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
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A last hurrah
Under the dome of stars in a moon-less sky, each of us during our time at the helm used the most rudimentary celestial navigation, keeping a star or two lined up with the mast as a helper to following the heading range. It was a whole crew event to set the spinnaker, reef the mainsail and practice the heave-to in case of man overboard. Alex stressed that the key to success in all of these crucial activities is preparation. It was hugely satisfying to accomplish these tasks through teamwork. We share a constant good hearted back and forth full of stories, one-liners and comebacks that also means constant laughter.
One little bird!
Falken has almost rounded the Channel Islands and is cruising along splendidly about 100 miles offshore. Though several models predicted some slightly fresher winds today, we were met with a consistent 18-20 kts of pure bliss. It seems that from the moment we left the dock in San Francisco, there has been much laughter and conversation amongst everyone. The plan is to gybe in a few hours and begin our approach to Ensenada. As much as I do appreciate the jokes and intellectual musings, I equally appreciate the natural, silent moments we share at night, all of us on watch gazing up above to the shooting stars, constellations, and planets putting on their quiet show.
Birds and glows
The sun brought new wind and we were soon putting up the Yankee (jib) and turning off the motor. During the evening tradition of sharing “glums and glows” that follows the crew dinner, our Mate Ryan proclaimed it a “champagne sailing” kind of day. As Alex noted this evening, life goes by so fast that one of the very best things about his line of work is enjoying the passage of time in the slow lane of an ocean passage. But by tomorrow, the green blobs in the weather sailing app indicate we’re going to pick up some significant northwesterly winds and we’ll take them ever further south to the Channel Islands latitude. We’re all super excited for the knots to climb and to see Falken really run.