February 24, Day 16 | Lemon cake and dolphins!
After what feels like an eternity of motoring, we’re finally free! The winds have blessed us since lunchtime, and it’s smooth sailing ahead. Yet again, dolphins have been putting on a show, playing on our bow. Meanwhile, in the galley, the lemon cake is in the making, so you know life is good. Of course, we’re also treating ourselves to hotdogs for dinner—nothing says ‘boat life’ quite like a hotdog while the boat heels.
We’re in the final stretch now, with 350 nautical miles still to go, but at least it’s a good time to reflect on how fast this passage has flown by. The conditions are a little chilly, but our super captain and meteorologist Erik has promised that sunnier and warmer weather is just around the corner. We’ll gladly take it!
For now, though, we’re making the most of the final days, savoring each wave and hopefully savoring some cold beverages (probably beers) once we reach Gran Canaria. Because let’s be honest, after days of sailing, there’s nothing like a cold drink in hand and the sun on your face. Cheers to that!
Vegard Øien, Crew
crew@59-north.com
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Birds and glows
The sun brought new wind and we were soon putting up the Yankee (jib) and turning off the motor. During the evening tradition of sharing “glums and glows” that follows the crew dinner, our Mate Ryan proclaimed it a “champagne sailing” kind of day. As Alex noted this evening, life goes by so fast that one of the very best things about his line of work is enjoying the passage of time in the slow lane of an ocean passage. But by tomorrow, the green blobs in the weather sailing app indicate we’re going to pick up some significant northwesterly winds and we’ll take them ever further south to the Channel Islands latitude. We’re all super excited for the knots to climb and to see Falken really run.
Golden Day
The Pacific is giving us “the shimmer” - with a still flat sea seven hours out of San Francisco Bay, we’re motoring south along the shipping channel, with an hour to go to what teases now as a stunning sunset against wispy clouds. Throughout this first day of Falken 11 the sails have unfurled and been furled again as skipper Alex tries to fill them a meager breeze indeed. We’ve seen a few whales traveling along the route, and an otter that was sadly just a buoy. It’s the first open ocean sail for many of us and it’s a thrill to anticipate all the new experiences we’ll have.
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.