Day 2
July 7, 2024 | Day 2 At Sea | At sea getting into the rhythm
Today has been warm and sunny and we have had some great sailing conditions. Some call it champagne sailing! Falken slips through the water with ease under full sail, close reaching over a beautiful sea that I call the ocean plains. Sea birds are flying in company with us and the day ended with a beautiful sunset. This is why we go sailing, for these special days.
The crew are all getting over their seasickness and everyone was able to enjoy the day. Before the sun was too low we got the sextant out and had a go at taking sun sights. Then we talked about what that means and how we use the measurement of the sun’s altitude. We hope to do more tomorrow.
We ended the day with a round up of the trip so far. It was a great opportunity to share what was happening on our off watches. Has it really only been two days? Glums and glows with lots of laughter.
When you are sailing, time seems to have a different dimension. The days roll into one and time is marked by the changing of the watch and the hourly log.
- Jojo Pickering, Skipper S/Y FALKEN
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A last hurrah
Under the dome of stars in a moon-less sky, each of us during our time at the helm used the most rudimentary celestial navigation, keeping a star or two lined up with the mast as a helper to following the heading range. It was a whole crew event to set the spinnaker, reef the mainsail and practice the heave-to in case of man overboard. Alex stressed that the key to success in all of these crucial activities is preparation. It was hugely satisfying to accomplish these tasks through teamwork. We share a constant good hearted back and forth full of stories, one-liners and comebacks that also means constant laughter.
One little bird!
Falken has almost rounded the Channel Islands and is cruising along splendidly about 100 miles offshore. Though several models predicted some slightly fresher winds today, we were met with a consistent 18-20 kts of pure bliss. It seems that from the moment we left the dock in San Francisco, there has been much laughter and conversation amongst everyone. The plan is to gybe in a few hours and begin our approach to Ensenada. As much as I do appreciate the jokes and intellectual musings, I equally appreciate the natural, silent moments we share at night, all of us on watch gazing up above to the shooting stars, constellations, and planets putting on their quiet show.
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.