2315 UTC | 3°30.76’ N | 88°33.01’W
Sailing
Today started with a Blue-Footed Booby on the bow amongst his Red-Footed, Nazca, and Brown Booby friends. They come and go as they need and crowd on in the evenings for safe sleep in the open Pacific. The twilight hours left glimpses of the stars, bioluminescent plankton in our wake, and the joy of knowing we have another day at sea. It has been a life of luxury onboard S/V Falken for this crew.
The sound of breaking ice for water bottles can be heard from the deepest post watch nap. Cold pineapple and stern showers remain supreme in the heat and stickiest part of the day. Shade from the staysail has added additional relief for those of us in the bow from the sun, more luxury. The cheer of the crew is consistent through the day with chatter and laughter as we huddle around the shady parts of the deck, feeling the easterly winds we’ve been gifted. We’ve been under sail most of the day with steady 7-8kts, confirming we are in fact making progress towards the Galapagos and the sighting of new seabirds.
Books of birds and animals are open in the saloon and being discussed as we get closer to our destination. The smell of the coconut curry made by Zoe has everyone on deck early and inspired a pre dinner concert from Jeremy and his guitar.
At 3°N we let ourselves start to think about the other side of being a pollywog. We might be fortunate enough for a visit from the deep. More Booby birds are settling in for the night as we welcome the sunset, with an early evening glimpse of the stars that will guide us into dawn… for another luxurious day at sea aboard S/V Falken.
Sheri Hashemi
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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.
Making the most of it
This passage has thrown pretty much every atmospheric condition imaginable at us. It reminds us not only of how much we’ve learned, but of how far we’ve literally come since that acceleration zone off the northwest corner of Oahu. The resilience this group has shown has been nothing short of incredible, and I couldn’t be prouder to be part of it. Maybe that’s why it’s the hardest passages we remember the most. Not because they were easy, but because they reminded us what we’re capable of.
