Sushi & Poke bowls
Thursday, June 12, 2025 | Sushi & Poke Bowls
As usual, I asked the crew for blog ideas and this is what I got:
It’s Thursday. Istvan has learnt a new colour—sea foam. Orie’s thrilled with how the days are filled with something remarkable, whether it’s something visual or a teaching moment. Even in the middle of the vast ocean, the days are filled with something.
Stacey saw some flying fish. Richa saw shooting stars last night! Orie’s aptitude for words once again shines through, but all the moments mentioned have been causes for smiles.
Since the wind came back, it has been consistent and we’ve been stonking along. Last check, we’d done 220 miles in 24 hours, and wonderfully, it’s been fairly squall-free.
As I write this, we’re passing a teeny island, part of Kiribati, around 15 miles to starboard. Despite straining our eyes, we were unable to see any sign of it. The islands here are incredibly flat—the kind that may not be here in a few years. Still, we don’t want to run into it, so I’m alright with just seeing the frigate birds as a sign of nearby land.
We just ticked over the 900 miles mark and should be at Kiritimati in a couple of days. Kiritimati is hardly a metropolis, and while air con and endless cold showers won’t be available there, it is an incredibly interesting place to learn about (give it a google!). Timei and Tima, our contacts on the island, are very welcoming and also happen to have a fridge stocked with beer and pop, which I’m sure will be utilised!
It’s been mentioned a million times already, but Adam deserves a blog mention for the tuna prepped last night into sushi and poke bowls. Widely proclaimed to be the best meal ever eaten on a boat, and my insistence on having fishing gear onboard now feels validated.
Mary
Write your comments below and I’ll forward them to the boat with the daily update :) - Mia, shore support
FALKEN|Skipper&Mate
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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.