baptism of fire
January 7, 2025, 23:45 UTC | 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
View more passage logs
Ladies who reef
The trade winds have been kind, rolling the boat toward Hawaii in a steady, hypnotic rhythm—until last night, when a squall hit without warning and the wind jumped to 28 knots, slamming everything sideways. With rain driving down and the boat lurching underfoot, the crew had minutes to wrestle two reefs into the mainsail and get things back under control. What followed was a masterclass in wet, unglamorous, deeply satisfying teamwork—with less than 250 miles left to go.
Yankee Doodle Died at Sea, Riding on a FALKEN
A thin, foot-long tear in the yankee sail—50,000 miles of ocean behind it—and suddenly the final stretch to Hawaii just got a lot more interesting. The crew of FALKEN had been running a tight ship through the trades, reefing in squalls like clockwork, when the last dance finally caught up with them. How a skipper handles the moment everything goes sideways says everything about the voyage itself.
A Gen Z Perspective
At 31, the crew thought they were reasonably fluent in the English language—then they met Kip. Today, the crew's self-appointed Gen Z correspondent takes over the log from somewhere in the middle of the Pacific, delivering dispatches on Milky Way night sails, focaccia-induced visions, and the singular mission of getting eleven people's "badonkadonks" to Hawaii. Consider this your glossary.