TRACKER MAP WILL BE UPDATED FEB. 15, 2025
February 14, 2025
Antigua Yacht Club Marina | Pre-departure blog
The docks are filled with giants, and we are just passing through. In the beautiful marina of Antigua Yacht Club, you can find some of the biggest super-yachts you have seen. When walking along the dock looking left to right, you are surrounded by huge, shiny hulls all around you. But when you get a bit further out on the dock, the wall is interrupted, and if your eyes are staring up at the top decks of the super yachts, you might miss us. FALKEN is now located between two giants, and today we are planning to pass through to leave the harbor and head out to a mooring buoy for some man-overboard (MOB) training and a mellow evening and night to prepare for our passage the day after.
However, this plan got a bit of a twist. As we were heading out to the newly placed mooring buoy shown by the marina owner, we encountered a boat on anchor too close to the place we were supposed to tie up to. After a couple of tries in the blowing and rainy squalls, we were directed to change our plans and head back to the dock of Antigua Yacht Club to tie ourselves up again. We are now placed on the outer end of the long marina.
In the ten days since we arrived in Antigua from Las Palmas, we have done a successful handover to Mary and Manot from Emily & Mia. We’ve prepared the boat for the upcoming passage, done some maintenance work, and a bit of provisioning. The crew arrived to the boat yesterday, and after an introduction to the boat and our safety culture, FALKEN is now a home for the eleven people and ready for departure.
The conditions look promising for the passage. It seems now we will have a fast and fun downwind sail from Antigua to Colombia with wind strengths around 20 to 25 knots in the first couple of days, so HOLD FAST!
- The Apprentice, Vilgot
59ºNorthApprentice
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The California coast
We had a very lively first day of sailing with steady winds between 25 and 30 kn gusting to mid 30s. All of the crew got experience at difficult downwind helming as we covered 200 nautical miles in the first 24 hours. This morning brings winds in the teens and calmer seas. The sun is still shining, and the green monster has been slayed by those afflicted!
Farewell by dolphins
We headed out of the marina in Monterey CA at about 10AM in sunny weather to meet winds of ~20kts and 3m smooth swell with long periods. FALKEN is surfing along the coast of California, ship’s time 1PM as I write. As we motored out into the bay, we were wished farewell by a pod of dolphins nearby and a couple of whales in the distance. Though, unfortunately one crew member met the green dragon in the swell.
The Human Factor
Thus our existence slowly reverted to a much simpler form of being. We start to notice the smaller things, we start looking up and around, we start observing our thoughts. Sailing can be a great social accelerator. Sharing hardship and milestones, friendships are born and evolve at a speed that would seem impossible from land. And after those three weeks spent with you, I am getting ready to leave our vessel with the profound conviction that those bonds will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
