LANDFALL (Postscript)
13º 15’ N, 059º 38’ W
22 February 2024
1602 Ship’s Time
13º 15’ N, 059º 38’ W
Anchored off Speightstown
Welp, we did it. We made it across the Atlantic. FALKEN’s third trans-Atlantic in less than 12 months, and my 8th since I started my offshore sailing career. It’s a nice feeling.
This was by far my fastest passage. For fun, here are some stats:
2,175nm sailed.
10d, 19hrs at sea.
201nm average daily run.
225nm best day’s run.
8.3kts average speed.
16.1kts fastest surf.
After gybing before dinner, we covered the final 88 miles at night, under spinnaker, in 8 hours… that’s an 11-knot average! We log every hour, and the best hourly run that night was 14 miles!
I’ve had 5 days to decompress since we first dropped the hook here, and wow, Barbados is a nice landfall! There’s everything we need here in Speightstown and nothing we don’t. Just enough civilization to make re-entry comfortable, but not overwhelming. Beautiful beaches, nice little cafes and bars, laundry, groceries, and a reasonable anchorage (though there really aren’t any harbors on Barbados, so we’re just tucked behind the island, and it can be swelly at times).
Yesterday we got a special invite to tour the legendary Mt. Gay Rum distillery, which is only 3 miles as the crow flies from FALKEN’s anchorage. Mt. Gay is the oldest continually operating rum distillery in the world, and the second oldest distillery, period. It started in 1703 and has been making rum ever since. If you’ve ever seen those red hats around sailing regattas, you know the rum. I can recommend mixing it with pineapple juice over some ice and with a lime. We had some on arrival, of course.
We’ve got a few days now until the next crew arrive and we’ll continue to head downwind to visit some of the rest of the Eastern Caribbean. But for now, I’m enjoying the downtime, reflecting on the passage, going through photos and videos, and having some time off! Thanks to everyone who’s followed along. We’ll be back here when the next trip starts next week! Until then… HOLD FAST!
// Andy
andy@59-north.com
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Kärt barn har många namn
A dear child goes by many a name, or as we say in Swedish "kärt barn har många namn". This is the case for many a person, but also some species, not least the Mahi mahi, which also goes by dolphin fish, golden mackerel, and dorado, among others. Soon, we could see the fish jump, a hundred feet or so behind the boat, and as I kept reeling, a beautiful Mahi appeared under the surface. Manot showed us how to clean and fillet it, and after a complete team effort two large fillets are now in the freezer of Adrienne II.
Cast off the lines
When we awoke it was overcast but the Brazilian sun quickly burned the clouds away and we were left with blue skies. We reviewed some safety procedures, cleaned the boat and had an exciting Person Overboard (POB) recovery. Once we were underway spirits soared as we pointed the bow toward the Canary Islands. As I write this we are heading upwind and dealing with all that involves, and working into our first watches. It is hot, a bit bumpy but we are sailing!!
People Get Ready!
The last three days have been an intense (and intensely hot) period of discovery, practice, and planning. Because Adrienne II is not a 59N boat, there's been some extra setup and coordination needed including rigging all the sails that were out for repairs before we arrived. Its been a blast working alongside the 59N team getting to help them work things out on a less familiar boat in real time. Tomorrow morning we'll run through our Person Over Board training as the final pre-departure task, cast off and head out. Can't know all that it will be, but its going to be a great adventure out in the vast world with some pretty fantastic people.