The pool is open!
01.00 BOAT TIME | 09º 23.3’ S 134º 09.1’ W
Sailing
It’s 1.30 in the morning and FAKEN is gliding along at 7 kts under a sky ful of stars. The last few days, when the wind got lighter and the swell laid down a bit, we had the opportunity to hoist the spinnaker. Before we left Galapagos, we went around the room and asked what people were looking forward to and the big pink sail was high on the list, so it felt great when we finally could hoist it. We had it up all day Monday, and kept it up over night into Tuesday as the wind was set o be less than 10 kts of true. Mid day it was time to gybe, and the wind had eased even more, but before the gybe we opened up the pool. We stopped the boat, got the ladder down and put out a line with a fender behind the boat. I love swimming in the middle of the ocean, and a bit scary when you realize its more than 4000+ m deep! Love it!
Earlier in the morning, the when the wind finally died true and the spinnaker went limp, we took it down and had to motor for a couple of hours. Lucky enough the wind picked up by the afternoon and we could have another go at the spinnaker before it came down before dinner. We are now back wing-on-wing, with breeze up above 10 kts almost on course for Nuku Hiva! Less than 400 nm to go and we are enjoying the last few days onboard!
Mia
View more passage logs
No Kitemares Today
After a night marked by sudden wind accelerations peeling off Point Conception, and a vibrant, pulsating sky blistered with shooting stars, the off-watch woke to commotion on the foredeck. The wind had gone light and the swell had tapered just enough to raise the spinnaker. The sail filled with an urgent pop, the sheet strained and Falken charged down the face of the next wave. By mid-day, we doused the spinnaker and set our minds to the more precise task of safely punching through a gap in the notorious Cortez Bank. The border to Mexico looms ahead.
The California coast
We had a very lively first day of sailing with steady winds between 25 and 30 kn gusting to mid 30s. All of the crew got experience at difficult downwind helming as we covered 200 nautical miles in the first 24 hours. This morning brings winds in the teens and calmer seas. The sun is still shining, and the green monster has been slayed by those afflicted!
Farewell by dolphins
We headed out of the marina in Monterey CA at about 10AM in sunny weather to meet winds of ~20kts and 3m smooth swell with long periods. FALKEN is surfing along the coast of California, ship’s time 1PM as I write. As we motored out into the bay, we were wished farewell by a pod of dolphins nearby and a couple of whales in the distance. Though, unfortunately one crew member met the green dragon in the swell.
