London Departure
September 4, 2024, 14:20 UTC | Cruising out of Thames River
Everyone seemed to have a good time exploring London yesterday. We all gathered on the boat for a pre-dinner drink and then headed off to The Dickens Inn at St. Katharine Docks for our supper. We enjoyed the night and ended with a weather and route briefing from Captain Erik. Our next port of call will be Guernsey Island!
This morning we scrubbed the deck, did passage planning, refueled diesel, and then said goodbye to London. The mood onboard is good and watch systems are back on track as we motor along. The boat was kept in good shape and our watches worked great coming here. I think the sailors onboard are happy to keep up the good work when we sail into the English Channel.
Right now we are enjoying cinnamon buns bought from a Swedish bakery in London. We will most probably keep on sailing with the Yankee head-sail when we find some wind offshore. The wind will be on our beam at about 15 knots as we sail southwest. In the English Channel, the forecast promises following winds. We expect to make landfall in Guernsey in about two days from now.
Hold Fast!
- David the apprentice
59ºNorthApprentice
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Ketch us if you Kan
Falken is soon to carry on our preferred route of South, back to (hopefully) warmer climates. We’re all excited to set off and see more of this wild landscape as we head down to Victoria. A thermal trough over Vancouver combined with an offshore high pressure creating funneling NW’ly winds means it is due to be pretty fruity on the 9th. This passage is just under 600 miles, relatively short for Falken, but I’m sure we’ll be kept entertained with dramatic scenery, wildlife and weather!
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.