Day 4
Hello everyone! What a great day today has been. Everyone onboard is smelling extremely well and looking very fresh, and the reason for that is that today we hove-to to have a mid-ocean dip! That's right, we went in the water and had a beautiful swim and clean before jumping back onboard to carry on sailing.
Everyone's morale is high and the wind has shown slight signs of wanting to change direction, but as for now... still upwind! I am pretty sure the wind gods are having a bit of a laugh at Chris and me as we await this wind shift that should have happened about two days ago. But in terms of upwind sailing, I do have to admit that it doesn't get any better than this: flat sea state, 10 knots of true wind speed, and about 8 knots of boat speed. It's like paradise for upwind sailing!
For dinner, I have made my homemade lasagna, which is currently slowly cooking in the oven and is filling the air with a lovely smell. The watches have just shifted and people are going down to nap before dinner.
So not much to say—life is beautiful onboard FALKEN at the moment as we enjoy every second of what this world is giving us, which is full sunshine, perfect breeze, and a whole bunch of extraordinary people.
Love to everyone.
- Alex
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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.