0129UT | 49 43.96’N 127 58.40’W
Sailing
Ahoy Shipmates!
Day three out of Ketchikan and FALKEN is running wing on wing down the outside of Vancouver Island.
As the sun sets in a cascade of fire and Venus appears low in the sky to starboard, the magic of a clear night at sea settles over us. The wind fills in as we round Cape St. James into the open ocean.
With not a cloud in the sky and the sliver of a moon not yet up, the stars dominate, every constellation sharp above us. The only sound is the following waves carrying us along as we wander south.
The temptation is to lie back in the cockpit and spend the night watching for shooting stars, but a diligent watch is always the first priority. We are in prime fishing boat territory, and not all of them are marked on AIS. So we keep a sharp eye out while the shooting stars keep us company through the night.
After a good sleep I draw the lucky watch that catches the sunrise. The wind has clocked round, and we work to set the pole sailing wing on wing, making a steady 8knts. The day is clear, with visibility all along the coast of Vancouver Island. The wildlife keeps coming: humpback and minke whales, five mola molas, dolphins, and a black-footed albatross.
And one round log. I swear it looked just like a turtle.
As the smells waft out of the galley and the crew gathers for dinner. We are all feeling lucky for such conditions!
Hold Fast, Virginia
P.S. Duncan says, “Hi, Nana!”
Fun fact of the day! Nautical miles are different from land miles because…
Land miles: Rooted in ancient Roman history, a statute mile originally came from 1,000 double-steps (paces) of a Roman soldier. It was later set at a flat 5,280 feet.
Nautical miles: Developed for marine and celestial navigation, a nautical mile is mathematically tied to the Earth’s circumference. It represents 1/60th of a degree (one minute) of latitude — about 1.15 statute miles, or 1,852 metres.
Virginia Marcy
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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.