1650 UTC | 31°32.086’N 029°03.754’W
Sailing
Well “I woke up this morning” to a “zippity du dah kind of day.” Last night was quite a Rock and Roll time with big waves and wind.
Over the last two weeks I’ve become fascinated with the peace of no cars, construction sounds, feeling of hustle and bustle and have to get there.
Instead I’ve felt a real touch with music through visuals and sounds. First I noticed with both the moon and sunrises, the beginning of a crescendo as they rose and small beginning become larger and then a beautiful beam of light across the ocean.
The swish sounds of the boat going through the water with a little emphasis on their beginning if the bow hit a wave. The sounds of clatter if we are headed up or down too much and the sails would then talk to us in an angry racket. Sometimes just the crack of a whip (as in Sleigh Ride). The reaction of the dodger material as it felt the wind and boat movement. (Someone playing on a set of 4-5 toms with a soft mallet and ending with a buzz rather than single tap).
Of course there’s the sound of water drops if a wave splashes up too - like a rain stick in slow motion.
The moon sets with a decrescendo visually on the water, while the sun sets with beauty and color, a soft suspended cymbal roll that if one sees the “Green Flash” could end with a sizzle.
Of course then there’s the wind. At times it’s like an Alto voice humming and as the wind gets higher, the alto tone slightly rises and falls with the wind velocity. And of course, the rush of fresh sounds and feelings in one’s ears as the velocity strengthens and diminishes.
Besides the peace, beauty, and musical moments, the being with a fun group of very diverse but like minded sailors with a skipper, mate, and intern that have routed us around storms, fixed mechanical issues way above my knowledge, and encouraged and made this voyage a magical time. Thank you!
Linda, Adrienne II Crew
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Turning the corner
Yesterday found Falken on a Northward course, still heeled to port, climbing and falling over waves. Sunrise this morning found Falken in an entirely different condition, one familiar to her, but not yet to the current crew. And then a truly magic moment, a pod of dolphins at least fifty members strong came to dance on Falken’s bow wave. We are now joyfully headed northeast, on course toward our eventual destination of Prince Rupert. Falken has turned a corner.
Onwards and upwards
Today is set to be the calmest day of our trip so far, waves subdued, wind veering off more south-east, light clouds. What an exhilarating ride it has been, beating upwind non-stop directly north for 6 straight days! What ahead of us is a mostly downwind sail to Prince Rupert, but a very exciting one. This makes it an interesting few days going fast and closely watching the weather, and I’m very much looking forward to it. The crew is happy, everyone seems to be getting good rest, enjoying watches and time in between.
Quadruple digits!
We are still headed north away from Hawaii, though today we have started to veer ever so slightly east. Speaking of miles, we hit quadruple digits today and are currently 1051 nms into our journey to Alaska. The sea state continues to calm down, and the famous North Pacific high is just out of our reach. The next few days will be a delicate dance of riding the outskirts of the high while avoiding the pesky low pressure systems that are dancing nearby. In his very wise words, we need to get north but not too far north, stay south but not too far south, continue heading east but not too far east, and avoid going west but also stay west.