Day 7
June 24, 2024 | 1300 UTC
The fog is still all around us—white, thick at times, clearer sometimes, and rarely gone. It is a funny feeling sailing “blind,” especially with 10+ knots of boat speed. I have spent hours by now staring out into the white fuzz, watching the waves emerge from it and disappear into it again. And although we might not have a clear sight of land when we arrive, it seems we are already living the full Irish experience.
Last night was a thrilling sail. Winds picked up, waves built, and it became the most challenging helming conditions yet. It was very nice to witness all that has been learned over the week applied in those conditions. As I am looking up at the log, I see 1158 nm—a reminder that we are to arrive soon. Indeed, we have started to talk about the tides of the day, planning for our passage through the sound, which seems to coincide with the passage of a cold front. This passage is going to be exciting all the way to the end.
- Manot
ManotBerger
View more passage logs
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.