MEXICO-COSTA RICA: T-MINUS 1 DAY & COUNTING
Dockside Cabo San Lucas
After the most punctual arrival of a full crew ever yesterday, we’ve managed to get our comprehensive safety briefings done in a very efficient manner. Within a couple of hours we will have slipped lines and will be heading south to Costa Rica!
As always with 59º North, we seem to have an excellent crew, playful ribbing has already started and they’re all ready to cheerfully wave goodbye to Cabo Wabo.
Delaney did a great job of finding a nice joint for dinner last night, made even better when we saw they had mezcal flambé cheese on the menu.
The weather is looking pretty light for the first 24 hours before filling in for hopefully some kite weather. The Tehuantepec winds are the big navigational hazard on this trip. Cold fronts in the Caribbean cross over the isthmus of land south of Oaxaca, funneled through the mountain range before blowing at full force into the Pacific. This can create 40-50 knot constant winds, with even stronger gusts, and an unpleasant sea state of high waves with short intervals. Marvelously for us it looks like we’ll arrive at the gulf of Tehuantepec just as one of these periods ebbs and should be able to make the crossing without being too much of a vomit comet. Keep your fingers crossed that it keeps this way! If not we have plenty of time to loiter waiting for a weather window.
Past there it’s looking light again, before possibly increasing to upwind conditions in 20-25+ knots as we approach Costa Rica due the Papagayo winds - a similar, but slightly less volatile, weather phenomenon as the Tehuano winds. As always, that’s a long range forecast so things may change but always good to be prepared.
If anything I don’t think we’ll be bored this trip!
That said, strict instructions have been left for Mission Control to keep us updated on the Super Bowl and Rugby Six Nations results.
Nos vemos México!!
// Mary
View more passage logs
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.