Greetings from King Neptune!
2°02.5' N 027°28.2' W
October 7, 2025 | 17:10 UTC | 2°02.5' N 027°28.2' W
Greetings from King Neptune!
At 00:50 this morning (well, that’s practically in the middle of the night), Adrienne crossed the Equator. Wow! The whole crew had gathered in Adrienne’s aft cockpit, counting down as we approached N 00° 00.000’. 3-2-1, yeaaayh! Northern Hemisphere, here we come! The North, where low pressures rotate counterclockwise, where the sun moves clockwise over the vault of heaven, and where it gets colder the further north you go. All of which are the opposite in its Southern counterpart.
Now, you cannot sail across the equator just like that. Sailors of all times have understood the significance of this imaginary line, and in order to have a continued safe voyage, one must of course pay homage to the lord of the high seas, King Neptune. Also, any crew onboard that has not previously crossed the equator by sail will be baptized by the King. This ceremony has been a tradition amongst mariners for ages.
Out of nowhere, King Neptune was suddenly onboard Adrienne, dressed in a white gown, crown on his head, and with a trident raised in the air. Time for baptism! In order to show our worthiness for entering King Neptune’s squadron, the crew was required to follow his harsh demands, including a deck walk on knee, toothpaste face paint, a water hose, and our best whale song. We promised the King dearly to take care of the oceans, its environment and inhabitants, and to look after ourselves, our shipmates, and our ships. Our finest drops onboard were used for the obligatory sacrifice to the ocean, and for showing our respect and gratitude to our beautiful Adrienne. We are now all part of King Neptune’s aquatic army. (Thanks Brittany for being a great King Neptune! Amazing 😊)
By crossing the equator, we are also about to enter the next chapter of this passage, sailing- and weather-wise. Up until now, we have been enjoying the steady SE’ly trades of the South Atlantic. Now we are about to enter the Doldrums—a totally different kind of place when it comes to weather. The Doldrums is known for its weak or nonexistent wind, and its chaotic, unpredictable, and extremely powerful squalls. We have been monitoring this area closely the past week. Fingers crossed we have found a relatively pleasant way through…
Love,
Erik | ADRIENNE II Skipper
ErikNordborg
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.