37°35.5’N 154°02.4’W
Monday, July 14, 2025 | Mid-ocean, 360 and 1000nm at sea
37°35.5’N 154°02.4’W
05:00 UTC / 19:00 Local time
Upon taking the helm at noon today, the NYC watch team noticed steering issues: looseness in the wheel accompanied by a tremor. Mate Mary quickly diagnosed and fixed one of the issues by adjusting the steering cables; however, the tremor remained. By this time, Skipper Alex was up, having been awakened by the fixing and remaining tremor. They quickly diagnosed a likely tag-along on the rudder, but what was it, and how to dislodge it? They decided to inspect the rudder with the Insta360 with an underwater housing, mounted to a long carbon (aka weak plastic) arm. The Insta360 is now at sea, the arm broken, its secrets untold.
Without the images, an idea took hold—to sail a 360 circle to see if the offending item would come loose. The crew made the maneuver, and like magic, a large brightly colored bucket dislodged and floated away. Alex and Mary and a 360, heroes.
A couple of hours after the “360 incident,” at 15:03 local time, the crew logged 1000nm into our journey! Apprentice Lovis was at the helm, and a celebratory cheer was raised by the crew on deck. Congratulations to all!
We will update more along the way.
Tasha | FALKEN Crew
crew@59-north.com
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.