Glums & glows
003º52’S, 096º09W
April 10, 2130 Ship’s Time | 003º52’S, 096º09W
Full Mainsail & Jib Top, Happily Reaching
Based on the heading above, I’m sure you can assume the mood aboard today. Anyone who has spent time with Andy on a 59º North passage will be innately familiar with Glows and Glums, our nightly ritual of sharing personal highs and lows of the day, followed by the cathartic sound of your choice. The majority of today’s glows were simple and truly what this trip is all about. We’re doing a steady 9.0 kts SOG, with the sail reflecting the nearly-full moon onto the smiling faces of the watch. The cool breeze of the trades tempers the unrelenting hotbox this boat has become in the past few days and relieves us from the drone of the engine. The Bangers and Mash for dinner were particularly excellent, the perfect fuel for a night of riding this sleigh.
Eric interestingly shared that his glow for the day was the rather painful peppering his hands received in yesterday’s early morning squall—our only glimpse of double-digit speeds in the time since we weighed anchor in the Galapagos. As someone who is deep in the process of learning better strategies for race navigation and weather systems, cruising is always a humbling arena to practice in, and the last few days have been full of wind-deprived glums. I wish I could name-drop, but at some US Sailing Summit one of the panelists gave the expert advice to “not speak up when the boat is slow” at the risk of becoming the scapegoat for a poor result—the room laughed at the honesty. The Doldrums are a new experience for me; there is no avoiding the slow. If these past 72 hours were a race, I would already be at the bar.
That said, today was markedly different. Today, powered by the building SE’ly trades (and a full round of showers), the entire boat was glum-free.
// Aidan Gray
59ºNorthApprentice
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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.