‘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
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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.
The basics
Nordic Falken and her crew have been in a steady course of NNW since the departure of Hawaii. But! The good thing of all of this is that the promised land on which the high pressure lies has been getting closer and closer, meaning in a couple of days we're gonna see the wind slowly veer all the way to the South, which finally should see us easing the sails and remembering the basics of human nature all over again. The crew have been amazing and we've had everyone come around to push through fatigue, seasickness and soaking wet clothes. On another note we left the tropics a while ago and we can really feel the shift of temperature, long gone are the shorts and foulies have been the norm. Not much more apart from this, my intolerance to upwind sailing still pretty much alive but doing it with a bunch of such amazing human beings makes it worth it worthwhile.
Pacific pace
After some initial adversity, we untied our lines and left the beautiful island of O'ahu behind as we set sail north on an adventure of a lifetime. And that is exactly what we are - a family of strangers brought together by a passion for sailing and a love for the sea. The passage, while at its infancy, has delivered. The wind and seas, stars and sails all set the stage for a fantastic journey. We will see you on the other side with many stories to tell.