WAR STORIES & KITES

Passage Blog
Wednesday, February 4, 2026

00:56 UTC | 19°39.10’N 109°09.72’W

Sailing

Another perfect sunrise sipping coffee and swapping stories. It turns out that finding cockroaches on your boat is not the worst place to find them. As a young surf shop employee, Robert once found a cockroach duct taped to his back as by one of his coworkers. The most crucial and harrowing aspect of such a horrible prank is he could feel the little bugger squirming around under the tape. Thinking quickly while failing to reach the tape with his hands, Robert jumped to his back to squish the roach and end the horrible prank. Swapping stories is my favorite part of long passages.

The only thing that could top the gut wrenching laughter of the crew while Robert told his tale was after 1 day 23 hours and 5 minutes Christine finally broke Mary down and the kite went up! We were only able to fly it for the afternoon and it was great to see the crew taking turns at the helm whether they were on watch or not. 

The yankee is back out and we are ready for a beautiful sunset and perfect sailing through the night. 

Cheers,

Jake

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Shooting Stars & Turtle Logs

Day three out of Ketchikan and FALKEN is running wing on wing down the outside of Vancouver Island. The temptation is to lie back in the cockpit and spend the night watching for shooting stars, but a diligent watch is always the first priority. So we keep a sharp eye out while the shooting stars keep us company through the night. The wildlife keeps coming: humpback and minke whales, five mola molas, dolphins, and a black-footed albatross. We are all feeling lucky for such conditions!

8/8/2026
Shooting Stars & Turtle Logs

Pot dodging and whale watching

Duncan got us up to eleven knots at one point! The Ferriers also logged our first Orca sighting on their 3am-6am watch! This morning is a gift as the temps are just right and we finally have some blue sky and plenty of sunshine. It was a glorious few hours sailing before it inevitably died as forecast. I live in hope that by sunset tonight we’ll be back sailing as we emerge out of the lee of the island and the wind will be more westerly which lends itself to a better sailing angle.

Mary Vaughan-Jones
7/8/2026
Pot dodging and whale watching

We are off!

After two days of introductions, safety briefings and boat procedures we have departed Ketchikan. We are currently making a whopping 3.3 knots as there is very little wind in Nichols Passage. Adam fed us well last night with a delicious shrimp curry and Duncan was the winner of a sporty game of the card version Monopoly. With the scenic views and light wind it's quite peaceful out here.

6/8/2026
We are off!