32°27.7N 118°53.2W
Sunshirts on! Four days in and I just took my foulies off for the first time. Coming from the PNW, I thought this passage would be much colder and wetter, so the sun shirts (whooo!) are a welcome reprieve. The flip side of sunshirts is that their need suggests we are getting closer to Mexico and our destination port of Ensenada. Can we just keep sailing?
The adventure of offshore sailing has been incredible. A full eight days of uninterrupted time with others who are bringing the stoke for being on the open ocean. As a crew, we’ve adapted to the rhythm of the watch schedules and helm rotations. What an opportunity for ten strangers to build a small, cohesive team together. Alex and Adam from 59N have set the perfect tone of having fun, learning, and growing.
We’ve had big variations in weather, and a huge low pressure system has filled in north of us. We started with super calm and mellow seas under the Golden Gate Bridge and out to sea. Yesterday, we had sporty upwind sailing. Everyone except Chris and I were ready to get the downhill breeze, which filled in early this morning. I loved being at the helm, getting absolutely blasted by wind and enjoying just how fast and capable Falken is.
Another day and we will likely be in Ensenada, so I’ve been really trying to soak it up. Trying to set speed records coming off the huge waves, wing on wing sailing, cheering on my crewmates, and enjoying the peaceful midnight watch under a full moon. So many moments I’ll keep close.
Kristen R. | FALKEN Crew
FALKENCrew
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”For some things, we will never be ready.” - Moana 2
After 852 miles of open ocean sailing, the crew of Falken dropped anchor in Moorea's Cook's Bay—not with a quiet glide in, but surfing down waves in a squall, breaking speed records and cheering each other on through the rain. What started as a plan to "just dip a toe" into offshore sailing turned into something harder to explain: the worse the conditions got, the more alive everyone felt. Turns out the question was never whether the crew was ready—it was whether they even needed to be.
Kauehi conundrum
Kauehi atoll was always on the itinerary—until the forecast made it a gamble not worth taking. Squalls, bommies, a tidal pass, and no clean escape route: sometimes the hardest call in sailing is the one that keeps you out of a place, not in it. The Tuamotus will have to wait.
Hove-to!
Falken is too fast—a problem most sailors would kill for, yet here we are, tacking back and forth across the Pacific just to kill time. A rogue low pressure system south of Tahiti has stolen the trades and scrambled our timing for the tidal window into Kauehi's pass, leaving us hove-to 45 miles short of our target in the Tuamotus. Salt licorice, dream sandwich debates, and a philosophical question about mermaid reproduction are helping pass the night.