Arrival
A few hours ago, our crew of eight women left the boat and took the ferry into central Amsterdam. There is nothing better than hearing your crew chatting about where they are going to meet up for dinner once the trip is over. It’s a sure sign that these eight individuals—once strangers—are now friends. Friends out of choice, rather than because they were forced into the confines of a 65-foot sailing yacht with no escape!
We gathered in the cockpit last night to reflect on the trip. It took us four days to sail the 500NM rhumb line passage from Bergen to Amsterdam. That’s slow! But we didn’t go slow—we just couldn’t sail straight. In fact, we actually sailed over 650NM and hit speeds of over 11 knots! Evidence that it wasn’t such a “smooth sailing” trip. In fact, quite the opposite.
We began with gale force winds in our faces, then enjoyed a “recovery day” downwind. Then the wind died off altogether, and a few hours of motoring transitioned us into our next day of upwind, before we came screaming along into Amsterdam downwind in 25 knots—gybe, gybe, gybe, and then in! Then a loch to contend with on the entry to the canal was interesting, followed by a few hours of motoring, and we parked up in our dock in Amsterdam marina. I’m not sure the guy cleaning the showers knew quite what was happening as we all poured in!
We said to the crew before we left: you get out of this what you put in. They took it literally, throwing their heart and soul, bodies (some stomach contents), energy, wit, laughter, and the rest in. So unsurprisingly, the final debrief was emotional. “Empowering” was probably the word of the moment, along with “fun” and “resilience.” A comment that really struck me was from Natalia, who highlighted how grateful she was to have been with a group of people that could always find lightness or a reason to laugh—no matter how challenging the circumstances.
It’s one thing I think these passages really teach you—that with the right mindset and good company, you can get through almost anything. Once again, Mia and I were reminded of the power of sailing offshore, and the fun of doing it with people who are up for an adventure.
Until the next one…
— Nikki
NikkiHenderson
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Ketch us if you Kan
Falken is soon to carry on our preferred route of South, back to (hopefully) warmer climates. We’re all excited to set off and see more of this wild landscape as we head down to Victoria. A thermal trough over Vancouver combined with an offshore high pressure creating funneling NW’ly winds means it is due to be pretty fruity on the 9th. This passage is just under 600 miles, relatively short for Falken, but I’m sure we’ll be kept entertained with dramatic scenery, wildlife and weather!
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.