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0549 UTC | 1636.92’S 15132.69
ANCHORED
A warm tropical hello from the West Coast of Taha’a in the Society Islands,
The crew of NORDIC FALKEN are settled into our mind-blowingly beautiful anchorage for the night. A crew that started as strangers a few days ago are all chatting away up on deck as if they’ve known each other for years. The deck showers are rolling after a much needed swim to beat the day’s tropical heat. Skipper Mary is manically singing in the galley (if you’ve sailed with her, you know) while cheffing up a mushroom risotto for us. We sailed for roughly 24 hours and 136nm to get to this gorgeous slice of the planet and are relieved to have escaped the hustle and bustle of Papeete, soaking in the peaceful quietude of what we all dream of when we dream of remote anchorages in the Pacific.
When we arrived at our anchorage, the crew wasted NO time changing into suits and splashing into the vital waters around us. I popped up on deck, the last one in, to see ten little heads floating all around the stern of the boat, massive, satisfied smiles on their faces, luxuriating in the cold water after a windless motor for our last few miles of the passage. Andrea masterfully crafted a scavenger hunt for the crew, setting little clues all throughout the boat (including a meter down below the water line on the anchor rode!). It ended merrily in the discovery of cold beers and snacks on deck for all!
The sun set for us today with a golden glow of light and brightly illuminated pink clouds all around us. A light but very much welcomed drizzle of rain was refreshing us as folks were getting their final swim in for the day, and the sun set over the motu’s to the West of us with Bora Bora in the distance. Vibrant tropical flowers from the local flora are floating all around the anchorage, setting an idyllic scene for this grateful crew. We also laughed as we navigated through the reef, dodging coconuts and thinking to ourselves, “does it get anymore tropical than this?!”
Although this trip is shorter than others, we have every intention of packing it in with as much exploring and enjoyment as we can! The crew have already gone ashore for a reconnaissance of the local shops and restaurants. Stay tuned for tomorrows updates as we have plans to go find some manta rays to snorkel with and find one of the worlds best coral drift snorkels! Hearts are full and the team is happy!
First Mate Pheebs
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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.