Day 2

What a great start to the season! I am writing this as I finish my coffee. FALKEN is doing 8.5 knots, and the wind is coming nicely from the beam while the sun is shining on deck. To say this trip has not been what I was expecting weather-wise is an understatement. For most of the way down, we have been going upwind with very fluky winds, and progress hasn’t always been great—a big difference compared to last year’s trip to the Canaries, where Chris and Emma flew all the way down in just three days (or at least that’s what he told me)! But the crew have been doing an amazing job keeping FALKEN moving through the light winds and now finding these beautiful northwesterly winds.
FALKEN has been doing great, and apart from the odd job here and there—normal after a yard period—she has to be in the best shape I have ever seen her after a winter break. Kudos to Adam for looking after her and making the improvements we get to enjoy.
On a more personal note, this trip has been brilliant. We left with plenty of time to get there, and it has meant that we have been able to stop and enjoy the surroundings more often, trying to sail through the light winds instead of motoring through them, and having the chance to go for ocean swims, which is always a highlight.
We will let you know how we get on. Signing off as dolphins approach.
Alex
laline96@gmail.com
View more passage logs


Ladies who reef
The trade winds have been kind, rolling the boat toward Hawaii in a steady, hypnotic rhythm—until last night, when a squall hit without warning and the wind jumped to 28 knots, slamming everything sideways. With rain driving down and the boat lurching underfoot, the crew had minutes to wrestle two reefs into the mainsail and get things back under control. What followed was a masterclass in wet, unglamorous, deeply satisfying teamwork—with less than 250 miles left to go.


Yankee Doodle Died at Sea, Riding on a FALKEN
A thin, foot-long tear in the yankee sail—50,000 miles of ocean behind it—and suddenly the final stretch to Hawaii just got a lot more interesting. The crew of FALKEN had been running a tight ship through the trades, reefing in squalls like clockwork, when the last dance finally caught up with them. How a skipper handles the moment everything goes sideways says everything about the voyage itself.


A Gen Z Perspective
At 31, the crew thought they were reasonably fluent in the English language—then they met Kip. Today, the crew's self-appointed Gen Z correspondent takes over the log from somewhere in the middle of the Pacific, delivering dispatches on Milky Way night sails, focaccia-induced visions, and the singular mission of getting eleven people's "badonkadonks" to Hawaii. Consider this your glossary.

