End of a passage
Having reached Jamaica in remarkable time, given the almost perfect sailing conditions, the crew departed today, but not before a number of mini adventures shoreside. Errol Flynn Marina was clearly once an aspirational destination and, while still very pretty and refreshingly quiet, it has clearly lacked investment and attention in recent years. Nonetheless, the showers and toilets are really very nice, and the marina still has a small swimming pool, a great laundry room, and even a private adjoining beach which is simply stunning.
After recovering for a couple of days beneath the palm trees and swimming in the aquamarine waters synonymous with Jamaica, we finished our adventure with a day of visiting local beauty spots in an air-conditioned minibus. Our very own 59 North apprentice Natalie, who has Jamaican roots, guided us to some truly spectacular destinations including Reach Falls, The Blue Lagoon, and Frenchman’s Cove. We stopped for lunch at Boston Bay, jerk capital of the world (apparently), and finished with a brief stop at the craft market before arriving back to Falken, both satisfied and inspired by our whistle-stop tour of the northeast corner of this stunning island.
It was a sad goodbye this morning as ever, but on we go as we begin our preparations for our next adventure to Cuba.
- Emily
EmilyCaruso
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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.