Day 1
FALKEN DAY 1
March 30, 2024
Wednesday saw the arrival of our latest crew of intrepid adventurers as we met on the dock at the Antigua Yacht Club. The heat of the midday sun had us plan our safety briefings carefully as we began below decks and moved to the shaded area of the marina bar to complete our introductions and orientation for the trip ahead. Unfortunately, two of our group were unable to continue with us due to a medical emergency, and so our remaining crew of eight bonded over a traditional Antiguan feast on our first evening together.
With westerlies forecast for Thursday and Friday, it seemed smart to plan our passage for Jamaica to begin on Saturday. After a day of further safety briefings, we took a short shakedown sail east yesterday to the stunning waters of Green Island, where we sat at anchor overnight. An early start this morning gave us the opportunity to iron out some of Falken's teething problems and take a swim in the glorious Caribbean Sea before setting out on our 900nm passage to Jamaica.
As I write this, we are prepping the anchor to leave and fall into our watch systems that will be our lives for the coming days. The crew are all bubbling with excitement and full of enthusiasm for the trip ahead.
EmilyCaruso
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People Get Ready!
The last three days have been an intense (and intensely hot) period of discovery, practice, and planning. Because Adrienne II is not a 59N boat, there's been some extra setup and coordination needed including rigging all the sails that were out for repairs before we arrived. Its been a blast working alongside the 59N team getting to help them work things out on a less familiar boat in real time. Tomorrow morning we'll run through our Person Over Board training as the final pre-departure task, cast off and head out. Can't know all that it will be, but its going to be a great adventure out in the vast world with some pretty fantastic people.
Among the Channel Islands
In the wind shadow of SoCal we had a restful night with calm conditions ghosting through smooth seas. We’re getting ourselves in position for spicy weather tonight once we round Cape Conception, the seas build and the breeze freshens. It will be an upwind sail into an acceleration zone along a formable coast with few bailout points, Morro Bay being one. The crew is really gelling with lots of smiles and laughter on deck. Monterey is in our sights!
Day Two Delights
The seas were completely glassy with a gentle swell as we approached San Clemente Island, the southernmost of the Channel Islands. Everyone jumped in and marvelled at the lovely temperature and crystal clear, indigo-colored water. Before long the wind started to pick up, and we happily unfurled the jib and were sailing again. The afternoon has been gorgeous, cruising along at 5-6 kts, close hauled on a port tack in a gentle breeze, Catalina Island in the distance on our starboard side, and everyone is happy.