Leaving tahiti
Sunday, 25 May, 2025 | A great day was had by all yesterday as the new crew of the good ship FALKEN came together for the first time and began the safety briefing process. It’s good to see an eclectic mix of cultures, and our French Canadian contingent will be really helpful in our communications locally over the next week. With the passage plan in place, we set sail for Bora Bora at 1100 this morning. Some fresh easterlies will make for a fast downwind passage, and we will be keeping an eye on the swell that is moving in from the south over the coming days as we evolve our itinerary. We had an excellent crew meal ashore last night, accompanied by some Tahitian musicians to add to the atmosphere—a fitting way to begin an exciting cruising passage through some of the Society Islands. Emily
andy@59-north.com
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Ladies who reef
The trade winds have been kind, rolling the boat toward Hawaii in a steady, hypnotic rhythm—until last night, when a squall hit without warning and the wind jumped to 28 knots, slamming everything sideways. With rain driving down and the boat lurching underfoot, the crew had minutes to wrestle two reefs into the mainsail and get things back under control. What followed was a masterclass in wet, unglamorous, deeply satisfying teamwork—with less than 250 miles left to go.
Yankee Doodle Died at Sea, Riding on a FALKEN
A thin, foot-long tear in the yankee sail—50,000 miles of ocean behind it—and suddenly the final stretch to Hawaii just got a lot more interesting. The crew of FALKEN had been running a tight ship through the trades, reefing in squalls like clockwork, when the last dance finally caught up with them. How a skipper handles the moment everything goes sideways says everything about the voyage itself.
A Gen Z Perspective
At 31, the crew thought they were reasonably fluent in the English language—then they met Kip. Today, the crew's self-appointed Gen Z correspondent takes over the log from somewhere in the middle of the Pacific, delivering dispatches on Milky Way night sails, focaccia-induced visions, and the singular mission of getting eleven people's "badonkadonks" to Hawaii. Consider this your glossary.