Gratitude’s at Horse latitudes and "The Cold front"

The Serendipitous Six 

Constructors

  Horse latitudes-Between 30 Degrees to 38 Degrees in the north and south of equator a layer of high pressure bet extends which is marked by subsiding air that gets heated during descent. It is said that Spanish sailors ferrying horses to the West Indies were usually struck for months in these calm waters and had to throw their horses into the sea to conserve water for themselves. This led to use of the term Horse Latitudes.

Boom Boom!

 Few days after crossing the Tropic of Capricorn we approached the Latitude to our destination Fremantle, Australia  the strong south easterly winds gave way to very light north westerly winds which came as quite a relief after the strong south easterlies made us toss and turn we spread our wings a little and took our gennekar for some light downwind sailing the gen smelled fresher than any of us onboard reminding of the fresh water wash we gave to it back at home port before taking it onboard we offered a little gratitude to these light winds that helped us stretch a bit and soon prepare for the approaching cold front which gave us south westerly winds taking us east towards destination.

Cold front- Defined as a transition zone where a cold air mass is replacing a warmer air mass in the wake of developing extra tropical cyclone. The air behind a cold front is noticeably colder and drier than the air ahead of tithe replacement is often sudden so that the warm air rapidly rises to form cumulus or cumulonimbus clouds the associated weather results in squall and thunderstorms leading to heavy precipitation the tail left behind by a cold front results in further wave depressions.-source-mariners handbook

Climbing the Mountains

As soon as the weather prediction system on board pointed to us the approaching cold front ahead and the strong winds that it was getting along ,sea securing of the boat commenced on-board five days before the approach ..all loose items were tightly tied all screws blocks and shackles were checked..the winter gears were taken out to accompany wet weather gears all internal arrangement shifted from starboard to port the crew also started aligning themselves shifting weight from the right to the left supposedly two cold fronts became one The barometric pressure was noted and observed to be falling every hour with the temperature turning colder.. every watch was on their toes noting the pressure at every tick of the hour. And there it came ..it was exactly the way we read it and we were all there to witness it the sky darkened even in the middle hour of the day clouds were packed right next to each other like an army of soldiers behind enemy lane there was sudden chill in the air that our teeth started clattering. The cold front got along winds stronger than we have ever seen colder beyond what we thought and rain heavier than we could ever fathom.. It blinded our view making it impossible to see the person standing right ahead the rain hurt any exposed area of the skin the wind screamed in the ears that weren’t covered and the swell tossed the crew that wasn’t tethered.. The sail that was fully up until few days ago taking all the wind it could get came down reef after reef and reduced to fourth reef …Head sail furled..the high waves(atleast 5m high)could be witnessed breaking at their crest.. And skipper sends PCS stating “sea-Very Rough” 

After-Before

Water Water everywhere

I believe now the readers can excuse us for the late blog post we try to update at the earliest given opportunity

All the philosophy preached by the crew went for a toss once hit by cold front as skipper quoted Gita saying “do the work dont worry about the results” but hell we were in the battlefield in the blink of an eye and thrown in warzone…So cold front has left us cold from back and front also…cooking reduced to preparing maggi and consuming it from the cauldron itself to reduce the number of dishes a crew that eats together stays together. how many layers of clothes are you wearing ??ask the crew 9 says swat cat 6 says Gator we are from the hills this is how it is there say the rest stepping out for a suntan..now you know why we don’t have refrigerator onboard..sleeping space for 4 offwatchkeepers has reduced to three bunks still they don’t mind bunding up in one bunk while sleeping “cold enough to chill my bones….i don’t understand why youre so cold to me..” puko hums as she steps out for her watch finding it difficult to fit inside her undersized winter gear-wardrobe malfunction the girl has overlooked her vanity and has landed into trouble with her boatgear hopefully we will find a solution in the next port of call that we are soon going to hit..although her attention overlooked her own wintergear some attention to detail has won her applause from the crew(one dhaap in the back from each) for the following 

1. Storing extra drinking water in the boat that the crew is lavishly devouring after trouble with watermaker coming up with water management  for next few days

2. Getting to the bottom of looking into watermaker aage peeche upar neeche up and down driving Croc to open every joint collectively detect the trouble area and rectifying it –Yeah the watermaker is functional!

3. Her never give up attitude to open waste water tank with  skipper is highly appreciated 

(Now go puko leave me to continue writing the blog you’ve occupied enough space already)

A few days ago a splash of wave got threw some squids on the deck as they lay there swatcat and shou did not let their sacrifice go waste and immediately marinated them that day both girls had tastiest meal in a long time while giving a hard time to vegetarians(Croc and Gator) onboard as the odour cannot escape the boat with closed portholes(too cold outside) gosh! did they just take out tinned fish? come croc lets go hangout for a while!

The Patila Maggi

Shou has finshed her book sense and sensibility lets see how much sense she makes now she is now shifed from preparing lunch to making dinner(middle watch to dog watch) is busy making the perfect paranthas that she is so amused with that others aren’t allowed to do it..

