Party Time!
2200 UTC | 31° 55.123’ N 039° 59.969’ W
Sailing
Late last night, conveniently right before I went down for a snooze, we got a bit of bonus breeze and were able to shut the engine off and sail. Engine off means time to clean the fuel filters and do whatever we can to prevent our diesel bug from clogging the system. Open the filters, clean any gunk, check the lines, then my snooze came soon after.
Since then we’ve been motoring through a high with slowly but consistently decreasing breeze. We furled the genoa right at daybreak, and dropped the main before sunset. Up until then it wasn’t flogging and was providing a nice bit of shade.
To fill the time while we motored on glassy clear blue ocean seas, we’ve had yoga sessions and a bit of weight lifting. We put out two fishing lines which I think should double our chances but nothing so far. Our resident vegan Knut said he’s rooting for the fish. Perhaps that’s why we’ve had no bites.
What the crew didn’t know, is that Erik and I had been planning a bit of a party all day to celebrate our halfway point. To start, meteorologist/ skipper extraordinaire Erik set up the weather so that we motored into a perfectly glassy calm evening and could go for a swim. This was certainly no coincidence, it was arranged just for the party. We did some swan dives and a few laps around the somewhat stationary boat. The water was cool, clear, and seemingly about a million feet deep (no idea how many meters, sorry Anton).
After the swim we ushered all the crew aft and had them turn around and watch the sunset as Erik, Anton, and I set up streamers and a party sign. I knew this would be a big hit, as it’s exactly what my mom had done for my birthday each year growing up (and sometimes still now). We enjoyed dinner, vegan coffee cake for dessert, and finished with Glums and Glows. My Glow list for the day was long, and I feel like I didn’t even mention it all.
Although we are all out here to sail, and ideally sail fast, sometimes these days of calm motoring provide a much needed respite on long voyages. After beating up wind for over a week, we have a chance to mix up the routine, slow down, and relax a bit. We all now look forward to some more upwind sailing tomorrow afternoon (potentially on a port tack this time) and keep our fingers crossed for some reaching in our future.
All is well aboard the mighty ship Adrienne II.
Delaney Vorwick
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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.