44°46.3’N, 148°45.1’W
Thursday, July 17, 2025 | POS. 44°46.3’N 148°45.1’W
02:45 UTC / 16:45 Boat Time
More thoughts from the neophyte…
A few nights ago as we concluded our evening updates, I remarked, “So what should we do tomorrow?” It garnered a laugh, but as soon as I said it I realized that this, for me, unexpectedly and concisely captured the essence of an undertaking such as this. Once everyone knows the tasks that need to be undertaken and the watches have been set, you repeat—day in and day out—until the passage is completed. Clearly, there’s no way that you can NOT know this when you sign on, but for me, when the reality settled in, it was still a revelation.
One more day you stand your watches. You do your assigned tasks. You sleep. You read. You stare at the horizon. You marvel at the remoteness of your position in the world.
When you’re fortunate, as we are, to have great companions, the conversation is interesting and entertaining, but by no means continuous. Even with six or more people in the cockpit, there can be long periods of silence.
The bottom line is that it takes a long time to cross two or three thousand miles of ocean, even in a fast boat like FALKEN. But it’s never been tedious, never been boring, and even as we’re still underway, I’m in awe of the immensity of the undertaking.
Ken T. | FALKEN Crew
PS. If you read this blog and your loved ones are onboard, please write a comment here and we’ll send them over to FALKEN! - Mia (shore support)
crew@59-north.com
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Ketch us if you Kan
Falken is soon to carry on our preferred route of South, back to (hopefully) warmer climates. We’re all excited to set off and see more of this wild landscape as we head down to Victoria. A thermal trough over Vancouver combined with an offshore high pressure creating funneling NW’ly winds means it is due to be pretty fruity on the 9th. This passage is just under 600 miles, relatively short for Falken, but I’m sure we’ll be kept entertained with dramatic scenery, wildlife and weather!
Final Blog
Falken and her crew arrived safely into port last night around 8pm boat time, 10pm Prince Rupert time. Some spicy weather was anticipated, but luckily the 35kt gusts and 2.5 meter waves were no match for this expert crew. We had an exceptionally smooth docking, despite it being Alex's first time parking this year (!). We all agreed that this was a very special group of people—I for one am so impressed with how everyone stayed so positive, helpful, and appreciative of humor despite an arguably challenging passage. We'll all return home significantly saltier than we were when we left, a mark of a passage properly sailed.
Lessons and a Gift
The biggest lesson is the helm. The lesson here is that even if you don't think you can do it over and over again with no sleep, cold and damp, it has to be done and so it can be done. Flying fish are cool, dolphins are really really cool, but the coolest of them all are the whales. And most of all Alex: "Find your center Carla. Always know where your center is so you can come back to it". He means the helm but it applies to life as well.