pre-departure

June 16, 2024 | 16:30 UTC
The new crew of eight joined myself, first mate Manot, and apprentice Athena aboard Falken yesterday at 1300 to sail from Ponta Delgada, Azores to Galway, Ireland. After a friendly introduction to the staff, the boat, and the forthcoming passage, we dove straight into the domestic briefs followed by the essential safety briefs: fire, flooding, abandoning ship, gas safety, dismasting, and the on-deck orientation.
After a delicious meal at a local restaurant and an early night, we commenced the safety brief this morning with winch safety, lifejackets, and a Man Over Board (MOB) drill. Lunch gave everyone a chance to recharge and digest all the information thrown at them over the past 24 hours.
This afternoon we discussed the weather forecast, and the crew started working on our passage plan and pilotages out of Ponta Delgada and into Galway, with a potential stop in the Aran Islands. The weather forecast shows fresh northerly winds on Monday, so we might delay our departure until Tuesday to have a slightly easier start to the trip.
Everyone is excited to leave and looking forward to the 1200nm passage. Fair winds and a following sea.
- Chris
The new crew of eight joined myself, first mate Manot, and apprentice Athena aboard Falken yesterday at 1300 to sail from Ponta Delgada, Azores to Galway, Ireland. After a friendly introduction to the staff, the boat, and the forthcoming passage, we dove straight into the domestic briefs followed by the essential safety briefs: fire, flooding, abandoning ship, gas safety, dismasting, and the on-deck orientation.
After a delicious meal at a local restaurant and an early night, we commenced the safety brief this morning with winch safety, lifejackets, and a Man Over Board (MOB) drill. Lunch gave everyone a chance to recharge and digest all the information thrown at them over the past 24 hours.
This afternoon we discussed the weather forecast, and the crew started working on our passage plan and pilotages out of Ponta Delgada and into Galway, with a potential stop in the Aran Islands. The weather forecast shows fresh northerly winds on Monday, so we might delay our departure until Tuesday to have a slightly easier start to the trip.
Everyone is excited to leave and looking forward to the 1200nm passage. Fair winds and a following sea.
- Chris
ChrisKobusch
View more passage logs


Dolphin party!
Kate was about to yank the spinnaker’s sock down when I spotted a stampede of fins heading straight for us. ”Dolphins!”, I yelled back to the cockpit excitedly. Post dinner dish duty was halted down below for the show.


The pool is open!
We stopped the boat, got the ladder down and put out a line with a fender behind the boat. I love swimming in the middle of the ocean, and a bit scary when you realize its more than 4000+ m deep! Love it!


Big Pink Sail Day
I had a most fashionable pointed striped hat at dinner, and out of the depths of a cupboard a cake was created, after 14 days at sea. A group of people I had never met two weeks ago made me feel very special today.

