Taking your turn at the wheel seems to be the highlight of each watch. We do a half hour each with a spotter at the stern to help if needed. Steering a true course is an art form that I don’t doubt takes countless hours of practice. As you watch the bow swing back and forth, you have to feel the wind in the right spot on your face, the force of the rudder on the wheel, all while paying attention to the compass heading. Since we are reaching downwind, you should be feeling the wind on the back of your ear. The key is small movements of the wheel so as not to overcorrect. If you overcorrect, it can be a real battle to get back on course. Lastly, you have to watch the compass and keep the desired heading.
When we started this cruise, it felt like baptism by fire with 3 meter waves and 15 to 20 knots of wind. I think it’s safe to say that everyone had a certain amount of anxiety when their turn came up. But after hours of practice and a relentless watch that doesn’t end until the destination is reached, we have all become much better helmsmen.
Last night the winds dropped to 10 or 12 knots apparent and it felt like a nice leisurely walk in the park. We cruised through the night watch stargazing at Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion, Cassiopeia, and The Southern Cross. We had a sea bird hovering a few feet over the cockpit and a confused flying fish that landed in the wrong place at the wrong time. I tossed him back in and wished him well.
Today the wind slowly built itself up, reaching 20 to 25 knots by nightfall. It was expected, so we put the third reef in the main, reduced the jib, and prepared for a wild night of surfing down 3 meter waves in a 65 foot sailboat that was designed to win races across oceans.
- Daniel, crew on the Falken
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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.