February 14, Day 6 | Drifting in the Azores High – A Perfectly Imperfect Ocean Crossing
Adrienne II, our trusty Swan 70, is cutting through the Atlantic on a dream passage from Sint Martin to the Canary Islands. Well, cutting through might be a stretch—positioned smack in the middle of the Azores High, the breeze is nonexistent, the waves are barely a ripple, and the current? Forget about it.
Woke up after my night watch to a glassy ocean and couldn’t resist a refreshing dip—nothing like an Atlantic swim to wake up the bones. With the still conditions, we took the opportunity for a complete wash down, and now we’ve got a squeaky-clean ship, inside and out. Feels good to have the salt rinsed off, and morale is as fresh as the decks.
We’re still making progress, now clocking close to 900 nautical miles under our keel. The crew is in good spirits, and life onboard is everything we’d hoped for—fair winds (when they show up), great camaraderie, and a ship that runs like a well-oiled machine.
That said, the sea has a way of keeping you on your toes. Today’s curveball? The fridge has called it quits. Not exactly ideal in the middle of the big blue, but thanks to some quick thinking and a well-stocked freezer, we’re improvising with ice to keep provisions from going south. No crisis yet—just another chapter in the adventure. Spirits remain high, and as long as we keep pointing in the right direction, all is well aboard Adrienne II.
- Lars Vegard Guttormsen, Crew Member, Adrienne II
crew@59-north.com
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Ketch us if you Kan
Falken is soon to carry on our preferred route of South, back to (hopefully) warmer climates. We’re all excited to set off and see more of this wild landscape as we head down to Victoria. A thermal trough over Vancouver combined with an offshore high pressure creating funneling NW’ly winds means it is due to be pretty fruity on the 9th. This passage is just under 600 miles, relatively short for Falken, but I’m sure we’ll be kept entertained with dramatic scenery, wildlife and weather!
Final Blog
Falken and her crew arrived safely into port last night around 8pm boat time, 10pm Prince Rupert time. Some spicy weather was anticipated, but luckily the 35kt gusts and 2.5 meter waves were no match for this expert crew. We had an exceptionally smooth docking, despite it being Alex's first time parking this year (!). We all agreed that this was a very special group of people—I for one am so impressed with how everyone stayed so positive, helpful, and appreciative of humor despite an arguably challenging passage. We'll all return home significantly saltier than we were when we left, a mark of a passage properly sailed.
Lessons and a Gift
The biggest lesson is the helm. The lesson here is that even if you don't think you can do it over and over again with no sleep, cold and damp, it has to be done and so it can be done. Flying fish are cool, dolphins are really really cool, but the coolest of them all are the whales. And most of all Alex: "Find your center Carla. Always know where your center is so you can come back to it". He means the helm but it applies to life as well.