SAILING NORTH
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
”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.