Thursday, July 10, 2025 | Hours before departure…
Steph and Ken, by far the most novice sailors on this trip, notched their first offshore overnight—though not without suffering a bit (maybe more than a bit in Steph’s case) of what we’ll just call “Neptune’s Revenge.” Despite that, we both bounced back quickly, and Steph, as we speak, is capably steering her first rotation at the helm.
The seas have been pretty big and rolling, at least from this novice’s point of view, and the winds are at levels that would keep me off my local lake. But Falken is solid, fast, and stable, and the crew—both pros and clients—are capable, experienced, and great company!
At the moment, we’re flying main (2nd reef), staysail, and yankee, and barreling along at about 9 knots. No glums. All glows from this sailor.
- Ken Tothero | FALKEN Crew
FALKENCrew
View more passage logs
Ketch us if you Kan
Falken is soon to carry on our preferred route of South, back to (hopefully) warmer climates. We’re all excited to set off and see more of this wild landscape as we head down to Victoria. A thermal trough over Vancouver combined with an offshore high pressure creating funneling NW’ly winds means it is due to be pretty fruity on the 9th. This passage is just under 600 miles, relatively short for Falken, but I’m sure we’ll be kept entertained with dramatic scenery, wildlife and weather!
Final Blog
Falken and her crew arrived safely into port last night around 8pm boat time, 10pm Prince Rupert time. Some spicy weather was anticipated, but luckily the 35kt gusts and 2.5 meter waves were no match for this expert crew. We had an exceptionally smooth docking, despite it being Alex's first time parking this year (!). We all agreed that this was a very special group of people—I for one am so impressed with how everyone stayed so positive, helpful, and appreciative of humor despite an arguably challenging passage. We'll all return home significantly saltier than we were when we left, a mark of a passage properly sailed.
Lessons and a Gift
The biggest lesson is the helm. The lesson here is that even if you don't think you can do it over and over again with no sleep, cold and damp, it has to be done and so it can be done. Flying fish are cool, dolphins are really really cool, but the coolest of them all are the whales. And most of all Alex: "Find your center Carla. Always know where your center is so you can come back to it". He means the helm but it applies to life as well.