‘The Drift’ technique
October 22, 2024, 07:00 Local Time
It’s 7am on—well, I actually have no idea what day it is; such is the nature of offshore sailing. Probably day 3? Yes, that’s right. We woke up on the first morning to an awful swell and no wind, contrasted with yesterday’s sunrise in which we were screaming along west from Stromboli—boat speeds in the consistent teens as we surfed with the A4 up. Now, this morning, the water is glassy and we are perfecting ‘The Drift’ technique (not in the ASA/RYA training guides as of yet).
It’s actually Lisa’s birthday today! Our courageous—slightly mad—up-for-anything power woman who had barely stepped foot on a boat a week and a half ago and now runs the bow like she has been doing it for years. This kind of story is exactly why we do this. Because it’s fulfilling, it’s inspiring, it means something to see people expand their comfort zone, learn something new, and embrace life with a proactive attitude!
So anyway—back to sailing—we have put in an order for wind and we are still pushing 😊
On another note, we have heard stories of various boats who had to retire and send our best to all of them for a speedy recovery, mentally and physically! Especially to our dock neighbours ‘Coco’. That first day was pretty scary.
- Nikki Henderson
To follow the race: download the app ‘YB Races’, add ‘ROLEX Middle Sea Race 2024’ to your races, and look for the boat YAGIZA.
NikkiHenderson
View more passage logs
Turning the corner
Yesterday found Falken on a Northward course, still heeled to port, climbing and falling over waves. Sunrise this morning found Falken in an entirely different condition, one familiar to her, but not yet to the current crew. And then a truly magic moment, a pod of dolphins at least fifty members strong came to dance on Falken’s bow wave. We are now joyfully headed northeast, on course toward our eventual destination of Prince Rupert. Falken has turned a corner.
Onwards and upwards
Today is set to be the calmest day of our trip so far, waves subdued, wind veering off more south-east, light clouds. What an exhilarating ride it has been, beating upwind non-stop directly north for 6 straight days! What ahead of us is a mostly downwind sail to Prince Rupert, but a very exciting one. This makes it an interesting few days going fast and closely watching the weather, and I’m very much looking forward to it. The crew is happy, everyone seems to be getting good rest, enjoying watches and time in between.
Quadruple digits!
We are still headed north away from Hawaii, though today we have started to veer ever so slightly east. Speaking of miles, we hit quadruple digits today and are currently 1051 nms into our journey to Alaska. The sea state continues to calm down, and the famous North Pacific high is just out of our reach. The next few days will be a delicate dance of riding the outskirts of the high while avoiding the pesky low pressure systems that are dancing nearby. In his very wise words, we need to get north but not too far north, stay south but not too far south, continue heading east but not too far east, and avoid going west but also stay west.