October 1, 2025 | Pre-departure blog: Setting sail for Las Palmas
The moment has finally arrived. The crew is all aboard, and it was such a joy meeting everyone in person for the first time. Spirits are high, energy on top, and everyone is excited to throw the lines and be underway. Over the past days, we have made Adrianne ready for her next Atlantic crossing. The staff and crew have gone through the introduction of safety briefings and the rig check. We stumbled upon a few small surprises, most notably the inner jib halyard that didn’t quite want to cooperate. After a few trips up and down the mast and some solution discussions, we managed to put together a solid provisional solution that will hold for the passage.
With the boat now ready, provisions stowed away, and the crew excited, we will soon let loose the lines holding us to the pier to sail away into the horizon. Soon Brazil will be left behind and our next step on land will be in Gran Canaria. We will soon settle into the rhythm of watches and the ocean that lies ahead of us.
We will see you soon!
Hold Fast,
Vilgot Hjort | Former and current Apprentice
crew@59-north.com
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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.