Day 2 At-sea
Day one is now behind us, and it is the first time I’ve had the chance to sit down and take a breath. Last night was some of the most epic sailing I’ve had in the last year, with one gust at 40 knots of true wind speed and FALKEN surfing down some pretty impressive waves with three reefs, doing impressive speeds! We have covered over 270 nm in the last 28 hours. The crew have all been superstars and have handled the helm like pros, even if it is the first time offshore for a few of them.
The conditions are now lightening, and we have increased to two reefs and full Yankee sail, pushing us along nicely. You can hear the screams of excitement from on deck every time FALKEN surfs down a wave, or big laughter after a wave covers the deck. I really had missed blasting along downwind towards our destination! We’re going to make the most of it, as the weather models indicate that the wind might start decreasing soon.
I am about to start cooking a Mediterranean salad with couscous for dinner, the perfect meal for a very hard-working crew that deserves every praise you can think of!
A very fast and happy team,
Alex
laline96@gmail.com
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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.