Tahira - TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day 8 [27-Nov-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOG
D-Day 8 [27-Nov-23]
Location: Open Seas - Atlantic
Lat: 16,54N Long: 29.17W

SAILING SPEAK
So far we have tried to keep the blog relatively low tech in terms of sailing speak. But for the hardened sailors amongst you, and those interested in learning more about the actual sailing - here are some highlights.

Tahira
- Our boat Tahira is a 42 foot Vancouver cutter built in 1987. She was originally made in the Taiwan for a US sailor in San Diego and made her way over to Europe in the 90s. At some point it would be good to find out more of her history.
Boat configuration
She is designed as a 'blue water' cruiser - i.e. can go anywhere in the world.
- She has a cutter rig, an extra foresail, which gives her more power to windward.
- She has a heavy displacement and weighs 13 tonnes.
- She has an extra strong mast and rig and could experience most weathers and survive.
- She also has a canoe stern - a pointed aft which protects the stern from breaking waves in following seas.
- She is white with a blue hull

Sailing strategy
- Our journey is governed by the trade winds, rotating clockwise around the high pressure over the Azores.
- Our journey can be broken into two phases. Phase 1 is to travel roughly South West until we are about 100 miles north of Cape Verde, and then as the Trade Winds turn Easterly, we turn West until we arrive at St Lucia. Sometimes referred to as heading south until the butter melts (because the temperature has risen) and then turn right.
- Roughly the journey is 21 days broken into Phase 1 at 7 and Phase 2 at 14 days.

Sail rig
- As we are sailing downwind (the wind is behind us and pushing us along) for most of the route we will be either sailing on a broad reach or directly downwind. To take advantage of this, Tahira is set up with two 'Yankees' (high cut Genoa) both connected to the forestay.
This appears as an enormous diamond-shaped sail that drives Tahira along at 6-7 knots in winds of 10-15 knots.
- Furling (making the sails smaller for heavier winds) is achieved when necessary by moving one Yankee on top of the other - thereby reducing the sail area by 50%, and then winding the forestay to reduce the surface area further.

Equipment on board
- Engine: Tahira has a 60HP Nanni diesel engine made in France.
- Desalination plant: a critical piece of equipment is the plant that converts salt water to drinking water. It is proving very effective and gives us up to 35 litres per hour - powered by either the engine, or more excitedly the solar panels
- Comms: we are using both VHF Radio (15 miles), HF (200-1,000 miles depending on atmospheric conditions). We are currently getting all our emails from a radio mast in Belgium. As backup we also have a Iridium satellite phone which is very fast (and very expensive on data).
- Navigation: Tahira has three independent GPS systems. A full touch screen chart plotter, and depth and wind instruments, and a compass! We are also currently learning to master celestial navigation.
- Washing machine: this is definitely low tech and comprises a sealable plastic bag where you put in your dirty clothes and washing powder together with a small amount of precious fresh water, and shake it around for 3 minutes. Sounds very basic but is remarkably effective.
- Power generation: In addition to the diesel engine we have a wind generator and 480W of solar panel.
- Fridge / freezer: This has been our lifeline, and enabled us to pre-prepare 8 frozen dinners before setting sail. We also have lots of fresh produce on board - tucked away in various cubby holes and hanging in nets in the cabin.
Virtual Workshop: We are self-sufficient in terms of repairs to the boat and all pieces of equipment, and have a 2,000 piece toolkit, electric drill, saws, screwdrivers and every imaginable and unimaginable spare (together with the manuals)!

OK, that's enough of the boring tech stuff, we will be back with a deep dive into another crew member tomorrow!

Blog author: Andy Bruce