settling in
January 18, 2025, 10:20 UTC | 25º 30.1’ N 016º 12.13’ W | Settling In
Good morning! It’s 10 am here. Jillian is making me a cup of coffee and Paolo is at the helm. Jeanette is waiting for her turn at the helm and Kevin is having some breakfast. We are now 24 hours into the passage—a long way to go, but we have already covered 173 nm since we left Las Palmas.
The team is split into two watches. We have the A team on at the moment, and the B team is hard asleep in their bunks. I am sure as time goes on, there will be a more creative name assigned to their teams!
All is good onboard. We left the marina just after 10 am yesterday—a busy morning getting the final preps done onboard, and we topped up our diesel tanks on the way out. We zig-zagged past some big tankers anchored just outside, waiting for their turn to get into the harbor. The breeze filled in nicely and we had a lovely sail down the Canary coast. Once we cleared land, the pole went up and we have sailed wing on wing all night long, wind between 10-15 knots, with occasional gusts up towards 20.
We all gathered together in the cockpit at 6 pm (at watch change) for dinner and everyone had a big bowl—that’s a good sign on Day 1! Last night we only had one bucket out, but the fishes were disappointed as the bucket was never used.
We are now settled in nicely onboard, but it usually takes a couple of days until everyone has caught up on their sleep and is fully immersed in the watch schedule of being awake a few hours at night and napping during the day.
That’s it for now. If you read the blog, we would love to hear some comments from you who are ashore in the comment section below—our shore team will send them over to us!
From Mia & the FALKEN team
mia@59-north.com
View more passage logs
The Penultimate Blog from Adrienne II
After 20 days, and 3000+ nautical miles, we're back on land. The motley crew of Adrienne II, consisting of 7 happy amateurs supported by 3 professionals, have completed an epic journey many dream of but few realize. So much of this trip has been about being present - with nature, with each other, with this boat. My biggest takeaway from this trip is the amazing crossing of the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone). We all hope you've enjoyed the blog as much as we've enjoyed creating it.
Mother Nature, you’ve outdone yourself!
It’s been a great experience to have a non-traditional trans-Atlantic, as it’s been packed with genuinely cool features. The Doldrums!! A place sailors have been talking about for centuries. The unpredictability is what made it such an exhilarating experience. While some might be frightened or alarmed by this kind of weather, I was embodied with a sense of calm and awe. There’s something wildly beautiful about being reminded how small you are, while feeling so incredibly alive.
A Heavenly High
As you have probably figured out at this point, the drug of choice on board is, of course, celestial navigation- an art which has hooked offshore sailors for centuries. Once addicted, navigators will emerge from down below only to get their fixes two times per day, and spend the rest of their days and nights down below doing complex spherical mathematics. On Adrienne II, our skipper is our dealer. I must confess that I myself gave in to the strange urge which I’ve felt witnessing my crewmates practice this fine art, and yesterday felt an amazing sensation as I was able to wield the sextant for the first time and with it, bring down the tip of our starboard spreader to the top of our front sprayhood, presicely measuring the angle between the two (35deg, 38,8’ min). This afternoon, Naxo then showed me how to get my fix from the very sun itself - and I now fear there is no turning back.