12:00 UTC | 30°06.5N 158°31.3W
Sailing
Greetings from Falken, fast under sail in the Pacific!
After some initial adversity, we untied our lines and left the beautiful island of O’ahu behind as we set sail north on an adventure of a lifetime.
Lead by our outstanding team of our Captain Alex, first officer Adam, and apprentice Zoe, 8 eager crew from all walks of life and life experience performed their tasks brilliantly. Forgive any spelling errors, as I know everyone by verbal, not written name: Carla, Michael, Kurt…Jim, Daniel, Nikolai, Joe, and Corey.
After dinner tonight, the Hawaiian word for family (which I’ll likely mess up without the help of google) Ohana was mentioned. And that is exactly what we are - a family of strangers brought together by a passion for sailing and a love for the sea. Learning to care and serve one another. In humility, making each of us better and stronger.
The passage, while at its infancy, has delivered. The wind and seas, stars and sails all set the stage for a fantastic journey. Love and gratitude to all our friends, families, and supporters. None of this would be possible without you. We will see you on the other side with many stories to tell.
Until then, Godspeed and HOLD FAST!!!
Joe
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A Heavenly High
As you have probably figured out at this point, the drug of choice on board is, of course, celestial navigation- an art which has hooked offshore sailors for centuries. Once addicted, navigators will emerge from down below only to get their fixes two times per day, and spend the rest of their days and nights down below doing complex spherical mathematics. On Adrienne II, our skipper is our dealer. I must confess that I myself gave in to the strange urge which I’ve felt witnessing my crewmates practice this fine art, and yesterday felt an amazing sensation as I was able to wield the sextant for the first time and with it, bring down the tip of our starboard spreader to the top of our front sprayhood, presicely measuring the angle between the two (35deg, 38,8’ min). This afternoon, Naxo then showed me how to get my fix from the very sun itself - and I now fear there is no turning back.
The gobbledygook of sailors
We sailors can come across as a cryptic bunch. Similar to almost all niche endeavors, it boils down to efficiency, safety and tradition. There are so many "ropes" and so much gear on a sailboat, that trying to identify them by descriptive terms just wouldn’t cut it. We’re in one of the best learning environments available to offshore sailors, and mistakes are a part of the process.
Dive on in
Life aboard Adrienne is hot and sticky. It was hilarious how fast we all started moving once we heard we might go for a swim in the ocean. With our captain’s blessing, we started jumping in, hooting and hollering, grinning like children on a carnival ride. It was simple and delightful and also mind-boggling to be bobbing and washing in the great ocean under a clear sky with nothing around but our floating home and each other. But the deeper cleaning of this ocean plunge will certainly linger for days.