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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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.