north sea action
55º 54’ N 006º 32’ E
August 4, 2024 | 19:22 UTC | 55º 54’ N 006º 32’ E | 9 Knots
We’re in the fat part of the North Sea, west of Denmark, but it feels like we’re in the Trades today. Blue skies, puffy white clouds, and a steady 15-20 knots on the beam. FALKEN is cruising at an easy 9-10 knots on a mostly calm sea. The watch just finished cleaning up from turkey chili dinner ala Capt. Andy, and half the boat is napping with full bellies.
We left Amsterdam on Saturday morning, pulling out of our slip opposite the city centre around 0930 and steaming west down the river toward the locks that separate the below-sea-level city from the North Sea. The transit went quicker than expected, the lock-out was smooth, and before we knew it we had full sail up and were sailing fast to the WNW on a building SW’ly. We’d be in for a tiring night.
The forecast called for a weak cold front to pass over us later that evening, so with the building SW’ly wind we had building clouds and the occasional (very) light shower, but dinner was dry in the cockpit and we kept making our westing to get out past the congestion around numerous traffic separation schemes (TSS) directing shipping in and out of Amsterdam, Brussels, and Rotterdam, three of the busiest ports in Europe. Add in the wind farms and the oil rigs and there wasn’t much relaxing on those first few watches.
The front overtook us just as the sun was going down and the wind abruptly shifted to the NW and quickly built into the low 30s. We already had two reefs in the main, but the new wind called for the staysail, which we hadn’t rigged at the dock, so with some effort the on-watch hanked it on from the pitching foredeck while I steered FALKEN downwind to keep the boat flat, in the process losing the hard-earned westing and pushing us back across a TSS we’d earlier crossed. Oh well. With the boat reefed down we charged NNE, on course for the tip of Denmark some 400 miles distant.
The hard work continued overnight as the wind eased. First, we handed the staysail and re-set the jib, then by Mia’s midnight shift we’d shaken two reefs from the main—only to tuck them back in a few hours later. By dawn, though, the weather behind the front settled in and we were back to full sail, the wind gradually backing into the W and letting us ease the sails for the first time and flatten the boat out. Those who didn’t sleep last night during the commotion got their rest today in the relative peace and quiet.
As I write, we just crossed 280 miles sailed in about 32 hours, quite the clip considering that included our steaming out the river and waiting for the locks to open. The plan as it stands now is to make for Smögen, a pretty seaside fishing village about 30 miles north of our ultimate destination at Marstrand. There we’ll regroup and enjoy some coastal sailing on Sweden’s west (aka ‘best’) coast.
— Andy
andy@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.