baptism of fire
Well, that was a breezy start with some impressive swell on the good ship FALKEN on Monday. A baptism of fire perhaps for some, as we made excellent time southeast ahead of the impending high pressure that would invariably cause us issues later. We chose a route east of our planned rhumb line to exploit the forecasted easterlies off the coast of Morocco, and sure enough, it enabled us to sail for most of Tuesday.
As expected, the high has now emerged and we are forced to utilize the iron sail as we make best speed south. To the west of us, another interesting system is driving strong southwesterlies, and we are expecting to see the swell increase again in the coming days.
Another tactical waypoint guides us to the north of Lanzarote, where the trusty northeasterlies promise to build on Thursday morning and hopefully will provide another impressive sail at the back end of our passage. The crew have settled in well despite a little seasickness in the first 24 hours, which is pretty standard. Thankfully, this evening we had a full house at dinner time as color appears to have returned to those initially impacted.
We have been delighted by dolphins and a spectacular sky of stars last night, both of which have lifted the spirits of the crew. Whilst nobody wants to be motor sailing, we have the promise of a stiff breeze to look forward to as we make our approaches to the Canary Island chain.
Emily
EmilyCaruso
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”For some things, we will never be ready.” - Moana 2
After 852 miles of open ocean sailing, the crew of Falken dropped anchor in Moorea's Cook's Bay—not with a quiet glide in, but surfing down waves in a squall, breaking speed records and cheering each other on through the rain. What started as a plan to "just dip a toe" into offshore sailing turned into something harder to explain: the worse the conditions got, the more alive everyone felt. Turns out the question was never whether the crew was ready—it was whether they even needed to be.
Kauehi conundrum
Kauehi atoll was always on the itinerary—until the forecast made it a gamble not worth taking. Squalls, bommies, a tidal pass, and no clean escape route: sometimes the hardest call in sailing is the one that keeps you out of a place, not in it. The Tuamotus will have to wait.
Hove-to!
Falken is too fast—a problem most sailors would kill for, yet here we are, tacking back and forth across the Pacific just to kill time. A rogue low pressure system south of Tahiti has stolen the trades and scrambled our timing for the tidal window into Kauehi's pass, leaving us hove-to 45 miles short of our target in the Tuamotus. Salt licorice, dream sandwich debates, and a philosophical question about mermaid reproduction are helping pass the night.