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
View more passage logs
Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.
Greetings from Lala Lemonshark
The brave crew is toughing it out and staying cheerful despite being tossed around. The engine is off and we are true sailing-main and jib. In the first 12 hours we saw two pods of Orca and four humpback whales, two of which were 20 yards off the starboard beam!