Day 9 At-Sea
13º 10’ N, 052º 52’ W
14 February 2024
2308 Ship’s Time
13º 10’ N, 052º 52’ W
Steering 285º at 8-9 knots
We’ve slowed down a touch today with some lighter winds, but are still above our 200 miles per day threshold over the past 24 hours. You get spoiled when you top out at 220+!
I’m tired as I write this. It’s the tail end of my 2000-0000 watch. I’ll get 4 hours off, then stand the sunrise watch from 0400-0800 before getting a longer 6-hour break from 0800-1400. We run a staggered watch schedule on FALKEN whereby myself or Manot is awake, but staggered so that we get to overlap with each of the crew watches and thereby get to sail with everyone on the boat. The Port watch is on right now, standing their 2200-0200 stint. The waxing moon has provided the perfect runway by which to steer—keep the moonlight on the horizon just to starboard and the boat is bang on course.
We’ve crossed the 400-miles-to-go barrier. While it’s still a long way off, talk has begun of landfall and arrival procedures. I’ve been quick to quell it to keep people in the moment, but by dinnertime tomorrow night it’ll be inevitable. The ‘philosophical middle stage’ of this long voyage will end and the ‘landfall’ stage will begin. The crew, myself included, will shift our focus from the present to the future. We’ll look at the charts and plan our pilotage on arrival to Barbados (necessary); we’ll talk about the first food ashore we’re going to eat and how good a cold drink is going to taste (superfluous but fun!).
But that’s for tomorrow. Tonight, we’re still in the present tense, still gazing at the same stars that we’ve been sailing to for over a week now, still discussing the finer points of life at sea and still hot and sweaty from the afternoon heat. I’m topping up the water tanks tonight with a long run on the watermaker in anticipation of our last showers at sea tomorrow afternoon.
// Andy
andy@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.