June 25, 2024 | 07:30 UTC
As we wait to check in at the Port of Galway, I finally have a minute to reflect on this epic adventure. First, what can I say about Chris, Manot, and Athena? They are quite literally the best sailors I have ever had the opportunity to learn from. They are also wonderful humans who have demonstrated endless patience and leadership for the entire crew, all while creating a culture of community for us—a group of strangers from all over the world with varying degrees of sailing skill and experience.
For me, I will hold close the memories of our nightly crew dinners in the cockpit—someone always sacrificing hot food to stay on the helm—while we shared our “glums and glows” of the day. The “glows” helped us focus our attention on good things and gratitude, resetting us after days and days of no more than a few hours of sleep around the clock, biting cold weather, anxiety-producing dense fog, sore and dysregulated bodies, heavy sea swells, and way too “spicy” sailing.
Each day I heard “glows” about Manot’s focaccia, sightings of whales and dolphins, spectacular cloud formations, the indigo color of the sea, good sleep in cozy hammocks, Athena’s warm yummy pesto, finally mastering the complicated life jackets, favorable weather and wind, Chris’ patience with our ongoing and repeated mistakes, countless speed records, previously unimaginable achievements on the helm (mine), and so much more. The “glows” list grew long, and each day we became a tighter-knit crew, united in helping each other while we sailed FALKEN to Ireland.
As we end this final chapter of our voyage, I have no words to adequately express my “glows,” so I will keep it simple.
With my deepest gratitude always,
- Raquel (FALKEN Crew—Azores to Galway ‘24)
crew@59-north.com
View more passage logs
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.