TAHIRA ARC BLOG
D-Day 3 [22-Nov-23]
Location: Open Seas - Atlantic
WHAT A 24 HOURS
Our progress has slowed over the last 24 hours due to light winds, but we have made the most of it.
Fleet positioning
We received more information on both the weather and the position of the rest of the fleet via our SSB and SatComms. It is great to see other boats on our chart plotter but that only covers a local 5 mile radius, however the daily ARC update give us information on other vessels in our fleet - the ocean is a big place, and simply knowing that there are other boats out there - even if we cannot see them, is a great comfort.
Sail configuration
The light winds also gave us an opportunity to play with our sails. When do we use the staysail? What bearing and what wind conditions does Tahira perform best in? When do we 'goose wing' the sails as opposed to flying two 'Yankees'? And do any of the crew know what we are doing? :
Fishing success
As well as working our way through the pre-prepared meals, and Q's rations, we had great success with our first attempt at fishing. We were able to catch a 26 inch Tuna. We cast a lure on a 100m trailing line, and much to our amazement, we caught a magnificent fish that we ate for lunch. However, whilst we were excited with our catch, we were all taken by the beauty of this fish - particularly when she opened her blue dorsal fin, and 'dispatcher' Tony in particular felt very guilty.
A visit from the Dolphins
We had heard about other boats seeing dolphins via the radio updates, and today we were rewarded on two occasions when inquisitive dolphins joined us on two of our watches. They are fantastic creatures and we felt privileged to have visited their world briefly.
On-deck Exercise
Today a number of the crew also introduced exercises into the daily routines. Whilst helming or changing sails in a rough sea are tiring, we are all getting less exercise and certainly less steps in than usual. Keeping physically and mentally fit is key to a successful crossing, and we will cover this off more in a future blog.
Drones
Perhaps the highlight of the day, John got his £400 drone out to play. We were all concerned about getting it back once launched, and had visions of the drone disappearing either over the horizon or into the Atlantic. As it turned out, the drone headed off and then retuned to hover over the launch point - and it was so steady that we were able to turn the boat around and go and pluck it out of the sky. Amazing. Next time, John promises to actually turn the camera on!
Swim
Finally, we took advantage of the light winds to have our first mid-Atlantic swim. Really refreshing, and if it wasn't for the jelly fish and the need to continue our journey, we might have stayed in longer than a couple of minutes.
I am sure that not all days will be as action packed, and hopefully many will have more wind, but today has been special. Our routines are becoming more natural, we are working well as a team, and we are settling in to the voyage.
Tomorrow we will start our first in-depth look into the bunch of individuals that makes up the Tahira crew.
Blog author: Andy Bruce