Made it to Antigua!
17.0167° N, 61.7833° W
February 5, 2025 | Falmouth Harbor, Antigua
It is now Wednesday afternoon, February 5th. It feels like a long time ago that we made landfall in Antigua, when we spotted the glow on the horizon early in the morning and eventually saw the island of Antigua peak out of the water. The last bit of the journey was absolutely amazing—the wind picked up a bit and, with a reefed main and poled-out genoa, we sprinted towards our ‘finish line’ without much effort. By now, the crew were all comfortable on the helm and it was truly a magical last night under the stars.
Though many of us were excited about everything that landfall brings—a warm shower, burger and a drink, family waiting on the dock—the list can go on. But many of us were also aware that this adventure we have shared the last 2+ weeks was about to come to an end.
We made landfall early morning on the 2nd of February and pulled into Antigua Yacht Club. We had family waiting on the dock for some of the crew, and to our crew’s delight, a bag of ice with COLD beer in it (Thank you Adam!). We tied up to the dock and the first thing that needed to be done on arrival was to clear the crew into the country. Emily walked over to English Harbor to the customs office with all passports. In the meantime, we sprayed down the decks and scrubbed off the salt that had been accumulating throughout the journey. I must admit though that this boat was VERY clean on arrival—our daily clean down below and in the cockpit had paid off.
Once Emily came back, we all went ashore for some well-deserved showers and eventually dinner ashore! Crew have been enjoying the islands the last few days and some have had family fly out for an extended vacation, while others jumped on the plane to go home to their loved ones.
Thank you all for a great Trans-Atlantic. It has been fun to share our passage with so many people at home and all the comments have been read during dinner time (we get email daily from our shore support). If you have not yet made a comment and have been reading the blog, this is your chance :)
- Mia and the FALKEN crew
mia@59-north.com
View more passage logs
HMS Night Watch Party
Wing on wing worked well until the wind shifted then the helm became the cone of despair for our night watch crew of three (H, M and S) Alex made the decision to drop the pole, shifting wing on wing to a close reach. Wind increased to low teens and speed picked up to a flying pace. Day spent wandering toward Ensenada. Alex, Adam and David got us into port under another starry night.
No Kitemares Today
After a night marked by sudden wind accelerations peeling off Point Conception, and a vibrant, pulsating sky blistered with shooting stars, the off-watch woke to commotion on the foredeck. The wind had gone light and the swell had tapered just enough to raise the spinnaker. The sail filled with an urgent pop, the sheet strained and Falken charged down the face of the next wave. By mid-day, we doused the spinnaker and set our minds to the more precise task of safely punching through a gap in the notorious Cortez Bank. The border to Mexico looms ahead.
The California coast
We had a very lively first day of sailing with steady winds between 25 and 30 kn gusting to mid 30s. All of the crew got experience at difficult downwind helming as we covered 200 nautical miles in the first 24 hours. This morning brings winds in the teens and calmer seas. The sun is still shining, and the green monster has been slayed by those afflicted!