Pre-Depature for Isla del Cocos
Dockside Costa Rica
The wind has been blowing these last couple of days, a casual 30+ knots, meaning we’ve sadly lost the ability to have our shade up (pity Jake and myself with our ginger tendencies). That is not to say the breeze isn’t welcome! I have been compulsively checking the forecast in the hope that the equatorial trough takes a long-deserved break, which would allow us to sail all the way to Cocos. Shockingly, so far no luck, but at least we’ll have a good sail to start the trip off.
Unusually for 59º North, arguably the real pull of this next trip isn’t the sailing, but the destination — a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Isla del Coco, also known as Island of the Sharks. The 24 km island is a 305-mile trip into the Pacific (requires a fair amount of zooming on a map to spot), was the inspiration for Jurassic Park, and is one of 11 conservation areas in Costa Rica. Jacques Cousteau described it as the most beautiful place on the planet and it is considered one of the top diving destinations in the world. Whilst we will be snorkeling rather than diving, with such an abundance of marine life — particularly pelagic species — I don’t think we’ll be disappointed. On land, as befitting of the place that inspired Jurassic Park, evergreen forests, waterfalls, and lookout points are there to explore. It is one of the few pristine places left on Earth, and it is a very exciting privilege to visit!
Cocos is located only 5 degrees above the equator, so as expected the wind will be fluky and variable, and there’s a good chance of rain as we journey south. We will be going like a bat out of hell when we depart Guanacaste, with the Papagayo winds giving us a good push — even better, for the first time in weeks we’ll be sailing downwind!! We plan on hugging the Nicoya Peninsula because I’m STILL not done talking about the Tehuantepecers. They are absolutely hooning at 50 knots right now, and whilst I’m not planning on popping back north, the NW’ly sea state they generate will be making its way down south and crashing into the NE’ly swells from the Papagayo winds. If we were to follow the most wind and curve down with the Papagayos, then it would be a horrendous confused sea state, and I like my crew to not be green in the face. Instead, we will plan for a more uniform 2–2.5 m swell whilst still able to utilise the stronger breezes, by initially sticking closer to the coast. There are also currents to consider, which I will save for another blog.
The crew have been brilliant, soaking in all the briefings so we are able to set off as soon as possible in order to get the most time at the island and allow for some not-so-speedy light wind sailing. Today is Matt’s birthday, so Adam has donned one of his many hats and baked a chocolate cake, much to everyone’s delight!
// Mary
View more passage logs
”For some things, we will never be ready.” - Moana 2
After 852 miles of open ocean sailing, the crew of Falken dropped anchor in Moorea's Cook's Bay—not with a quiet glide in, but surfing down waves in a squall, breaking speed records and cheering each other on through the rain. What started as a plan to "just dip a toe" into offshore sailing turned into something harder to explain: the worse the conditions got, the more alive everyone felt. Turns out the question was never whether the crew was ready—it was whether they even needed to be.
Kauehi conundrum
Kauehi atoll was always on the itinerary—until the forecast made it a gamble not worth taking. Squalls, bommies, a tidal pass, and no clean escape route: sometimes the hardest call in sailing is the one that keeps you out of a place, not in it. The Tuamotus will have to wait.
Hove-to!
Falken is too fast—a problem most sailors would kill for, yet here we are, tacking back and forth across the Pacific just to kill time. A rogue low pressure system south of Tahiti has stolen the trades and scrambled our timing for the tidal window into Kauehi's pass, leaving us hove-to 45 miles short of our target in the Tuamotus. Salt licorice, dream sandwich debates, and a philosophical question about mermaid reproduction are helping pass the night.