SALTY SEA DOGS
0629 UTC | 13 46.2’N 095 01.0’W
Sailing
After today, I think we can safely say we now have a salty crew—both literally and figuratively.
At 6am this morning, we were lolling around, motoring in 2 knots of breeze in moderate seas with 6–7s between waves (gross). Then, as we sailed into a very red sunrise, with a rather ominous stretch of cloud, the long-promised Tehuantepec winds arrived. Forecast: 28 knots consistent, gusting into the 30s. Of course, the winds took on the unofficial staff motto of under-promise and over-deliver.
We knew it was going to be a bumpy, wild ride, and it very much delivered. A crew that have previously excelled at eking out the best of 6 knots of wind have now helmed amazingly in 40 knots TW and knocking on 5m swell.
We timed it perfectly, that as the sun came up we were approaching a big ol’ cloud that marked the start of the real increase in breeze, and were through the peak and into a relatively mellow sea state again by dinnertime.
It’s been a long day for everyone, as the watch system was very much ignored in favour of being on deck, despite the walls of water frequently being sent into the cockpit. As such, I’ve asked each of the team for a quick sentence on today to help me out:
Delaney — ‘Sailing today—each wave brought a new mystery behind it.’
Christine — ‘Standing at the back of the boat, helming during the heaviest part of that passage was awesome. Huge waves and feeling the power of the boat!’
Jake — ‘The amazing way Falken handled this kind of weather, as if it was a walk in the park—it was awesome.’
Robert — ‘This is going to sound cheesy, but I was really grateful for the opportunity to experience another passing of the glory of creation. This was beautiful, and I’m so insanely grateful for the opportunity.’
Mike — ‘Sailing into the red sunrise this morning, our reefs tucked in, approaching a dark cloud ready to face whatever it brings. Accompanied by a brown booby on the bow and dolphins leaping around us. Today just showed how we come together as a crew and just get on with it.’
Marbella — ‘I can do hard things!’
Scott — ‘Pushing the boundary today, and driving the experience higher. I have not been in this heavy sea state before, even in the Atlantic, so this was a great experience.’
Jake and Lloyd were sensibly sleeping when I asked, but I think this gives a pretty accurate portrayal.
Everybody did brilliantly; this crew are so good at just taking whatever is thrown at them. Big thank you to Delaney and Jake too—they were beaming throughout the day, and it is so good to see people loving what they do.
I’m writing this as we approach midnight—the sea state has calmed down enough that I’m risking my phone on deck [note: the photo at the top of this blog was from similar conditions during FALKEN's sea trial in the English Channel in January 2023]. Sorry we don’t have a photo to portray the conditions we had today—it was simply too soggy for that!
In a few hours we’ll be back to the norm of light-wind sailing, and I have officially promised showers in the morning. What a day.
// Mary
View more passage logs
A last hurrah
Under the dome of stars in a moon-less sky, each of us during our time at the helm used the most rudimentary celestial navigation, keeping a star or two lined up with the mast as a helper to following the heading range. It was a whole crew event to set the spinnaker, reef the mainsail and practice the heave-to in case of man overboard. Alex stressed that the key to success in all of these crucial activities is preparation. It was hugely satisfying to accomplish these tasks through teamwork. We share a constant good hearted back and forth full of stories, one-liners and comebacks that also means constant laughter.
One little bird!
Falken has almost rounded the Channel Islands and is cruising along splendidly about 100 miles offshore. Though several models predicted some slightly fresher winds today, we were met with a consistent 18-20 kts of pure bliss. It seems that from the moment we left the dock in San Francisco, there has been much laughter and conversation amongst everyone. The plan is to gybe in a few hours and begin our approach to Ensenada. As much as I do appreciate the jokes and intellectual musings, I equally appreciate the natural, silent moments we share at night, all of us on watch gazing up above to the shooting stars, constellations, and planets putting on their quiet show.
Birds and glows
The sun brought new wind and we were soon putting up the Yankee (jib) and turning off the motor. During the evening tradition of sharing “glums and glows” that follows the crew dinner, our Mate Ryan proclaimed it a “champagne sailing” kind of day. As Alex noted this evening, life goes by so fast that one of the very best things about his line of work is enjoying the passage of time in the slow lane of an ocean passage. But by tomorrow, the green blobs in the weather sailing app indicate we’re going to pick up some significant northwesterly winds and we’ll take them ever further south to the Channel Islands latitude. We’re all super excited for the knots to climb and to see Falken really run.