Falanda Sailing

The lovely Falanda. I have been fortunate enough to cross the channel four times this year with Falanda, 3 solo crossings and one in a thunder and lighting storm with 25/30kts of wind. I have varnished Falanda as she was admired in 3 Classic Boat Festivals this year, and have raced with her beside square riggers.  I have done the work allowing me to sail Falanda, and I know her inside-out. I have loved and cared for Falanda ever since we met in 2019, however it is now time for somebody else to enjoy her company as I sail further out to sea on a more suitable, but almost definitely uglier boat.  Falanda, the prettiest boat in the world: https://www.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/morgan-giles-west-channel-for-sale/710006#

 29 hours at sea and a perfect north- easterly breeze has blown me and Falanda back to France, as we make our way to Paimpol for another classic boat Festival. The enticement of pretty wooden boats was too strong to resist, and with a perfect weather forecast there was no way I was missing out on another channel crossing on Falanda. With dolphins at our bow, Falanda and I watched a lovely sunset before a cold darkness came in and we entered the shipping lanes - a seemingly endless mess of big big boats, all with somewhere to be.  Although cold, the darkness revealed a sky packed with thousands of stars -something most boaters can agree is one of the best parts of night sailing, since there is minimal light pollution at sea. Below us, there were also thousands of tiny lights in the form of phosphorescence that washed past, creating a glowing white bow-wave against an otherwise black sea. Setting off, I was already lacking sleep so the night trip dragged on a bit - I struggled t...

 So summer has finally arrived, a great release after a hard British winter ashore. Summer means pretty boats and that’s exactly what we got when me and dad arrived at Dournenez for the classic boat festival this year. The channel crossing was brilliant, we had great wind and dolphins that accompanied us almost the entire way, leading me and falanda safely across the shipping lanes to Camaret.  Although the sailing was fantastic, more than anything it was just nice to be out alone with falanda again, the 38 hour trip giving me enough time to clear my head. With not much sleep the night before however, the trip took its toll on me and so by the early hours of the second day I was starting to see things, something fairly frightening as a singlehander. The festival was great fun, Falanda was moored next to Amaryllis with the pilot cutters so we had a very sociable couple of days, meeting up with lots of people until the early hours each night.  The classic boat race was grea...