DAY 2
Yesterday was the first morning for the crew onboard. Bob has sailed with us earlier this year, and James has already signed up for a trans-Atlantic with us in 2024, but for the rest of the crew, this is all new. After a long morning of safety briefs, we left the docks at Lagos Marina and went out on a day sail to search for the wind. The forecast said no wind, but to our surprise, we had a great afternoon tacking our way over to Sagres. As soon as we got underway and realized we actually had wind, we switched from our big genoa to our smaller jib. Even though it was calm with just a small swell, it still takes quite a bit of time and effort.
The aim was to have the anchor down before sunset at 5:30, but things always take longer and the anchor was down by seven. On our way in, I cooked dinner, and as soon as the boat was put away, we had a nice taco dinner at anchor. Andy made the comment that when you arrive in the dark, it is fun to wake up the next morning and see where you are. Well, this morning we were swamped in fog and could barely see the bow of the boat.
Alex led the morning swim parade. He claimed the water was 17-18 degrees, Knut thought it could not have been more than 13. We settled on a nice 16°C water temperature—nice and refreshing. MOB practice is something we do at the start of every passage; it’s something you cannot practice enough. Karina volunteered to be the rescue swimmer this morning, and Bob (our dummy, not crewmember Bob) went over the side.
We got the anchor up about an hour ago, but today there is truly a mirror on the water and not a breath of wind. Andy is giving a navigation and weather chat, and when we get back to anchor again, we’ll look at the route for the rest of the week and where to go to find the wind. The plan is to lift anchor tomorrow mid-morning and head out for three days non-stop.
— Mia
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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.