6°10.915' S 031°36.916' W
October 4, 2025 | 20:55 UTC | 6°10.915' S 031°36.916' W
In some ways, the beginning of day 4 was the true start of our offshore passage. At night on day 3, we could still see the glow of Brazilian cities on the western horizon, but now all light pollution is gone. The moon is still waxing and in the evening sky, but early in the morning it sets, and the stars have been amazing. Orion stands bright overhead, and we have seen the Southern Cross across the stern. Hoping there will be more clear, moonless nights to come!
Today was a day of mixed weather. Several squalls required us to change course and dodge around them. With squalls on the horizon in most directions, the ocean seemed small, as if we were in our own little seascape for sailing. We got some rain, which felt good. Lance set up the freshwater garden hose and some of us took quick showers on the deck. We had chicken Caesar salads for lunch and will have hamburgers for dinner. Morale is generally high, yet some are still suffering from seasickness. The rough sea state and strong winds don’t help, of course.
In a calm period between squalls, we decided to replace the jib with the genoa. This was a fun operation after flying the same sails on the same tack since the beginning of the voyage. Within minutes, we were speeding along at over 10 knots. But all good things must end, and within an hour the winds started picking up due to another squall. We took down the genoa and reefed the main, which went smoothly. The winds continued to pick up to over 25 knots and Adrienne II was soon sailing fast again. It is an exhilarating experience on deck right now.
- Andrew Elmore | ADRIENNE II Crew
crew@59-north.com
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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.