Post-passage
June 27, 2024
During our final 24 hours of the trip, a warm front approached. The wind picked up, we put two reefs into the mainsail and deeply furled the Yankee. Still, in 28 knots apparent wind on a broad reach, Falken flew along, surfing faster and faster until Allison hit the record speed of the trip at 17.8 knots. The front passed fairly quickly and with it the wind eased. The anticipated cold front brought little wind but a huge wind shift, so that we ended up sailing on a close reach for the final few hours of the trip.
We approached the channels between the Aran Islands in the early morning hours and pushed on to make the lock to Galway Harbor, which only opens from two hours before high water to high water. We tied up alongside the harbor wall and celebrated a fast and fun passage with a glass of Prosecco. 1,285 nm sailed in 6 days and 18 hours, with the last four days seeing daily runs of well over 200 nm.
For me, this is the end of three months on FALKEN, all the way from Antigua to Jamaica to Cuba, Bermuda, the Azores, and finally Ireland. It has been a blast and though I can’t wait to go home and see my family, I am already looking forward to my next passage on FALKEN from Plymouth to Lagos—the heavy weather Bay of Biscay crossing. Until then, fair winds and a following sea.
- Chris
ChrisKobusch
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Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.
Greetings from Lala Lemonshark
The brave crew is toughing it out and staying cheerful despite being tossed around. The engine is off and we are true sailing-main and jib. In the first 12 hours we saw two pods of Orca and four humpback whales, two of which were 20 yards off the starboard beam!