pre-departure
Lagos, Portugal
I am sitting onboard FALKEN in Lagos. It’s January 5 and tomorrow is the official start of the 2024 season. Andy and I came down to Portugal on the 30th to have a mini-vacation with our son Axel, celebrate the new year, and let Axel play on FALKEN and explore the beaches. Ever since we first came to Portugal in 2012, it has held a special place in our hearts, and it was great to show it to Axel this time.
After our last passage in November, FALKEN has been on the hard in Portimao getting a few upgrades and some well-deserved love after a busy 2023 season. Adam and Alex arrived on Tuesday night; Adam finished some projects on FALKEN and Alex will be our skipper for this leg. We splashed on Wednesday and motored over to the marina—no sails, since they have been at the sailmaker getting looked over and cleaned. The sails came back and we figured it was best to put them on straight away, after giving the boat a good scrub to get rid of the boatyard dust.
Rain was scheduled for Thursday, and high gusts on Friday, so Wednesday evening looked to be the best option to get the main back on. As soon as we got it ready, it started to rain, and halfway through the wind picked up, but we muscled it on anyway and were happy to get the job done. The boat is now provisioned, cleaned, and ready for crew to come tomorrow. We have been following the weather and it looks like a Sunday departure to avoid some stronger headwinds on the 12th. We will get another look at the weather tomorrow and passage plan together with the crew.
Now it’s time for a shower, dinner, and a good night’s sleep!
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January 6
Crew arrived today at 13:00 to FALKEN. After a few days with rain on and off, we had clear sky and beautiful weather today. Back in 2019, every single time crew arrived to the boat, it rained. Thankfully, we had sunshine today and we started the day by walking around the deck from bow to stern showing everyone the boat, followed by safety briefings down below.
We had dinner ashore booked at 6:30—early for the Portuguese, but since we are departing tomorrow, an early bed will be nice! Lots of happy chats around and we didn’t leave the restaurant until 9 pm. Time for bed now and up bright and early for coffee and breakfast. The aim is to depart around lunchtime. We’ll sit down after breakfast to look at the route, check the GRIBs, and make a plan for the passage south to Las Palmas.
Cheers from Mia and the FALKEN crew
View more passage logs
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!