Day 2 At-sea
Day one is now behind us, and it is the first time I’ve had the chance to sit down and take a breath. Last night was some of the most epic sailing I’ve had in the last year, with one gust at 40 knots of true wind speed and FALKEN surfing down some pretty impressive waves with three reefs, doing impressive speeds! We have covered over 270 nm in the last 28 hours. The crew have all been superstars and have handled the helm like pros, even if it is the first time offshore for a few of them.
The conditions are now lightening, and we have increased to two reefs and full Yankee sail, pushing us along nicely. You can hear the screams of excitement from on deck every time FALKEN surfs down a wave, or big laughter after a wave covers the deck. I really had missed blasting along downwind towards our destination! We’re going to make the most of it, as the weather models indicate that the wind might start decreasing soon.
I am about to start cooking a Mediterranean salad with couscous for dinner, the perfect meal for a very hard-working crew that deserves every praise you can think of!
A very fast and happy team,
Alex
laline96@gmail.com
View more passage logs
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.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.
Greetings from Lala Lemonshark
The brave crew is toughing it out and staying cheerful despite being tossed around. The engine is off and we are true sailing-main and jib. In the first 12 hours we saw two pods of Orca and four humpback whales, two of which were 20 yards off the starboard beam!