Saturday, July 12, 2025
Hello from the least experienced person on the crew! At sea for almost 2.5 days now. This is our second day of a full watch rotation and we’re all starting to get the feel of the routine. It’s afternoon now and finally the seas are a bit calmer. We certainly hit the ocean running! We had squalls, intermittent rain, and gusts of 35 kts. The Yankee jib came out and then went back in several times. Just put it out again and it looks like we may be able to leave it there for a bit longer.
We’ve seen tons of jumping fish today and we have a new part-time member of the crew—a brown booby who’s been following us since the wee hours of the morning, occasionally going for a ride on our pulpit.
Things that have surprised me as a novice sailor:
- A crew of 11 and not one annoying person in the bunch! Everyone is pleasant, helpful, and kind.
- I don’t mind the stickiness of the salt water and air at all.
- They’re not kidding when they say just living on a sailboat offshore takes a lot of energy.
- Lying down in your bunk and shutting your eyes really does help seasickness.
- The food is fantastic!
- After only knowing each other for a few days, we already have inside jokes.
- Helming is really fun!
- I can indeed learn to nap during the day!
- Stephanie L. | FALKEN Crew
FALKENCrew
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People Get Ready!
The last three days have been an intense (and intensely hot) period of discovery, practice, and planning. Because Adrienne II is not a 59N boat, there's been some extra setup and coordination needed including rigging all the sails that were out for repairs before we arrived. Its been a blast working alongside the 59N team getting to help them work things out on a less familiar boat in real time. Tomorrow morning we'll run through our Person Over Board training as the final pre-departure task, cast off and head out. Can't know all that it will be, but its going to be a great adventure out in the vast world with some pretty fantastic people.
Among the Channel Islands
In the wind shadow of SoCal we had a restful night with calm conditions ghosting through smooth seas. We’re getting ourselves in position for spicy weather tonight once we round Cape Conception, the seas build and the breeze freshens. It will be an upwind sail into an acceleration zone along a formable coast with few bailout points, Morro Bay being one. The crew is really gelling with lots of smiles and laughter on deck. Monterey is in our sights!
Day Two Delights
The seas were completely glassy with a gentle swell as we approached San Clemente Island, the southernmost of the Channel Islands. Everyone jumped in and marvelled at the lovely temperature and crystal clear, indigo-colored water. Before long the wind started to pick up, and we happily unfurled the jib and were sailing again. The afternoon has been gorgeous, cruising along at 5-6 kts, close hauled on a port tack in a gentle breeze, Catalina Island in the distance on our starboard side, and everyone is happy.