Day 10 At-Sea
2256 Ship’s Time
13º 08’ N, 059º 06’ W
Steering 305º at 11-13 knots
I really wanted to name our Farr 65 ‘MILLENNIUM FALKEN’, for obvious reasons, and despite her officially registered name as NORDIC FALKEN, to me, she’s still the former. Never before has she lived up to that name like she is tonight.
We’re on the home stretch towards Barbados, 30 miles from the northern tip of the island, the loom of the lights ashore now visible off the port beam. FALKEN is still under spinnaker, our second straight night flying the big pink kite by the light of the moon, and we’re getting our money’s worth tonight. We are flat out FLYING, easily averaging 11 knots in the lulls and hitting surfs over 16. It’s the ride of our lives tonight with the moon bright overhead, stars all around, and a perfect tradewind breeze at the perfect angle propelling us through our own outer space.
This will very likely be the last blog from this passage. In a few hours we’ll drop the kite and round the top of the island, heading to our planned anchorage off Speightstown in the north of the island to stop and swim and exhale, reflecting on the trip before hauling up and heading into the dock when the magic spell will dissipate and our real lives will set in again. We’ve sailed 2,134 miles and counting, with just another 40 or so to go, in just under 11 days. It’s way too early to reflect on this crossing, my 8th of the Atlantic, and it’s too soon still to think about what I’m going to eat for my first meal ashore.
So I’ll go back out into the cockpit now and coach the next few crewmembers on the helm in what will very likely be the best night of sailing of their lives.
// Andy
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Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.
Greetings from Lala Lemonshark
The brave crew is toughing it out and staying cheerful despite being tossed around. The engine is off and we are true sailing-main and jib. In the first 12 hours we saw two pods of Orca and four humpback whales, two of which were 20 yards off the starboard beam!