesting confusion as we near the coast. So, we will plan according. The latest news comes from Joe... Aku, for lunch/dinner...just this minute. It cannot get fresher than this. Joe, to date, has caught 10 fish, five of which, were released. Way to go, Joe. All mechanical system are good. Constant tightening and tweaking a must, daily. SSB radio systems are being tested daily. If we do not report our position daily for the Race, we lose time. The St. Francis Yacht Club has consented to our company while in the Bay area. Score!!

Getting ready for a "watch" change. Weather is cool, ranging from 50 to 70 degrees. All is good, more soon.

The Crew
John, Don, Ellis and Joe