20.06 BOAT TIME | 09º 53.5’ S 129º 22.3 ’ W
Spinnaker Sailing
I’ve had a lot of birthdays at sea, it happens when you work on the water. Today wasn’t just another birthday away from home, I can’t tell you how many times I was serenaded with enthusiastic happy birthdays. Zoe presented me with a cold apple at breakfast! I had a most fashionable pointed striped hat at dinner, and out of the depths of a cupboard a cake was created, after 14 days at sea. A group of people I had never met two weeks ago made me feel very special today.
In more important news we hoisted the spinnaker at first light this morning, and it’s still flying now as the sun sets into the ocean off our bow. The winds are light, and the swell has come down to about a meter. Perfect kite weather. We’re making around 7 knots in 10 knots of wind, nothing wrong with that. Alex held a class in the cockpit, which is still blanketed in lovely afternoon shade, now with a pink tint from the spin. He pulled out a whiteboard and ran through sail trim, from headsail cars and backstay tension to how to de-power in a hurry. The plan is to continue afternoon lessons until our arrival.
Wishing everyone shoreside a beautiful day, from Falken, as she sails into a bright pink sky, under a bright pink spinnaker.
Phoebe G.
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Golden Day
The Pacific is giving us “the shimmer” - with a still flat sea seven hours out of San Francisco Bay, we’re motoring south along the shipping channel, with an hour to go to what teases now as a stunning sunset against wispy clouds. Throughout this first day of Falken 11 the sails have unfurled and been furled again as skipper Alex tries to fill them a meager breeze indeed. We’ve seen a few whales traveling along the route, and an otter that was sadly just a buoy. It’s the first open ocean sail for many of us and it’s a thrill to anticipate all the new experiences we’ll have.
Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.