Day 10 At-Sea
13º 08’ N, 059º 06’ W
16 February 2024
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
andy@59-north.com
View more passage logs
HMS Night Watch Party
Wing on wing worked well until the wind shifted then the helm became the cone of despair for our night watch crew of three (H, M and S) Alex made the decision to drop the pole, shifting wing on wing to a close reach. Wind increased to low teens and speed picked up to a flying pace. Day spent wandering toward Ensenada. Alex, Adam and David got us into port under another starry night.
No Kitemares Today
After a night marked by sudden wind accelerations peeling off Point Conception, and a vibrant, pulsating sky blistered with shooting stars, the off-watch woke to commotion on the foredeck. The wind had gone light and the swell had tapered just enough to raise the spinnaker. The sail filled with an urgent pop, the sheet strained and Falken charged down the face of the next wave. By mid-day, we doused the spinnaker and set our minds to the more precise task of safely punching through a gap in the notorious Cortez Bank. The border to Mexico looms ahead.
The California coast
We had a very lively first day of sailing with steady winds between 25 and 30 kn gusting to mid 30s. All of the crew got experience at difficult downwind helming as we covered 200 nautical miles in the first 24 hours. This morning brings winds in the teens and calmer seas. The sun is still shining, and the green monster has been slayed by those afflicted!