2104 UTC | 17.30’28S 149.49’29W
Anchored
Even after a night on the town consuming blissful pina coladas, the crew rose early at around 6am. We had several missions to accomplish - getting Brian and Marie off to their flight, letting captain Mary have some well-deserved land time, and acquiring Pareos from local artisans.
Originally scheduled to depart in the evening, Brian and Marie’s flight was moved to 9:45am, so they took the only known taxi on the island off to their flight. Nat took a rest on the boat and floating in the beautiful bay where we were the only boat anchored. Andreea, Nick, Mary and Kate took off around the island on scooters rented the day before and found some fabulous snorkeling. Phoebe, Jude, Maddie and myself set off on foot towards the Pareo workshop
We believed we could hitchhike to the Parea shop, but called the owner to see if they could pick us up. We had some communication failures, believing they were coming to pick us up, but they never showed. Eventually Phoebe raised her thumb and showed a big smile, leading a local pickup truck to stop and give us a ride. On the island, hitchhiking is still fairly common. The truck had bench seating in the back, returning from dropping Mormons off for their Sunday church service. We offered money for the ride, which the driver refused. They just gave us a ride and showed us some island charm.
At the Pareo workshop, we had a tough time choosing which to buy - they were all very beautiful and full of color. Once Phoebe learned they accepted credit cards, I thought she was going to buy the whole store. I bought a beautiful blue with flowers for my daughter, and the artisan drew her name on the cloth.
We only had 40 minutes to get back and it would have been an impossible walk in that time. Phoebe asked the store owner’s husband to give us a ride and they obliged, returning us to Falken with plenty of time to spare.
Several of us then had a peaceful float in the bay around Falken and then prepared to pull up the anchor and depart for the passage to Moorea. The beginning of the passage had weak winds, but eventually we were able to turn the motor off and enjoy a peaceful late afternoon sail.
Ryan Boyd
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Final Blog
Falken and her crew arrived safely into port last night around 8pm boat time, 10pm Prince Rupert time. Some spicy weather was anticipated, but luckily the 35kt gusts and 2.5 meter waves were no match for this expert crew. We had an exceptionally smooth docking, despite it being Alex's first time parking this year (!). We all agreed that this was a very special group of people—I for one am so impressed with how everyone stayed so positive, helpful, and appreciative of humor despite an arguably challenging passage. We'll all return home significantly saltier than we were when we left, a mark of a passage properly sailed.
Lessons and a Gift
The biggest lesson is the helm. The lesson here is that even if you don't think you can do it over and over again with no sleep, cold and damp, it has to be done and so it can be done. Flying fish are cool, dolphins are really really cool, but the coolest of them all are the whales. And most of all Alex: "Find your center Carla. Always know where your center is so you can come back to it". He means the helm but it applies to life as well.
Making the most of it
This passage has thrown pretty much every atmospheric condition imaginable at us. It reminds us not only of how much we’ve learned, but of how far we’ve literally come since that acceleration zone off the northwest corner of Oahu. The resilience this group has shown has been nothing short of incredible, and I couldn’t be prouder to be part of it. Maybe that’s why it’s the hardest passages we remember the most. Not because they were easy, but because they reminded us what we’re capable of.
