CUTTER RIGS & CREW APPRECIATION
2121 UTC | 12 53.89’N, 089 33.34’W
Sailing
Hello from a currently very speedy FALKEN!
After spending the night enthusiastically getting the sails out whenever we felt a whiff of a breeze, then efficiently furling them away again as it quickly died off, it is a joy to have some consistent breeze this afternoon.
At the moment we have the full cutter rig out; Yankee and staysail, and are happily scooting along at 7–9 knots and occasionally into the 10s! This is despite some fairly large swell, which must be the remnants from the Papagayo winds. It makes us glad to have chosen a more northern passage to avoid the worst of them, and set ourselves up for a nice reach across them on our final night at sea.
On the topic of lovely, efficient sailing, I must give a shout out to Marella and Christine. They make up our 2 (wo)man watch, so are down a person comparatively. They’re also on deck whenever I first come on watch and inevitably decide it is ludicrous to have the engine on in 4 knots of breeze. So we must get out all the sails and spend hours fastidiously trying to go in the right direction. They have done this with no complaint and are so competent, I’m fairly sure I’m just along for the ride nowadays. I was actually asked by Jakes to give this shout out, but it is long overdue.
In other news, we’ve broken the booby record — we got 8 on the bow this morning! Having hoisted the staysail, it seems we have been cooking up some squid jerky on the foredeck. No one’s opted to give it a taste yet, but we will keep you updated.
Lloyd’s been studying the star books, whilst Delaney’s been reducing and plotting her sights from this morning. We had the whiteboard out to chat about sail choices/trim (how serendipitous the weather then allowed for the cutter rig) and different keels.
After a brief conversation about the Palmyra murders (give it a Google!), Robert’s clearly been dwelling on them, as he told me today he was writing a letter in case of him disappearing. Hopefully that doesn’t say anything about his opinion on his fellow crew.
Other animal sightings today: porpoises feeding, jumping rays, turtles, and a marlin leaping. We’ve talked about fishing again, but currently we’re going too fast, and after yesterday’s showers no one’s particularly keen to volunteer to butcher the fish.
I believe this may be my last blog, so as people love a bit of public recognition:
I think this might have been one of my more challenging trips in recent years. Possible fuel stops, frustrating light winds, straight into gale-force winds and very rough seas. It’s not been the most straightforward, and I think the crew deserve credit for accepting that this is sailing, and being so understanding and tolerant. They’ve not stopped believing me when I’ve said the wind’s supposed to fill in within the hour — for about 5 hours straight — and they’re just enjoying the ride!
// Mary
View more passage logs
Final Blog
Falken and her crew arrived safely into port last night around 8pm boat time, 10pm Prince Rupert time. Some spicy weather was anticipated, but luckily the 35kt gusts and 2.5 meter waves were no match for this expert crew. We had an exceptionally smooth docking, despite it being Alex's first time parking this year (!). We all agreed that this was a very special group of people—I for one am so impressed with how everyone stayed so positive, helpful, and appreciative of humor despite an arguably challenging passage. We'll all return home significantly saltier than we were when we left, a mark of a passage properly sailed.
Lessons and a Gift
The biggest lesson is the helm. The lesson here is that even if you don't think you can do it over and over again with no sleep, cold and damp, it has to be done and so it can be done. Flying fish are cool, dolphins are really really cool, but the coolest of them all are the whales. And most of all Alex: "Find your center Carla. Always know where your center is so you can come back to it". He means the helm but it applies to life as well.
Making the most of it
This passage has thrown pretty much every atmospheric condition imaginable at us. It reminds us not only of how much we’ve learned, but of how far we’ve literally come since that acceleration zone off the northwest corner of Oahu. The resilience this group has shown has been nothing short of incredible, and I couldn’t be prouder to be part of it. Maybe that’s why it’s the hardest passages we remember the most. Not because they were easy, but because they reminded us what we’re capable of.
