Life on board Tashy has fallen into a gentle rhythm, a
pattern regulated by the watch routine we use to keep her sailing. Our lives are
now controlled by the times of watch changes, dictating when we rise and when we
go to sleep, when we sail and when we relax. The system we are using is two
watches on a pattern of 0800 to 1400, 1400 to 2000 which is our day time, then
on to a four-hourly pattern of 2000 to midnight, then to 0400 then 0800. By
varying the watches lengths between night and day, we end up with a rotating
system, sharing the burden of the “dog watch” the midnight to 0400
shift.
Sailing changes and major checks are usually done at the
change of watch. Perhaps a change of sail plan or a check on spinnaker sheets,
guys and halyards. At other times, occasional sudden wind shifts or a rain
squall may bring all hands on deck for a few hectic minutes dropping the
spinnaker. Thankfully we are now in a band of gentle winds, so are not needing
to reef or drop reefs from the sails as often as we were in the early days.
However, the ever present threat of rain squalls with their sudden increase in
wind strengths, keeps us on our toes.
After the busy change of watch, briefing the next watch,
checking navigation, weather or writing the boat’s log – our record of course
steered, wind speed and direction as well as position – the boat goes quiet. The
off-watch may head straight to their bunks to catch up on sleep, or set about
daily tasks; washing and cleaning, preparing food, checking our stores,
especially the fresh provisions to spot early signs of decay. During the
morning, Chris will pull down the latest weather information and brief us on our
course options and preferred routing. Then we have the “chat show” the daily ARC
radio net on SSB HF radio – long range radio that allows us to talk with boats
several hundred miles away from our position. As well as social contact, this is
useful for hearing the wind speed and direction that other boats are getting;
helping confirm that our weather forecasts are holding true or not, and aiding
our routing decisions.
Afternoons tend to be quite after a shared lunch. As we
enter the tropics – the zone between 23N to 23S – the sun is getting hotter,
encouraging the off-watch into an afternoon nap, and the on-watch to don sun
hats and sunscreen. Our communal supper, eaten together in the cockpit, marks
the start of the night. Off-watch head to bed for a couple of hours and on-watch
fill drink-flasks ready for the next four hours. Darkness falls swiftly in the
tropics and as well as reducing our power consumption, our night time routine of
red lights and minimal visits to the galley prevents disturbing the sleeping
crew and keeps our night vision.
Last night, for the two hours before moon rise, the
on-watch were rewarded by a clear cloudless night-sky, unaffected by light
pollution and showing the constellations and stars at their best. An occasional
shooting star burning its way across the sky in a brief fiery dash, added to
the magnificence of the view.
And finally….
Helen had a fright last night, shortly after supper when
a large and rather shocked flying fish crashed into the cockpit right at her
feet, thrashing around frantically and leaving a scaly trail behind. A firm
grip and a paper towel, swiftly enabled our unexpected visitor to be returned to
the ocean, hopefully no worse for his encounter.
Big Bertha continues to do her best for us, pulling
Tashy through the gentle swell and light airs we currently have in mid-Atlantic.
And, whilst we are navigating on our fully integrated Raymarine chart plotter,
we do have paper charts on board. Today we are marking a “turn over” – the point
on Admiralty chart 4012 when the navigator would turn over the chart to the next
folded third to plot the current position; the full chart being too large to lay
open on a yacht’s chart table. Any excuse for a celebration!
This is Tashy signing off for the day, at 21 59N 035 57S
with 1498nm to run.
Chris, Helen, Will and
Jem.