#1. Lagos—>Las Palmas / pre-departure
January 5, 2024
Lagos, Portugal
I am sitting onboard FALKEN in Lagos, its January 5 and tomorrow is the official start of the 2024 season.
Andy and I came down to Portugal already on the 30th to have a mini-vacation with our son Axel, celebrating the new year and have Axel play on FALKEN and explore the beaches. Ever since we came to Portugal the first time in 2012, it has special place in our heart, and it was great to show it to Axel this time.
After our last passage in November, FALKEN has been on the hard in Portimao getting a few upgrades and some well deserved love after a busy 2023 season. Adam and Alex arrived on Tuesday night, Adam finishing some project on FALKEN and Alex will be our skipper for this leg. We splashed on Wednesday and motored over to the marina, no sails since they have been at the sailmaker getting looked over and cleaned. The sails came back and we figured it was best to put them on straight away, after we gave the boat a good scrub to get rid of the boat year dust. Rain was scheduled for Thursday, and high gusts on Friday, so Wednesday evening looked to be the best option to get the main back on. As soon as we got it ready, it started to rain, and half way done the wind picked up, but we muscled it on anyway and happy to get the job done.
The boat is now provisioned, cleaned and ready for crew to come tomorrow. We have been following the weather and it looks like a Sunday departure to avoid some stronger headwinds on the 12th (headwinds on this passage?). We will get another look at the weather tomorrow and passage plan together with the crew.
Now it’s time for a shower, dinner and a good night sleep!
——
January 6
Crew arrived today at 13.00 to FALKEN, after a few days with rain on and off, we had clear sky and beautiful weather today. Back in 2019, every single time when crew arrived to the boat, it rained. Thankfully, we had sunshine today and we started the day by walking around the deck from bow to stern showing everyone the boat, followed by safety briefings down below. We had dinner ashore booked at 6.30, early for the Portuguese but since we are departing tomorrow, an early be will be nice! Lots of happy chats around and we didn’t leave the restaurants until 9 pm! Time for bed now and up bright and early for coffee and breakfast. The aim is to depart around lunch time. We’ll sit down after breakfast to look at the route, check the grips and make a plan for the passage south to Las Palmas.
Cheers from Mia and the FALKEN crew