17.03 BOAT TIME | 09° 01.1’ S 116° 55.1’ W
Sailing, Motoring, In-Port, Anchored, Whalewatching, Sing-A-Longing, etc.
We continue our passage to Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands. We have been easily making 8 to 12 knot speeds and 200 nautical mile days. However, the wind speed has dropped which forces us to be more attentive to Falken’s sail trim and helming needs in what can occasionally be light and variable wind conditions and only 6 knot boat speeds. Although 6 to 8 knots may be what many of us plan for on our own sailboats, Falken has already spoiled us and teased us with exhilarating speeds over 17 knots. We trust the wind god Aeolus will deliver to speed us along.
Previous crew member blogs have referenced the song Southern Cross and how David Crosby romanticizes this classic downwind passage. However, recently we have chuckled at what hasn’t been mentioned and that is apparent wind speed (AWS). Although sailing downwind making 8 to 12 knots is beautiful, we are reminded of the fact that the apparent wind speed drops very low as we are moving with the wind ”square rigger” style. The result being, it’s hot 9 degrees south of the equator and the cooling windspeed is greatly reduced to apparent wind speed on this downwind passage! Regardless, the benefits far outweigh the heat as our ”wing on wing” sail configuration provides us evening dinner shade as we sail west into beautiful sunsets.
On night watches we continue to be impressed with the southern night time sky and stars the Ancient Greeks didn’t know existed below their horizon. There is no light pollution to spoil the view where we take Falken, our night sky views are nothing short of spectacular and much better than the Milky Way images we’ve seen in our science books. Each night the Southern Cross is the rock star as it transits it’s arc across the southern sky while continuing to point south.
We’ve got 65 feet of the waterline nicely making way!
Vince
View more passage logs
Final Blog
Falken and her crew arrived safely into port last night around 8pm boat time, 10pm Prince Rupert time. Some spicy weather was anticipated, but luckily the 35kt gusts and 2.5 meter waves were no match for this expert crew. We had an exceptionally smooth docking, despite it being Alex's first time parking this year (!). We all agreed that this was a very special group of people—I for one am so impressed with how everyone stayed so positive, helpful, and appreciative of humor despite an arguably challenging passage. We'll all return home significantly saltier than we were when we left, a mark of a passage properly sailed.
Lessons and a Gift
The biggest lesson is the helm. The lesson here is that even if you don't think you can do it over and over again with no sleep, cold and damp, it has to be done and so it can be done. Flying fish are cool, dolphins are really really cool, but the coolest of them all are the whales. And most of all Alex: "Find your center Carla. Always know where your center is so you can come back to it". He means the helm but it applies to life as well.
Making the most of it
This passage has thrown pretty much every atmospheric condition imaginable at us. It reminds us not only of how much we’ve learned, but of how far we’ve literally come since that acceleration zone off the northwest corner of Oahu. The resilience this group has shown has been nothing short of incredible, and I couldn’t be prouder to be part of it. Maybe that’s why it’s the hardest passages we remember the most. Not because they were easy, but because they reminded us what we’re capable of.
