Day 3 at-seA
13º 47’ N, 031º 41’ W
February 8, 2024
2130 Ship’s Time
13º 47’ N, 031º 41’ W
Steering 270º at 8-9 knots
Groundhog day out here, in the best way. The wind remains steady from the ENE and FALKEN is smoothly making way downwind with a happy and rested crew.
Day 3 today, the day it always turns around, even for the worst of the seasick. Sara had been feeling less than 100% since the start, but props to her for continuing to stand her watches and do her stints at the helm. Tonight was her first full meal at dinner and the first time she actually felt like herself, and with a long way still to go she’ll finally get to enjoy the sailing. I’ve long said that it takes three days for everyone to acclimate to life offshore, whether seasick or not. I had my first real solid, deep sleep this morning, visiting another planet during my four-hour off watch, which felt amazing.
The showers today also felt amazing. While the evenings onboard are cool and damp, the morning watch from just after 8am through to about 1430 is brutally hot and sunny. We’ve been hiding from the sun down below when we can, with only a helmsman and one watchkeeper outside together in the hottest part of the day. So when we decided to call for showers earlier this afternoon it was a welcome announcement. We ran the watermaker all afternoon, topped up the battery charge with the engine, scrubbed the cockpit, and took turns at the stern showering in the ‘bathtub’, which offers the best view of the following seas, and hot water too.
Manot made a chicken curry for dinner tonight, with curry paste all the way from Switzerland. As I type, the Milky Way is visible overhead and the on-watch is chit-chatting in the cockpit while FALKEN keeps making the miles downwind. So far we’ve covered 469 miles since Mindelo and counting.
// Andy
andy@59-north.com
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.