Day 1
What a beautiful start to 2024 and our first trip of the year. We left Lagos in the afternoon in light winds and had a gentle and serene sail until sunset stole the wind. The sea at night was glassy and beautiful, reflecting the stars. We dodged shipping heading to and from Gibraltar, practicing with a hand bearing compass. When the crescent moon rose, it took a while to realize it was the moon, as it looked like more lights on the horizon. Then we were treated to a spectacular two-hour sunrise, with the light reflected off the glassy ocean. Throughout the morning, we had a perfect sail—6 knots in light airs and a gorgeous, flat ocean. As the wind eased, we hove to and went for an ocean swim and a hot water shower. Feeling refreshed, we got underway again with a strengthening ESE wind, and the dolphins arrived to speed us on our way. Great start to the trip! — Jojo
JojoPickering
View more passage logs
Ketch us if you Kan
Falken is soon to carry on our preferred route of South, back to (hopefully) warmer climates. We’re all excited to set off and see more of this wild landscape as we head down to Victoria. A thermal trough over Vancouver combined with an offshore high pressure creating funneling NW’ly winds means it is due to be pretty fruity on the 9th. This passage is just under 600 miles, relatively short for Falken, but I’m sure we’ll be kept entertained with dramatic scenery, wildlife and weather!
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.