Navika Sagar Parikrama - Circumnavigating the Globe on an Indian-Built Sail Boat INSV Tarini by Women Naval Officers: Page 139 of 153

Navika Sagar Parikrama Update 11 - Leg 1

INSV Tarini with its team of six women officers is heading South, approximately 1,670 nautical miles from her first port of call, Fremantle, Australia. Tarini is within the region of the subtropics wherein the winds diverge and either flow toward the Poles (known as the prevailing Westerlies) or toward the Equator (known as the trade winds). These diverging winds are the result of an area of high pressure, which is characterised by calm winds, sunny skies and little or no precipitation. The region is also called the ‘Horse Latitudes’, located at about 30 degrees North and South of the Equator. According to legend, the term comes from ships sailing to the New World that would often become stalled for days or even weeks when they encountered areas of high pressure and calm winds. Many of these ships carried horses to America as part of their cargo. Unable to sail and resupply due to lack of wind, crews often ran out of drinking water. To conserve scarce water, sailors on these ships would sometimes throw the horses they were transporting overboard. Thus, the phrase 'Horse Latitudes' was born.