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
JoJoPickering
View more passage logs
Ketch us if you Kan
Falken is soon to carry on our preferred route of South, back to (hopefully) warmer climates. We’re all excited to set off and see more of this wild landscape as we head down to Victoria. A thermal trough over Vancouver combined with an offshore high pressure creating funneling NW’ly winds means it is due to be pretty fruity on the 9th. This passage is just under 600 miles, relatively short for Falken, but I’m sure we’ll be kept entertained with dramatic scenery, wildlife and weather!
Final Blog
Falken and her crew arrived safely into port last night around 8pm boat time, 10pm Prince Rupert time. Some spicy weather was anticipated, but luckily the 35kt gusts and 2.5 meter waves were no match for this expert crew. We had an exceptionally smooth docking, despite it being Alex's first time parking this year (!). We all agreed that this was a very special group of people—I for one am so impressed with how everyone stayed so positive, helpful, and appreciative of humor despite an arguably challenging passage. We'll all return home significantly saltier than we were when we left, a mark of a passage properly sailed.
Lessons and a Gift
The biggest lesson is the helm. The lesson here is that even if you don't think you can do it over and over again with no sleep, cold and damp, it has to be done and so it can be done. Flying fish are cool, dolphins are really really cool, but the coolest of them all are the whales. And most of all Alex: "Find your center Carla. Always know where your center is so you can come back to it". He means the helm but it applies to life as well.