That’s all folks Happy Dhanteras May you gets lots of new utensils while we eat maggi from the same “Patila” spreading love and togetherness 

561 miles from first port of call

Not as cold as it was until yesterday(that’s why the blog)-sweaters off

Cheerios!

Hi Readers! It's been long since my team has been telling me to write something or publish a poem which i have written recently, though it's devoid of all the poetry formate. I have been idle for quite a long time. Today i thought why not, so here i am and this is me... well well don't go too far it's not Bryan Adams song! I have just given my thought to a poem about our team, hope you all like it and here it goes "THE SIX".

The Six

 Set out on Sails

The team of “Six”

Into the blue ocean!

Making a history of its kind

With a smile as they sail.

Flagging the nation’s pride

To circle the globe!

A responsibility to comply

For the challenge undertaken!

“Six” blend the team,

From all region of the country.

Into the mercy of weather

Advanced with a baby step

As they grow in their service.

With a little known ‘sea-leg’

Here goes the “Six!”

To the known unknown

Exploring a marine life

With their spirit held high.

Enthralled with adventure

Something different from the norm,

With a desire burning bright

Within the heart of these “Six “

To see the world yet unknown!

Now in the hands of Nature

Here Sails the “Six”

With their wits and wise

Braving with the waves

Gushing through the winds

Mystery yet to unfold

And time binding stories

As the “Six” sails deep

Into the no-men lands’

Of the deep blue ocean!

                                                                      ­SVD ...

Sanctity of a seafarer lies in the solitude she finds at sea

This is how we Rock !

Clouds with Rainbow lining

 Here is the long and much awaited post..  hope it doesn’t disappoint you..apologies for the delay..boat and weather is what keeps us occupied actually…priorities in life! 

“Life and death is uncertain” says Shou she immediately corrects herself saying “life is uncertain but death is certain”… people on land..don’t worry it’s the Tarini crew getting philosophical as we catch the trades and stride ahead the winds taking us south..I’m sure skippers last blog was informative on the doldrums Now a little information on the Trade winds before we dwell upon what’s going deep inside our minds here at sea..

Trade Winds--Between 30 Degree North and 30 Degree South of equator the earth’s rotation causes air  to slant toward the equator in a westerly  direction due to coriolis effect. These are the trade winds that blow predominantly from the north east in the northern hemisphere and from the south east in the southern hemisphere. The trade winds have been used by captains of sailing ships to cross the world’s oceans for century’s .During the age of sail the pattern of prevailing winds made various points of globe easy or difficult to access and had a direct impact on modern political geography and that’s how they got this name as these winds were also used by merchants and mariners for trading across the seas and monitoring and protecting the same even till date.

Creator Gator

Here we are sailing south using the “Trades” of course! past few days haven’t been very smooth though! we witnessed winds gusting upto 35 kn and the sea swell hitting us hard..initially it was difficult for the crew to adjust to these conditions at sea..All portholes and hatches of the boat were closed giving some sleepless time to people inside without cross ventilation..watchkeepers are always in their raingears protecting themselves from the frequent sea splashes  outside,they remain tethered even in the doghouse to avoid falling off. Cooking at the galley has become difficult with all the shaking up we have to tether ourselves to the galley handhold while cooking to prevent ourselves from falling or we might just go flying and fall on the skippers bunk directly opposite the galley…  we also stand like cricket fielders next to the galley ready to catch everything that comes rolling out of the shelves when opened the crew has been showered with jeera,rai and ajwain in one such failed attempt to catch…sometimes when hungry we open the shelf and eat what falls out first. The constant banging of the boat with sea has made the crew a little restless few have developed constant head aches and backaches. We know its hard to imagine for you but this is how it is.Never the less spirit of the super six is unmoved with such small irks… we gradually adapted to this sea condition over the past few days. The temperature has come down a bit making it pleasant inside the boat and the thudding and banging of the boat with water has become a lullaby that’s putting us to sleep..back aches and headaches gone and the music is on!! And cooking??Hey skipper!! Didn’t we just have Rajma pulao for lunch??And what’s that being made for dinner??what?Dosa?? Come-on! Readers here are finding it hard to believe!

And we go Swoooooosh!

So coming to the topic of the blog…Sanctity of a seafarer lies in the solitude she finds at sea have you ever wondered what you would do when left all by yourself. There must be something you do when nobody is watching what is it?? Do you yearn to be left alone to your own spirits From an outsiders eye you will find the crew each one of them at some point of the day looking outside what do they see? The ferocity of the waves..The loom given out by the stars and the moon.. the brilliant colours in which the sky lits up at different hours in a day.. The winds breezing past or gusting past. The clouds taking different shapes and changing colours. Constellations on a clear night even shooting stars waoh..bioluminisence..dolphins flying fishes sea birds what not and what does it make us think?? ?? Each member of the crew is found lost in their own thought sometimes makes me wonder what’s going on in there? Here is a little mind reading presented by gator :-

 “Maybe we will pick up some speed if we tighten or loosen the sail a bit”(depending on the wind)

Tethered

“Shall we hoist or dump the sail now or maybe wait a little longer” (again depending on the wind)

“Woah what a beautiful sunset/sunrise shall I wake others up?”

