MANY FIRSTS ONBOARD FALKEN
0017 UTC | 21 05.69’ N 108 10.91’ W
Sailing
As I type this blog, Jake is cooking risotto for dinner; it is his first time cooking a meal for everyone at sea. It smells delicious. We’ve had many firsts so far on this trip, and it’s only day two.
Early last night as the full moon peeked out from the clouds and we drifted further offshore, Lloyd experienced being out of sight of land on a boat for the first time. Jakes, Christine, and a few others experienced their first full night at sea with a full moon peeking through the clouds. It was so bright you might have convinced me it was still daytime.
We had dolphins jumping during the night watch, maybe five or six but we told Marella it was closer to 100. As the sun came up and the coffee was set to brew, we managed a few hours of slow sailing. Soon enough the wind died, the motor came on, and the fishing line went out. We practiced reefing and reviewed the IRPCSs; we have a crew that’s passionate about good seamanship.
Just as I settled down into an afternoon nap, it was “fish on” and time to join the fun. Jake reeled in a beautiful Mahi with an assist from Mary with the gaff. To quote him directly, “Mary looked like she came out of a war zone.” We all felt pride in our skippers grit, and then suggested she hose off.
Another first came when Mary taught me how to fillet the fish. It went pretty well but it was clear which pieces were better off chopped up for ceviche…
Although I didn’t manage to convince any of the crew to write the first blog post at sea, Jake's agreed to be my co-author and provided all the ideas. The last thing he wanted me to note was how well we all mesh as a team. We’ve only been at sea for a little over one full day now, but as Marella shared during Glums and Glows, it feels as though we’ve known each other forever.
Motor is off, sails are full, all is well.
// Delaney
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A last hurrah
Under the dome of stars in a moon-less sky, each of us during our time at the helm used the most rudimentary celestial navigation, keeping a star or two lined up with the mast as a helper to following the heading range. It was a whole crew event to set the spinnaker, reef the mainsail and practice the heave-to in case of man overboard. Alex stressed that the key to success in all of these crucial activities is preparation. It was hugely satisfying to accomplish these tasks through teamwork. We share a constant good hearted back and forth full of stories, one-liners and comebacks that also means constant laughter.
One little bird!
Falken has almost rounded the Channel Islands and is cruising along splendidly about 100 miles offshore. Though several models predicted some slightly fresher winds today, we were met with a consistent 18-20 kts of pure bliss. It seems that from the moment we left the dock in San Francisco, there has been much laughter and conversation amongst everyone. The plan is to gybe in a few hours and begin our approach to Ensenada. As much as I do appreciate the jokes and intellectual musings, I equally appreciate the natural, silent moments we share at night, all of us on watch gazing up above to the shooting stars, constellations, and planets putting on their quiet show.
Birds and glows
The sun brought new wind and we were soon putting up the Yankee (jib) and turning off the motor. During the evening tradition of sharing “glums and glows” that follows the crew dinner, our Mate Ryan proclaimed it a “champagne sailing” kind of day. As Alex noted this evening, life goes by so fast that one of the very best things about his line of work is enjoying the passage of time in the slow lane of an ocean passage. But by tomorrow, the green blobs in the weather sailing app indicate we’re going to pick up some significant northwesterly winds and we’ll take them ever further south to the Channel Islands latitude. We’re all super excited for the knots to climb and to see Falken really run.