Day 2
I get briefly woken up in the early morning by a WOHOOO scream from the helmsman standing on deck above my head. I guess they were surfing down a wave. After a while, my first mate and now my good friend Alex comes down from his shift. I get a real view of what a mariner’s workday looks like. I hear many “mm’s” and “so great!” when the crew eats the meal I manage to cook while heeling over. No need to guess—I feel at home on FALKEN. The starry nights, sunsets, and spinnaker sailing are extra bonuses.
After a few nice days in Marstrand, including boat preps, we set out tacking down the Gothenburg archipelago to get checked out. We sailed upwind into the night across to Skagen, and right now we are on the west coast of Denmark, bound to cross the North Sea over to the UK.
Hold fast!
David the apprentice
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Cast off the lines
When we awoke it was overcast but the Brazilian sun quickly burned the clouds away and we were left with blue skies. We reviewed some safety procedures, cleaned the boat and had an exciting Person Overboard (POB) recovery. Once we were underway spirits soared as we pointed the bow toward the Canary Islands. As I write this we are heading upwind and dealing with all that involves, and working into our first watches. It is hot, a bit bumpy but we are sailing!!
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!