SAILING NORTH
Sunday, June 8, 2025 | Papeete, Tahiti
Approaching the 24-hour mark since slipping lines from Tahiti, I asked the self-named ‘Spare Change’ watch for a sentence or two about their experience at sea so far. They are as follows:
Adam Baker: “The ocean is big and it’s empty, no ships, a lot of birds and clouds. Wonderful time today.”
Jake Davis: “I’m excited to be the only Jake for once. Beautiful sunrise, very pleasant sailing and I’m sure the readers will love to know that my heat rash is improving.”
Tara Tinan: “Sailing north.”
Whilst these weren’t quite what I was expecting, it’s a pretty apt summary of our trip so far. The ocean is indeed big, we haven’t seen any other boats since sailing north of Tahiti, and the temperature is definitely cooler at sea.
The wind has reduced from 20 knots to 6-10 knots, but in typical FALKEN fashion, the miles are still being eaten up. It’s been a lovely sail so far—maybe upwind isn’t so bad? Although Alex has been very insistent that close reaching doesn’t really count as upwind.
Everyone’s been doing a great job helming and generally settling into life offshore. Glums and glows were very glowy; Orie’s extensive list of glows was a highlight for many.
Whilst the clouds didn’t allow us a full sky of stars last night, it did mean the wind has stayed and is allowing for some respite from the sun. The forecast is for the wind to reduce in a couple of days, but fingers crossed we can keep the engine off. In the meantime, we’ll continue to sail north, in a big ocean, and be sure to get regular updates on Jake’s heat rash for all interested.
- Mary | FALKEN mate
Approaching the 24-hour mark since slipping lines from Tahiti, I asked the self-named ‘Spare Change’ watch for a sentence or two about their experience at sea so far. They are as follows:
Adam Baker: “The ocean is big and it’s empty, no ships, a lot of birds and clouds. Wonderful time today.”
Jake Davis: “I’m excited to be the only Jake for once. Beautiful sunrise, very pleasant sailing and I’m sure the readers will love to know that my heat rash is improving.”
Tara Tinan: “Sailing north.”
Whilst these weren’t quite what I was expecting, it’s a pretty apt summary of our trip so far. The ocean is indeed big, we haven’t seen any other boats since sailing north of Tahiti, and the temperature is definitely cooler at sea.
The wind has reduced from 20 knots to 6-10 knots, but in typical FALKEN fashion, the miles are still being eaten up. It’s been a lovely sail so far—maybe upwind isn’t so bad? Although Alex has been very insistent that close reaching doesn’t really count as upwind.
Everyone’s been doing a great job helming and generally settling into life offshore. Glums and glows were very glowy; Orie’s extensive list of glows was a highlight for many.
Whilst the clouds didn’t allow us a full sky of stars last night, it did mean the wind has stayed and is allowing for some respite from the sun. The forecast is for the wind to reduce in a couple of days, but fingers crossed we can keep the engine off. In the meantime, we’ll continue to sail north, in a big ocean, and be sure to get regular updates on Jake’s heat rash for all interested.
- Mary | FALKEN mate
FALKEN|Skipper&Mate
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.