Wind or no wind?
By Manot, FALKEN Mate | When we slipped lines two days ago from Prince Rupert two days ago, the wind forecast was not very promising. But looking at the bigger picture, it was clear that we would sail through the border of two bigger weather systems, as well as all the thermal winds that might or might not turn up, depending on cloud cover etc.
When we slipped lines from Prince Rupert two days ago, the wind forecast was not very promising. But looking at the bigger picture, it was clear that we would sail through the border of two bigger weather systems, as well as all the thermal winds that might or might not turn up, depending on cloud cover, etc. So all in all, not looking too promising, but also pretty predictably unpredictable. And as things go, we just ended up sailing for a good portion of it. Beautiful upwind sailing in nice and easy winds up to 20 kts. Perfect to enjoy FALKEN's small tacking angles.
Sailing did end up great, but who am I kidding, sailing only was the cherry on top of an otherwise amazing day. After a few sightings of whales the past few days, we passed by a pod of orcas today, shortly before seeing a beautiful and impressively large sunfish. The wildlife has been stunning to say the least. So it only seemed normal to have otters swim around the anchored boat in the evening, while munching on their food.
Difficult to make this day any better it seems. But better it got indeed. My personal highlight: as we anchored in this wild little bay, we drove the dinghy over to the beach and followed a grown-over trail through the wildest rainforest I had ever seen. After walking for a bit over 30 minutes, we arrived on the other side—a beach of white sand so large it would have been an adventure in itself to walk the full length of it. It took us less than a minute to make up our minds and go for a swim in the fresh Pacific Ocean water. Truly a dream of a day.
- Manot | FALKEN Mate
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Sail Training!
By Alex. FALKEN Skipper | After a windless night drifting between Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands, we finally managed to find the wind! As soon as the breeze filled in, Adam had just wrapped up his great lesson on boat-keeping and manuals,
Sail Training!
By Alex. FALKEN Skipper | After a windless night drifting between Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands, we finally managed to find the wind! As soon as the breeze filled in, Adam had just wrapped up his great lesson on boat-keeping and manuals,
Sail Training!
By Alex. FALKEN Skipper | Yesterday we left Ensenada at around 08:30 in the morning. It was sunny and you could barely feel any wind in your face. We went through the process of hoisting sails and straight away we dived into reefing drills followed by tacking. After 6 reefs and 12 tacks, we decided to settle into the watch system and embrace the night.