Day 10 At-Sea
Ship’s Time
13º 33’ N, 056º 12’ W
Steering 280º at 9-10 Knots
This will be the night that sticks with me from this crossing. I just got off the helm after my half-hour stint, fingertip steering, keeping the luff of the spinnaker just in line with Orion’s belt. In the lulls I’d head up a couple degrees until the belt disappeared, then soak down in the puffs until I could see the entire constellation. Normally at night you’d use the steaming light to illuminate the kite and check trim, but with not a cloud in sight, the light from the stars is plenty to keep tabs on the big spinnaker without ruining the illusion that we’re actually our own little spaceship hurtling through the galaxy.
We deserve this night after a very hot, very frustrating afternoon. After setting the kite in the pre-dawn light at the 0600 watch change yesterday, the wind gradually eased off until at 1400 it was so light that the sock on the spinnaker collapsed down on the sail just thanks to gravity. Veiko and I went on the foredeck to corral it and that was that. We motored through a sloppy sea for the next three hours, taking turns using the foredeck saltwater hose to cool off and trying desperately to find a slice of shade behind the mast to escape the sun.
I started prepping dinner around 1600, and by then the calm had smoothed out the sea and there were signs the wind was trying to fill in again from the northeast. We’d been on port tack last time the chute was up, so while the curry simmered on the stove we re-rigged the kite on the foredeck for a starboard tack hoist. Having done this spinnaker re-rig drill now several times (we have to drop it, re-rig it, and re-hoist it anytime we jibe), the crew had it sorted out in a few minutes and we managed to set sail again before the food was served.
And we’ve been sailing since. The northeasterly filled in as promised to a gentle 12-15 knots, the seas are calm and the first evening watch got to sail by the brilliant light of the waxing moon, which is just short of half-full, and now the graveyard shift is steering to the stars.
As I write, we’re inside the 200-miles-to-go mark and now definitely at risk of snapping out of the at-sea magic spell we’ve been under, but thus far I’m proud of the crew for staying in the moment. I’ll say though it’s pretty effortless on a night like this one.
// Andy
View more passage logs
Turning the corner
Yesterday found Falken on a Northward course, still heeled to port, climbing and falling over waves. Sunrise this morning found Falken in an entirely different condition, one familiar to her, but not yet to the current crew. And then a truly magic moment, a pod of dolphins at least fifty members strong came to dance on Falken’s bow wave. We are now joyfully headed northeast, on course toward our eventual destination of Prince Rupert. Falken has turned a corner.
Onwards and upwards
Today is set to be the calmest day of our trip so far, waves subdued, wind veering off more south-east, light clouds. What an exhilarating ride it has been, beating upwind non-stop directly north for 6 straight days! What ahead of us is a mostly downwind sail to Prince Rupert, but a very exciting one. This makes it an interesting few days going fast and closely watching the weather, and I’m very much looking forward to it. The crew is happy, everyone seems to be getting good rest, enjoying watches and time in between.
Quadruple digits!
We are still headed north away from Hawaii, though today we have started to veer ever so slightly east. Speaking of miles, we hit quadruple digits today and are currently 1051 nms into our journey to Alaska. The sea state continues to calm down, and the famous North Pacific high is just out of our reach. The next few days will be a delicate dance of riding the outskirts of the high while avoiding the pesky low pressure systems that are dancing nearby. In his very wise words, we need to get north but not too far north, stay south but not too far south, continue heading east but not too far east, and avoid going west but also stay west.