Recording Glitch, Tape Erasure HELP

:( HELP
During recording session:
I had a single track ready to record, 6 others in use on an eight track tascam da-88. When I pressed record it jumped from the time that was showing on the clock to another time, then a third with a momentary break of silence before it landed later in the track and started recording. When I played the take back from the begining there's a two second break in All the tracks that had been recorded wipeing the slate clean for those few seconds - nothing on any LED lights out of place, etc. Also noticing that when I rewind it might arbitrarily stop at a number, and then say bottom, and won't let me rewind again until I eject the tape. And When I rewind to a certain number it might play a few seconds before or after depending on it's mood. All of these had struck me as odd, but the lose of track just is not acceptable. Don't know what this means. what to look out for or how to prevent it in the future. Any help would be so appreciated. Thanks, and have a good day.
Dave