TAHIRA ARC BLOG D-Day 12 [01-Dec-23]

TAHIRA ARC BLOG
D-Day 12 [01-Dec-23]
Location: Mid-Atlantic
Lat: 14.27N Long: 37.58W

SENSES OF THE BOAT

Life is different on a boat in the Atlantic. From what we do, see and think about, to the smells, the tastes and the noises.

What we see
The biggest impact on what we can see is the contrast between night and day as we have covered in another blog. When the sun disappears, our world changes completely. But there are many noticeable differences with our lives back home:
" Waves: Did you know there are over 20 different types of wave? No, neither did I. I won't bore you with them all now but needless to say that when your livelihood and progress are based on the waves (and wind) then we get to know them all pretty well.
" Sun: Back home we all see the sun but rarely see the full sunrise and sunset - appearing or disappearing over the far horizon with nothing to interrupt its journey.
" Moon: The moon appears unbelievably bright, and when out it provides enough light to be able to move about the boat at night.
" Stars: Stunning. Without any light pollution the stars appear much clearer in the sky. What we have discovered however is that the moon is the biggest light polluter - it is only once the moon has disappeared over the horizon that the stars really come out to play.
" Satellites: As well as the stars we saw the StarLink satellites crossing the sky a couple of nights ago - a series of linked satellites in a line off on their mission across the sky. This is an absolutely amazing site - something none of us had seen before.
" Phosphorescence: often at night we are surrounded by trails of intensely bright lights in the water as Tahira's hull disturbs the myriad of tiny sea creatures in our path. These are like flashbulbs going off in the water off our stern. Tom Hanks in the film Apollo 13 talks about how as a fighter pilot with complete instrument failure, he found his way back to the aircraft carrier by following the trail of phosphorescence made by his aircraft carrier.

What we hear
Whilst our world is a quiet one compared with back home - no cars, no TV, no screaming kids (:), and no barking dogs, there are still many sounds of the boat:
" The waves continuously play on Tahira's hull - sometimes gentle caressing it, and at other times hitting her hard. And the incessant wind dances with our sails continuously.
" Tahira is a wooden boat down below where everything creeks and doors bang as the boat rocks side to side.
" We have a crew of 6 constantly chatting at all hours, and where some people (noticeably our Admiral) have very loud voices!
" We also have the chatter over the radio - listening out for other boats as they pass in the night, and engaging in routine ARC reporting and catch-ups.
" Snoring may also be an issue, but we honestly do not notice it as there are so many other noises of the night and we are all so tired that it is not enough to stop us sleeping when off watch. Ear-plugs are of course an essential.
" And finally we have music! Bryan has broken out his guitar on a few occasions but hopefully more to come, and on Day 7 the Bluetooth boogey box made an appearance - however, getting consensus on what to play is proving more of a challenge!

What we touch
" Simple tasks are made much more difficult as the boat constantly moves from side to side. We crash into cupboards, doorways, hatches, stairs, ropes and winches. So whilst we all have head torches, our sense of touch becomes much more critical at night when sight is a much less dominant sense.

What we taste and smell
" Food: on our first week it feels as if we have not compromised at all on our food intake. Our fresh meals - selected by Q and prepared by different members of the crew including Nicki - Andy's better half, have been a great success. We have not yet had to tuck into our tinned rations.
" Drink: we treat ourselves to one alcoholic drink a day - taken at the Skipper's 6pm brief where we look back at the day and forward to the night watches. This symbolic drink is great for moral - other than when Andy spills it on the deck.
" Diesel: we run the engine once a day to keep our batteries topped up and to run our water maker. But the smell of diesel is not noticeable.
" The heads: well you will be surprised to hear, that even though we have 6 gentlemen on board, the heads (loo) is kept immaculate :
" Salt: finally there is an underlying smell of salt from the sea water that gets onto our skin and into our clothes - but nothing to write home about.

How we feel
So what does it feel like being on a boat in the ocean?
" There is a great sense of freedom as we leave our old world, but also somewhat lonely as we reflect on those we have left behind

Blog author: Andy Bruce