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
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- Mia (shore support)
FALKEN|Skipper&Mate
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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.
Among the Channel Islands
In the wind shadow of SoCal we had a restful night with calm conditions ghosting through smooth seas. We’re getting ourselves in position for spicy weather tonight once we round Cape Conception, the seas build and the breeze freshens. It will be an upwind sail into an acceleration zone along a formable coast with few bailout points, Morro Bay being one. The crew is really gelling with lots of smiles and laughter on deck. Monterey is in our sights!
Day Two Delights
The seas were completely glassy with a gentle swell as we approached San Clemente Island, the southernmost of the Channel Islands. Everyone jumped in and marvelled at the lovely temperature and crystal clear, indigo-colored water. Before long the wind started to pick up, and we happily unfurled the jib and were sailing again. The afternoon has been gorgeous, cruising along at 5-6 kts, close hauled on a port tack in a gentle breeze, Catalina Island in the distance on our starboard side, and everyone is happy.