LIFE ON A HEEL
Saturday, June 21, 2025 | Life on a Heel
Day 2 of life on a heel and the crew are getting more used to it. The sea state—or the helming—has improved, and the number of times you get body slammed while trying to sleep has reduced, making it much more tolerable. However, I speak on behalf of all the staff when I say cooking at this angle sucks an incredible amount, and watch handovers between us usually involve some grumbling about upwind sailing.
Moaning aside, it is lovely. We’re sitting comfortably at 8-10 knots, and what have been termed “happy” clouds (fluffy and white) are the only things that occasionally block our nighttime views of the Milky Way. With the Southern Cross behind us and Polaris directly on the bow, we’re also fairly confident we’re going in the right direction. All things going smoothly, we should be reaching Oahu sometime on Sunday afternoon.
Glums and glows today were characterized by an appreciation of savoring the limited time we have left at sea—only one more sunset now! As always, there is an excitement about nearing land after a longer passage. Orie’s vivid description of a beef burger he once had (with accompanying photos) seems to have fueled several crew members’ dreams of them. A crisp apple and long, hot showers have been mentioned with longing more than once.
It can be quite easy to wish away the last bit of time at sea with those creature comforts to look forward to. I’m pleased to report that is not the case with this crew, and the day has been filled with smiles, punctuated by cackles from the helm as they send a particularly soggy wave over the cockpit.
373 miles to go!
- Mary | FALKEN Mate
Write your comments below and I’ll forward them to the boat with the daily update :)
- Mia (shore support)
Day 2 of life on a heel and the crew are getting more used to it. The sea state—or the helming—has improved, and the number of times you get body slammed while trying to sleep has reduced, making it much more tolerable. However, I speak on behalf of all the staff when I say cooking at this angle sucks an incredible amount, and watch handovers between us usually involve some grumbling about upwind sailing.
Moaning aside, it is lovely. We’re sitting comfortably at 8-10 knots, and what have been termed “happy” clouds (fluffy and white) are the only things that occasionally block our nighttime views of the Milky Way. With the Southern Cross behind us and Polaris directly on the bow, we’re also fairly confident we’re going in the right direction. All things going smoothly, we should be reaching Oahu sometime on Sunday afternoon.
Glums and glows today were characterized by an appreciation of savoring the limited time we have left at sea—only one more sunset now! As always, there is an excitement about nearing land after a longer passage. Orie’s vivid description of a beef burger he once had (with accompanying photos) seems to have fueled several crew members’ dreams of them. A crisp apple and long, hot showers have been mentioned with longing more than once.
It can be quite easy to wish away the last bit of time at sea with those creature comforts to look forward to. I’m pleased to report that is not the case with this crew, and the day has been filled with smiles, punctuated by cackles from the helm as they send a particularly soggy wave over the cockpit.
373 miles to go!
- Mary | FALKEN Mate
Write your comments below and I’ll forward them to the boat with the daily update :)
- Mia (shore support)
FALKEN|Skipper&Mate
View more passage logs
Hat overboard!
On June 4, we reviewed our passage plan before our departure from the marina in Hjellested.
Departure from Bergen!
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The sun sets on another journey
The hardest part of sailing across French Polynesia wasn't the night watches, the heat, or the open ocean — it was the prospect of being trapped on a small boat with a group of strangers. First-timer Natalie boards as a self-described land crab and discovers that the sea has a way of reshaping both your sea legs and your assumptions. What follows is dolphins, sharks, the Milky Way in full technicolour, and a crew that somehow made the whole thing better than she ever imagined.