Day 4
July 9, 2024 | Day 4 At Sea | Passing 59º North
Yesterday we sailed north beyond 59N to just over 60N before changing course towards the Fair Isle Channel between Orkney and Shetland. This was so that we could get a good tack through the channel. Sadly for us, this is a windward trip all the way so far. Maybe we will have a reach across the North Sea? If we ask Neptune kindly?
There has been much talk about tides, planning, and calculations to assess the tide going through the channel. But at the end of the day, we will arrive when we arrive and we can’t change that. We have also been following the grid files closely; strong winds are forecast for our final few days crossing the North Sea. Let’s hope that this does not turn into a gale.
On a more domestic note, cooking has been a theme of this trip with the crew cooking yummy breakfasts and lunches for their watches. We have eaten 8 dozen eggs! Not to forget Manot’s amazing bread and brownies.
The crew are now experienced at reducing sail and manoeuvres are going smoothly. It’s amazing to think back to our departure from Galway and everyone struggling to learn the ropes of this new boat.
On a personal note, it is so good to be back at sea. We are only just getting into the rhythm; it’s going to come to an end far too soon. Can we just keep on going please?
Before crew look forward to making landfall in Norway, we have one more challenge: to cross the North Sea to Norway. Let’s hope we have fair winds.
- 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.