0036 UTC | Somewhere in the East Pacific Ocean
We released the mooring ball (actually four small balls) and bid farewell to Cocos Island just as the sun was rising. I would like to say that we had smooth sailing all day, but the reality was very smooth motoring. An attempt was made to pull out the Yankee, but that was an exercise in futility, and it was quickly pulled back in, so we motored on. This has been the most pleasant day of motoring, since the sea is very calm, almost perfect for water skiing. Relaxing in my forward cabin berth when off watch, I could hear the sea swishing along as Falken stayed very stable and flat.
After the evening meal, we shared our glums and glows once again. The only gloom was leaving Cocos Island. Glows included watching the Cocos boobies land on the bow pulpit. At one point we counted 21, with several of those trying to balance on the lifelines. Another glow was the simple pleasure of some ice cubes to fill our water bottles in the heat of the day. And of course, the peacefulness of moving along the Pacific Ocean with a great crew.
// Anne
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A last hurrah
Under the dome of stars in a moon-less sky, each of us during our time at the helm used the most rudimentary celestial navigation, keeping a star or two lined up with the mast as a helper to following the heading range. It was a whole crew event to set the spinnaker, reef the mainsail and practice the heave-to in case of man overboard. Alex stressed that the key to success in all of these crucial activities is preparation. It was hugely satisfying to accomplish these tasks through teamwork. We share a constant good hearted back and forth full of stories, one-liners and comebacks that also means constant laughter.
One little bird!
Falken has almost rounded the Channel Islands and is cruising along splendidly about 100 miles offshore. Though several models predicted some slightly fresher winds today, we were met with a consistent 18-20 kts of pure bliss. It seems that from the moment we left the dock in San Francisco, there has been much laughter and conversation amongst everyone. The plan is to gybe in a few hours and begin our approach to Ensenada. As much as I do appreciate the jokes and intellectual musings, I equally appreciate the natural, silent moments we share at night, all of us on watch gazing up above to the shooting stars, constellations, and planets putting on their quiet show.
Birds and glows
The sun brought new wind and we were soon putting up the Yankee (jib) and turning off the motor. During the evening tradition of sharing “glums and glows” that follows the crew dinner, our Mate Ryan proclaimed it a “champagne sailing” kind of day. As Alex noted this evening, life goes by so fast that one of the very best things about his line of work is enjoying the passage of time in the slow lane of an ocean passage. But by tomorrow, the green blobs in the weather sailing app indicate we’re going to pick up some significant northwesterly winds and we’ll take them ever further south to the Channel Islands latitude. We’re all super excited for the knots to climb and to see Falken really run.