“Oh! Its raining let me adjust the sails a bit then il go get my shampoo and soap and take a shower”

“Its cloudy and breeze is so cool I just need some hot tea shall I ask puko or skipper to make while im standby here??”

Little comforts in life-a cozy perch

“The moon is shimmering over the sea how lovely! So want to share this sight”

“Poor birdie how long it must have flown to come so far”

“What do I make for breakfast/lunch/dinner?”(depending on the time of the day) 

“Gosh! so many dirty dishes whos turn was it to do them?”

“Hey! that’s my pillow she is using..grrrrrr”

“Dolphins!!!yay everyone comeout the dolphins have come to race with us”(they always win)

“What a brilliantly lit sky tonight.. so that’s the south cross there and I think we are doing a good course now”

Guess I have given away too much ..so sometime we feel  that we should be left to our free spirits left to do anything we like and when we find time for it.. yes,  we do get to pursue our hobbies once in a while but that’s not what we have come here for isn’t it?? for example., a  post in the blog should be written when the scribe wants to share their thoughts and not when asked to do so.A photograph should be snapped after the beauty  and the moment has been relished by the person witnessing it .when at sea so when we spot a school of dolphins we would like to sit back relax and enjoy the sight rather that running inside to grab the camera take photographs and flaunt it for the world to see(whats the fuss going on about the facebook page??).. These mesmerising sunsets and sunrises that we witness at sea can only be appreciated when witnessed in person and no lens can capture it. sometimes it just ruins the moment for the person relishing it..like taking a flash photograph of a sleeping child only to make it cry. sometimes when things go overboard and we are just sharing our thoughts. Don’t you think the camera should capture the life that we live instead of us leading a life because there is a camera? This is not a big boss house so sometimes such information that comes out might not actually be true but glorified more that what has happened because the situation demands it to grab attention so be careful what you ask for...instead if there is no timeline and no deadlines set ,the piece of such will be a work of pure brilliance. 

The crew onboard these days are however finding solace in their own respective way but when they get to talk to each other this brain storm sessions start about anything under the sky right from talking about our families future plans how certain things should be in the boat planning our approach to destination and preplanning the preparation and maintenance onboard that we will be undertaking in the next port of call-looks like too much in hand isn’t it?

A lot has been going on lately within us and entire crew seems to be in a philosophical mode these days to start with Croc when she gets free time on the boat is reading a book named Law of attraction this book tells us how we attract a lot of unwarranted stuff in life just by thinking about it instead if we rather think that it will all be alright then we are going to attract the same-good peace of advice before we go more south isn’t it its easier said than done 

Gator is in a different mode altogether she’s listening to Ramayan on her MP3 and giving pravachan to everyone explaining the inner meaning behind the story-Spiritually philosophical…

Skipper has just finished reading a book called journey to the centre of the earth { planning for next voyage already??} the next book she picked up is Bhagvad Gita although puko is ususally found with this book left abandoned in the doghouse {still waiting for some insights from her}

Shou is trying her hand on numerology these days determining the characteristics of a person depending on their name and date of birth she just told gator that she is a very creative person by nature according to numerology so gator immediately entered her creative space here in doghouse and got into the business of creating this blog-talent identified 

So lets bring back the “Age of Sail” save the earth and atmosphere from the harmful gases make the air more breathable lets allow the trees to grow protect the oceans and save humanity make this world a better place to live for our future generations I think that’s the basic idea behind ocean sailing don’t you think? more than expedition or an activity it has become more of way of life for us seafarers  So next time It rains or the winds pick up I wont turn on the camera we have got enough footage already.. so I believe that sums up most of it until next time kindly read and reread this blog its got a lot of deep thinking and inner meaning will take a while to understand oh! we just crossed Tropic of Capricon-located at 23 Degree 26’ 13” south of equator it is the southern most latitude where the sun can be over head and it is so named because 2000 years ago the sun was in the direction of the constellation Capricornus. its position is not fixed and varies in a complex manner over time .any legends and myths about It you know? Feel free to share..

Upcoming blog- Gratitude's for Horse Latitudes !!

Enlightened!

Dol-Drums of the southern hemisphere

I am sure this blog must have been a much awaited one, we all had taken a temporary exit to get into what we call our 'meditative mode'. This is only to revive our energies to get back on the tedious task of blogging. Haha! Jokes apart, we actually got a tad bit lazy, a bit occupied too with all these days' doings. We try and spend most of our 'off watch' time relaxing and sleeping as much we can because thats supposed to be the most essential thing for smooth sailing in a not so smooth sea!

While the 'Doldrums' had drummed us to the beats of windlessness couple of days back, the wind Gods in this part of the planet seem to be all dolled up to make us beat to the drums of a swelly and stormy sea. No wonder why its named as 'Beating'!.(In sailing parlance, beating=upwind sailing and is also directly proportional to being beaten. The more you do it, the more you deserve to get it!)
Now who's beating whom is a debatable point!

I will leave the next blog to my friend who had promised to write to the readers on a nice topic-'Sanctity of a Seafarer lies in her solitude". A little more patience and the blog would soon hit this window. Until then, we let the seafarer (Gator) enjoy her share of solitude.

Stay tuned.