0156 UTC | 15 25.096’ N 097 14.629’ W
Sailing
Lloyd wished it to be known that this blog was written before the Super Bowl.
Happy Super Bowl Sunday. I had booked this adventure long before I found out my beloved Seattle Seahawks would be any good, let alone playing in the game. Such is life, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I believe I have convinced most of our crew to join me in my rooting interest, while I receive sporadic updates via satellite.
Enough of all that.
I want to talk today about community. We get to know the crew we stand watches with quite well. One of the Falken Crew, Jake (who is wise well beyond his 27 years), put a thought into my head. Talking about his adventures exploring our country via a camper van, he said he had discovered something. All of his experiences meant just a bit less because he was solo; he was not sharing them with others.
An experience is greater when it is a shared experience.
On this leg on Falken, Jake and Delaney are the only two who had previously met, having worked together on the schooner Woodwind. The other nine of us had never met. We are a group who has come together for a common adventure, working towards common goals. Through all of the highs and lows of this trip, we have formed bonds and friendships. This sense of community has amplified what is already a wondrous adventure — an experience made richer because it is a shared experience.
This aspect has been a pleasant surprise.
// Lloyd
View more passage logs
Turning the corner
Yesterday found Falken on a Northward course, still heeled to port, climbing and falling over waves. Sunrise this morning found Falken in an entirely different condition, one familiar to her, but not yet to the current crew. And then a truly magic moment, a pod of dolphins at least fifty members strong came to dance on Falken’s bow wave. We are now joyfully headed northeast, on course toward our eventual destination of Prince Rupert. Falken has turned a corner.
Onwards and upwards
Today is set to be the calmest day of our trip so far, waves subdued, wind veering off more south-east, light clouds. What an exhilarating ride it has been, beating upwind non-stop directly north for 6 straight days! What ahead of us is a mostly downwind sail to Prince Rupert, but a very exciting one. This makes it an interesting few days going fast and closely watching the weather, and I’m very much looking forward to it. The crew is happy, everyone seems to be getting good rest, enjoying watches and time in between.
Quadruple digits!
We are still headed north away from Hawaii, though today we have started to veer ever so slightly east. Speaking of miles, we hit quadruple digits today and are currently 1051 nms into our journey to Alaska. The sea state continues to calm down, and the famous North Pacific high is just out of our reach. The next few days will be a delicate dance of riding the outskirts of the high while avoiding the pesky low pressure systems that are dancing nearby. In his very wise words, we need to get north but not too far north, stay south but not too far south, continue heading east but not too far east, and avoid going west but also stay west.