Day 3
July 8, 2024 | Day 3 At Sea | The Outer Hebrides
Last night we had a stunning sail through a patch of rain clouds and managed to dodge them all. As Port watch handed over, their instructions were to “keep the speed, chase the rain clouds, try and beat their speed record of 10.2 kts, and keep your fingers off the engine buttons!” Sadly, the wind died shortly after this and we did have to start motoring.
We made the most of the calm day by motoring close to the west coast of the stunning Outer Hebrides. This positioned us well for when the wind returned, but it also tempted the crew to mutiny as the draw of Scottish whisky was discussed.
The area was teeming with wildlife and we all saw lots of puffins! They are such beautiful and comic birds, and a bit scared of Falken, so they quickly dived as we passed. The team saw many seals, some dolphins, and the scenery was amazing.
The sun was out and we managed to spend a few hours on deck without oilskins. We even got the sextant out and everyone had a go at taking a sight.
The wind came back in the evening and we are now having a memorable sail in the long midnight sun. It doesn’t get dark anymore!
- Jojo Pickering, Skipper S/Y FALKEN
JoJoPickering
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Quadruple digits!
We are still headed north away from Hawaii, though today we have started to veer ever so slightly east. Speaking of miles, we hit quadruple digits today and are currently 1051 nms into our journey to Alaska. The sea state continues to calm down, and the famous North Pacific high is just out of our reach. The next few days will be a delicate dance of riding the outskirts of the high while avoiding the pesky low pressure systems that are dancing nearby. In his very wise words, we need to get north but not too far north, stay south but not too far south, continue heading east but not too far east, and avoid going west but also stay west.
The basics
Nordic Falken and her crew have been in a steady course of NNW since the departure of Hawaii. But! The good thing of all of this is that the promised land on which the high pressure lies has been getting closer and closer, meaning in a couple of days we're gonna see the wind slowly veer all the way to the South, which finally should see us easing the sails and remembering the basics of human nature all over again. The crew have been amazing and we've had everyone come around to push through fatigue, seasickness and soaking wet clothes. On another note we left the tropics a while ago and we can really feel the shift of temperature, long gone are the shorts and foulies have been the norm. Not much more apart from this, my intolerance to upwind sailing still pretty much alive but doing it with a bunch of such amazing human beings makes it worth it worthwhile.
Pacific pace
After some initial adversity, we untied our lines and left the beautiful island of O'ahu behind as we set sail north on an adventure of a lifetime. And that is exactly what we are - a family of strangers brought together by a passion for sailing and a love for the sea. The passage, while at its infancy, has delivered. The wind and seas, stars and sails all set the stage for a fantastic journey. We will see you on the other side with many stories to tell.