Thai curry and whales!
17.25 LOCAL TIME | 03º 19’S 092º 05’W
SAILING
Happy Birthday, Quinn! It’s hard to believe we have only been underway for just over 24 hours. The day has been filled with sailing, and despite being down to 3 knots of boat speed at times, we have managed to continue sailing due to the flat sea! Most of the day, though, we have had wind between 6–10 knots and had a great sail with both the yankee and the staysail up! It is hot, but thanks to the breeze and the shade that the main is creating, we have managed to stay sane.
Zoey is having a shrimp Thai curry on the stove; I can imagine she is ready for some cool breeze after an hour in the galley :) We are also having a ‘surprise’ chocolate cake for Quinn to celebrate his birthday after dinner. I’m not sure how much of a surprise it will be, though, as it’s hard to cover the smell from the oven when it’s being baked. One little mishap we discovered from Galapagos was that we managed to get ‘wax paper’ instead of parchment paper—not ideal for making the cake, oops! Who uses wax paper? Never understood that concept. Lost in translation…
Vince and Phoebe are on watch, with Vince currently at the helm. Jim just got out of his bunk after a nice little nap, probably waking up to the smell of Zoey’s Thai curry! First full day on FALKEN, and it feels like we have been here a week already. We had a pod of pilot whales visit us earlier today, then a pod of dolphins while I was sound asleep a few hours ago. Last night, we had a few birds circling around the boat, making a cracking sound that, after many tries, we decided was impossible to imitate :)
Cheers,
Mia Karlsson
View more passage logs
Shooting Stars & Turtle Logs
Day three out of Ketchikan and FALKEN is running wing on wing down the outside of Vancouver Island. 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. So we keep a sharp eye out while the shooting stars keep us company through the night. The wildlife keeps coming: humpback and minke whales, five mola molas, dolphins, and a black-footed albatross. We are all feeling lucky for such conditions!
Pot dodging and whale watching
Duncan got us up to eleven knots at one point! The Ferriers also logged our first Orca sighting on their 3am-6am watch! This morning is a gift as the temps are just right and we finally have some blue sky and plenty of sunshine. It was a glorious few hours sailing before it inevitably died as forecast. I live in hope that by sunset tonight we’ll be back sailing as we emerge out of the lee of the island and the wind will be more westerly which lends itself to a better sailing angle.
We are off!
After two days of introductions, safety briefings and boat procedures we have departed Ketchikan. We are currently making a whopping 3.3 knots as there is very little wind in Nichols Passage. Adam fed us well last night with a delicious shrimp curry and Duncan was the winner of a sporty game of the card version Monopoly. With the scenic views and light wind it's quite peaceful out here.