Hello Victoria! Arrival Day...
Monday, August 11, 2025, 09:30 Local time | Victoria, BC
Hello Victoria! So to look back… We had all sorts of conditions on this trip. We motored through narrow fjord-like passages and gazed upon the remotest of remote landscapes. We sailed in thermal breezes, cutting through dead flat seawater like a knife through butter, upwind in 15 knots. Wow, does Falken love that. We dropped the hook in the most WILD anchorage off Brooks Peninsula and experienced true, natural silence. How rare in our busy world.
After dropping the hook and 48 hours of sailing, the team pumped up the dinghy, headed to shore, hiked half an hour, and emerged from the lush Pacific Northwest rainforest to just the most incredible beach you have ever seen. Just us, and the Pacific Ocean. Of course, we went for a swim. And then, back to sea for a final hoorah—25-35 knots downwind for our last leg. It was when the fog lifted and the moon rose on our starboard bow, shining through the way home, that we realized… Wow… this is special. Yes, what we get to experience here really is special.
We agreed at the beginning of this trip that our priorities would be to be safe, have fun, learn, and get WILD—in that order. And, from the reflection last night that we shared as a team, I’m happy to share that we achieved the mission! More coastal trips like this have a way of igniting dreams, because they are closer perhaps to a lifestyle of a cruiser. It was wonderful to hear that so many of the crew are asking themselves the question that of course we want everyone to ask… ‘Do I want sailing to be a significant part of my life?’
Once again, this 59 North trip ends with new friends, freshly acquired wisdom, and a broader horizon for us all.
- Nikki | FALKEN Skipper
NikkiHenderson
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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.