Day 3 at sea
32º 10.4’N, 001º 51.7’W
14.25 local time
32º 10.4’N / 001º 51.7’W
We have now been underway for 3 days and before departing, we thought we would be close to the Canaries by now. As we mentioned before, the weather has been very interesting with more wind on the nose than we could have imagined. Upwind sailing normally has a negative clang to it, but for us, the wind has been just strong enough, and the swell small enough, that we have had some amazing sailing.
We departed Lagos a day earlier than planned, knowing it may take a bit extra time to get south. We have time and it doesn’t really matter that we are at times pointing towards Newfoundland, and on the next tack towards Morocco. To put it in perspective, the passage is just under 650 nm on the rhumb line (the straight line between Lagos and Las Palmas). FALKEN can easily sail 200 nm per day if we have a good breeze on the beam or behind, and the passage would take just over 3 days. We’ll see how long it will take us, and how many miles we will have been sailing.
Last night was another beautiful night. The clouds disappeared after dinner and we had a crystal clear night full of stars. The wind was on the beam and FALKEN was like a magic carpet flying along. When I got up on my watch at 0800 this morning, the wind was lighter, and we lasted about an hour until we had to get the motor on. When we were down under 3 kts of speed and the swell started to kick us around, it was time to roll up the yankee and turn the engine on. According to the GRIBs, it should be filling in sometime this afternoon.
We were hoping for another swim in the ocean as the wind died, but the swell is a bit too big so we opted for the second best, a warm shower on the aft deck. I will start cooking dinner in about two hours; we have been eating at 1730 to have dinner before the sun sets. It is getting warmer as we are heading south and I am in shorts and t-shirt for the first time since leaving Portugal. Life is good onboard :)
Cheers from Mia and the FALKEN Crew
mia@59-north.com
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People Get Ready!
The last three days have been an intense (and intensely hot) period of discovery, practice, and planning. Because Adrienne II is not a 59N boat, there's been some extra setup and coordination needed including rigging all the sails that were out for repairs before we arrived. Its been a blast working alongside the 59N team getting to help them work things out on a less familiar boat in real time. Tomorrow morning we'll run through our Person Over Board training as the final pre-departure task, cast off and head out. Can't know all that it will be, but its going to be a great adventure out in the vast world with some pretty fantastic people.
Among the Channel Islands
In the wind shadow of SoCal we had a restful night with calm conditions ghosting through smooth seas. We’re getting ourselves in position for spicy weather tonight once we round Cape Conception, the seas build and the breeze freshens. It will be an upwind sail into an acceleration zone along a formable coast with few bailout points, Morro Bay being one. The crew is really gelling with lots of smiles and laughter on deck. Monterey is in our sights!
Day Two Delights
The seas were completely glassy with a gentle swell as we approached San Clemente Island, the southernmost of the Channel Islands. Everyone jumped in and marvelled at the lovely temperature and crystal clear, indigo-colored water. Before long the wind started to pick up, and we happily unfurled the jib and were sailing again. The afternoon has been gorgeous, cruising along at 5-6 kts, close hauled on a port tack in a gentle breeze, Catalina Island in the distance on our starboard side, and everyone is happy.