We Did It!
1900 | Pasito Blanco
In Port
We did it!! We have sailed across the North Atlantic and red pants can now legally be worn by the whole crew :)
18 days and 3,271 nautical miles ago, nine strangers met up in sunny Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten. After that many days and miles and all the unique offshore-experiences we now share, it feels like we have known each other for a lifetime. A huge thank you all for making this passage a memory for life. I’ve had a blast! A special thanks goes to our super-apprentice Anton, and super-mate Delaney for always being so professional, proactive and fun! I will forever remember our lovely little rendezvous in the bilges cleaning diesel filters and manually transferring fuel between tanks.
The weather gods have indeed challenged us during this transatlantic crossing. As expected this passage started out with a few days of upwind sailing, but we had more open wind angles within reach. We just had to continue a bit further north. The more favorable winds (as opposed to our dead upwind) did however all the time move away from us with about the same speed as Adrienne’s. We really never caught up with them, so upwind upwind upwind it has been all along. At first a bit frustrating but after a while you understand that weather gods too need to have a bit of fun. We were of course an easy prey; the only sailboat to be found out on this vast ocean stubbornly sailing from west to east this time of the year. And in case we would forget about all this beating upwind once ashore, the gods topped it all off with a nice Gale right on the final stretch towards the Canaries. 30 knots of wind, gusting 40. The crew has indeed been put to the test.
We are now securely moored alongside here in Pasito Blanco, Gran Canaria. Conveniently just a few stumbles away from a nice little restaurant. Well, the only restaurant within any sort of walking distance. I believe we deserve a good meal there tonight!
Over and out,
❤️
Erik, Adrienne II Skipper
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.
