Upwind Beat
Tuesday, 29 May, 2025 | Upwind Beat to Tahiti
Well, here we are beating back from Bora Bora to Tahiti. So far this year I have sailed over 8,500 nm on FALKEN and today was the first time I’ve tacked her. It’s interesting because mostly I think I prefer downwind sailing when the boat is flatter and you don’t need crampons to get to the snack cupboard, but upwind has its advantages. The main sheet being relatively safe is a big one. There’s a sense that in open water and low traffic areas you can let the crew run the deck when upwind without the constant fear of an accidental gybe and subsequent preventer failure. I also believe that the corkscrew movement of the boat surfing downwind is more likely to induce sea sickness in those prone, and that despite the heel, the overall motion of upwind dynamics can be easier to predict.
I believe this cruising passage has been the first of its kind for Falken, as we have voyaged fewer miles but instead enjoyed time ashore and in stunning settings. Bora Bora did not disappoint for the crew, who filled every moment with activities both land and water based. We could have explored one of the other destinations in the Society Islands had it not been for a large swell that pushed up from the south, with predictions of up to 6m waves, while we were nicely protected inside of the reef.
The adventure is not yet over though, and we plan to spend tonight in Cooks Bay, Moorea, a stunning anchorage that I have visited previously and that exhibited some of the most stunning sunsets I have seen to date. Our dinner reservation is in place and, given the shorter nature of the trip, it seemed fitting to return to Tahiti early on the final day in time for a morning clean up ahead of crew departure. This will be my last night sail aboard Falken this year and I intend to make the most of it, with or without the crampons.
– Emily
EmilyCaruso
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Birds and glows
The sun brought new wind and we were soon putting up the Yankee (jib) and turning off the motor. During the evening tradition of sharing “glums and glows” that follows the crew dinner, our Mate Ryan proclaimed it a “champagne sailing” kind of day. As Alex noted this evening, life goes by so fast that one of the very best things about his line of work is enjoying the passage of time in the slow lane of an ocean passage. But by tomorrow, the green blobs in the weather sailing app indicate we’re going to pick up some significant northwesterly winds and we’ll take them ever further south to the Channel Islands latitude. We’re all super excited for the knots to climb and to see Falken really run.
Golden Day
The Pacific is giving us “the shimmer” - with a still flat sea seven hours out of San Francisco Bay, we’re motoring south along the shipping channel, with an hour to go to what teases now as a stunning sunset against wispy clouds. Throughout this first day of Falken 11 the sails have unfurled and been furled again as skipper Alex tries to fill them a meager breeze indeed. We’ve seen a few whales traveling along the route, and an otter that was sadly just a buoy. It’s the first open ocean sail for many of us and it’s a thrill to anticipate all the new experiences we’ll have.
Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.