20º 29.8’ N / 040º 23.40.9’ W
January 26, 2025, 20:46 UTC | 18:46 Ship’s Time | 20º 29.8’ N / 040º 23.40.9’ W | Scott’s Lifelong Dream
By early Sunday morning, we have the 3rd reef in the main with the wind off our starboard quarter. After two days of heavier weather helm, the crew is presented with a perfectly balanced sail plan. The winds are still 25-38 knots, but we are back to fingertip control on the wheel. Watch B heads off to bed at 0200, and Watch A has the task of rigging the spinnaker pole through the night to allow us to sail wing on wing. This gives us the ability to sail another 20 degrees downwind, giving us a course to steer directly towards Antigua.
As the sun rises in the east, the clouds are pushed away and we are presented with a beautiful sunny day. The winds abate and are now 20-25 knots. The temperatures are becoming warmer as each nautical mile slips beneath our keel. I felt today was a reset for the FALKEN crew. We all commented how tired we were yesterday. Adrenaline from helming was keeping us awake, and as the pressure came off, we all went to our berths tired but content, knowing that the boat would gently rock us off to sleep.
As I sit on deck writing today’s blog, the yankee is poled out and FALKEN is a freight train running down the track pointed directly towards Antigua. What else is going on? Sarah is stretching and doing her yoga on the cockpit floor, Brendan is reading about sail trim in the yacht master’s book, Derek is on the helm, and I am enjoying and appreciating our time at sea. Our crewmates are blissfully sleeping on their six hours off to the gentle rocking of the boat.
I also feel that all of us have settled into life at sea. All outside influences have long been forgotten as we focus on standing watch, drinking tea, hydrating, eating when you can, and sleeping at every opportunity. This has been a lifelong dream to sail an ocean. I can’t imagine any better way of fulfilling such a dream as signing onto FALKEN as a working crew member. The boat is safe, fully prepared, rigged, and equipped for whatever Mother Nature can throw at us. With Emily and Mia in charge and all of us as willing crew, it is a marvelous experience that I will forever treasure.
The only thing that would make it better would be sharing it directly with my family. However, in this regard, we have found the balance of coastal cruising on our own boat in the Pacific Northwest, with me (Dad) getting his ocean miles through 59 North. I will leave the blog here with a big thank you for all the family and friends sending us their best wishes. As information, we read the comments at mealtime in the cockpit with all crew.
Scott
Calgary, Alberta, Canada (now 1765 nm offshore - mid Atlantic)
crew@59-north.com
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Kärt barn har många namn
A dear child goes by many a name, or as we say in Swedish "kärt barn har många namn". This is the case for many a person, but also some species, not least the Mahi mahi, which also goes by dolphin fish, golden mackerel, and dorado, among others. Soon, we could see the fish jump, a hundred feet or so behind the boat, and as I kept reeling, a beautiful Mahi appeared under the surface. Manot showed us how to clean and fillet it, and after a complete team effort two large fillets are now in the freezer of Adrienne II.
Cast off the lines
When we awoke it was overcast but the Brazilian sun quickly burned the clouds away and we were left with blue skies. We reviewed some safety procedures, cleaned the boat and had an exciting Person Overboard (POB) recovery. Once we were underway spirits soared as we pointed the bow toward the Canary Islands. As I write this we are heading upwind and dealing with all that involves, and working into our first watches. It is hot, a bit bumpy but we are sailing!!
People Get Ready!
The last three days have been an intense (and intensely hot) period of discovery, practice, and planning. Because Adrienne II is not a 59N boat, there's been some extra setup and coordination needed including rigging all the sails that were out for repairs before we arrived. Its been a blast working alongside the 59N team getting to help them work things out on a less familiar boat in real time. Tomorrow morning we'll run through our Person Over Board training as the final pre-departure task, cast off and head out. Can't know all that it will be, but its going to be a great adventure out in the vast world with some pretty fantastic people.