Squalls
April 11 | Squally 24 hrs!
The last 24 hours have been a relentless mission of opening and closing hatches as the heavy downpours synonymous with the tropics have kept us on our toes. Had anyone suggested a few days ago that I might find myself cold during this passage, I would have laughed at the incredulous notion, and yet the early hours of the 11th saw just that reality.
The crew have been steadfast in their resolve to keep Falken sailing and mostly in the direction of the Marquesas. As each squall set in, we saw the wind shift teasingly through every point of the compass and switch from almost nothing to strengths that required some positive sail reduction. Finally, it seems that the hatches can remain open as the rain has subsided and the below decks temperature has returned to some level of normality, albeit still oppressively humid.
Eric is currently on the helm (he says hi to his mum), Dennis has just replenished the tea cups, and Hillary is completing the log as the daily tasks continue. The rest of the crew appear to be sleeping soundly as Falken glides graciously through the mighty Pacific waters.
The success of a long passage relies on routine and teamwork, whatever the weather, and the team on Falken have fallen nicely into the rhythm of daily life at sea.
- Emily | Mate on Falken
EmilyCaruso
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Ladies who reef
The trade winds have been kind, rolling the boat toward Hawaii in a steady, hypnotic rhythm—until last night, when a squall hit without warning and the wind jumped to 28 knots, slamming everything sideways. With rain driving down and the boat lurching underfoot, the crew had minutes to wrestle two reefs into the mainsail and get things back under control. What followed was a masterclass in wet, unglamorous, deeply satisfying teamwork—with less than 250 miles left to go.
Yankee Doodle Died at Sea, Riding on a FALKEN
A thin, foot-long tear in the yankee sail—50,000 miles of ocean behind it—and suddenly the final stretch to Hawaii just got a lot more interesting. The crew of FALKEN had been running a tight ship through the trades, reefing in squalls like clockwork, when the last dance finally caught up with them. How a skipper handles the moment everything goes sideways says everything about the voyage itself.
A Gen Z Perspective
At 31, the crew thought they were reasonably fluent in the English language—then they met Kip. Today, the crew's self-appointed Gen Z correspondent takes over the log from somewhere in the middle of the Pacific, delivering dispatches on Milky Way night sails, focaccia-induced visions, and the singular mission of getting eleven people's "badonkadonks" to Hawaii. Consider this your glossary.