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
View more passage logs
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.