DAY 4
Archive source: https://archive.59-north.com/blog/2023/11/16/the-big-pink-kite-portugal-sail-training-day-4
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Spinnaker day! After an extremely peaceful night ghosting along the southern coast of Portugal amongst electric dolphins and under a blanket of stars, FALKEN enjoyed a day of building breezes and a chance to stretch our legs downwind. Shortly after sunrise, we jibed the ship onto starboard tack and headed SSW. I was conscious of not heading too far west and towards Gibraltar, where all the recent orca encounters have been. In fact, if I’d had a choice, we’d have sailed west and out into the Atlantic from Sagres, not going anywhere near Gibraltar at all. Alas, that elongated ridge of high pressure was centered just offshore Sao Vincente, and so if we wanted to sail, we needed wind, and the wind was to the east.
Alex & Mia came on deck to lead the crew in hoisting the big pink kite. Everything takes ten times longer with new crew on the first try, but out here we have nothing but time, so it took the time it needed to get everything set right. With Mia on the helm, we pulled the downline on the sock and the 3,000-sq.ft. S2 opened up in the breeze and FALKEN surged ahead.
We spent the day sailing under the chute, dousing it before dinnertime and getting all the lines and gear stowed for the night. It’s November, and while it’s nice and warm here off southern Portugal, the nights are long. It gets dark around 1730 and doesn’t get light again until around 0700, so the night watches are long. But the stargazing more than makes up for it. We passed around the binoculars last night, taking turns looking at Orion’s belt and the millions of stars in the background that you’d never see ashore.
At sunrise today, we sheeted in the sails and tacked. Now we’re close-hauled, aiming ENE and starting the long upwind slog back towards Lagos. We’re taking bets on how many miles we’ll actually sail, since we have to tack upwind. It’s about 100 miles in a straight line, but we’ll do many more than that against the wind. It’s a light wind though, and very pleasant out here! — Andy
andy@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.