day 5
October 5, 2024, 10:35 UTC | Day 5
Well, the winds picked up last night and saw us reduce sail to 2 reefs in the main and the staysail, yet FALKEN still flew on, often making 9 knots over the ground. We have been very fortunate that the sea state remains relatively kind, and despite some water across the decks, the hull continues to lap up the conditions and forge ahead towards Lagos. The sky did leak a little last night, yet the temperature on board continues to rise, making for some sweaty crew and making the thought of a shower even more tantalizing. By midday tomorrow, we should pass Lisbon, and then it's just one more corner until a well-earned beer or two. Once again into the night.
- Emily
Mission Control update: FALKEN’s YB tracker decided to go for a swim in the middle of the night, meaning the position on the map has been stuck for the last 24 hours. We will be updating the map manually every 12 hours so don’t worry if they’re not moving for a while! Everyone onboard is loving the passage and having a blast. FALKEN’s ETA to Lagos is early hours of tomorrow morning (UTC).
- Alex
EmilyCaruso
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A last hurrah
Under the dome of stars in a moon-less sky, each of us during our time at the helm used the most rudimentary celestial navigation, keeping a star or two lined up with the mast as a helper to following the heading range. It was a whole crew event to set the spinnaker, reef the mainsail and practice the heave-to in case of man overboard. Alex stressed that the key to success in all of these crucial activities is preparation. It was hugely satisfying to accomplish these tasks through teamwork. We share a constant good hearted back and forth full of stories, one-liners and comebacks that also means constant laughter.
One little bird!
Falken has almost rounded the Channel Islands and is cruising along splendidly about 100 miles offshore. Though several models predicted some slightly fresher winds today, we were met with a consistent 18-20 kts of pure bliss. It seems that from the moment we left the dock in San Francisco, there has been much laughter and conversation amongst everyone. The plan is to gybe in a few hours and begin our approach to Ensenada. As much as I do appreciate the jokes and intellectual musings, I equally appreciate the natural, silent moments we share at night, all of us on watch gazing up above to the shooting stars, constellations, and planets putting on their quiet show.
Birds and glows
The sun brought new wind and we were soon putting up the Yankee (jib) and turning off the motor. During the evening tradition of sharing “glums and glows” that follows the crew dinner, our Mate Ryan proclaimed it a “champagne sailing” kind of day. As Alex noted this evening, life goes by so fast that one of the very best things about his line of work is enjoying the passage of time in the slow lane of an ocean passage. But by tomorrow, the green blobs in the weather sailing app indicate we’re going to pick up some significant northwesterly winds and we’ll take them ever further south to the Channel Islands latitude. We’re all super excited for the knots to climb and to see Falken really run.