Between Passages
10:00 LT | San Cristobal Island, Galapagos
Anchored
These last few days have been a welcome breather for FALKEN and me. Transitioning from one trip to the next drains energy and can be emotionally heavy. Saying goodbye to a bonded crew and then starting over takes more out of you than you expect, so this downtime to decompress and give FALKEN some much‑needed TLC is priceless.
And what a trip we have coming! Galápagos to the Marquesas, following the trade winds route you read about in books and making landfall in a truly unique corner of the world. It’s the kind of passage I dreamed about as a kid; now I’m here, preparing FALKEN for this odyssey.
Today is for finishing provisioning, running safety checks, and letting the excitement build. What I’m most looking forward to is the routine: finding those trades, setting the boat up, and settling into the life at sea we’re always chasing, the motions, the sounds, and the disconnection of a 16‑day passage.
Tomorrow, we meet the crew and begin final preparations. We depart Monday
Alex Laline
View more passage logs
Mother Nature, you’ve outdone yourself!
It’s been a great experience to have a non-traditional trans-Atlantic, as it’s been packed with genuinely cool features. The Doldrums!! A place sailors have been talking about for centuries. The unpredictability is what made it such an exhilarating experience. While some might be frightened or alarmed by this kind of weather, I was embodied with a sense of calm and awe. There’s something wildly beautiful about being reminded how small you are, while feeling so incredibly alive.
A Heavenly High
As you have probably figured out at this point, the drug of choice on board is, of course, celestial navigation- an art which has hooked offshore sailors for centuries. Once addicted, navigators will emerge from down below only to get their fixes two times per day, and spend the rest of their days and nights down below doing complex spherical mathematics. On Adrienne II, our skipper is our dealer. I must confess that I myself gave in to the strange urge which I’ve felt witnessing my crewmates practice this fine art, and yesterday felt an amazing sensation as I was able to wield the sextant for the first time and with it, bring down the tip of our starboard spreader to the top of our front sprayhood, presicely measuring the angle between the two (35deg, 38,8’ min). This afternoon, Naxo then showed me how to get my fix from the very sun itself - and I now fear there is no turning back.
The gobbledygook of sailors
We sailors can come across as a cryptic bunch. Similar to almost all niche endeavors, it boils down to efficiency, safety and tradition. There are so many "ropes" and so much gear on a sailboat, that trying to identify them by descriptive terms just wouldn’t cut it. We’re in one of the best learning environments available to offshore sailors, and mistakes are a part of the process.