70 days to go

When I mentioned to a friend that I would be departing on a solo circumnavigation of the globe in 70 days, her question was, “Is it business or pleasure?”

I am not sure if she really got the point.

Preparations for the project are coming along well though. The contract was offloaded to the firm that built her, Aquarius Fiberglas, putting her in a very safe pair of hands. That has also taken my mind off a lot of matter that might have nagged me forever.

When the core team began drawing plans for boat preparation, the idea was to have as many backs ups as possible without affecting the sailing ability of the boat. Consequently, we have a whole lot of new equipment and spares coming into the boat- new set of solar panels, a wind generator, a new diesel generator, new pumps, inverter, battery charger, steering gear, wind vane autopilot sensors etc. With data from the last voyage from Phuket to Kochi I can safely assume that she can  stay out at sea for about 600 days before touching any port- that is the kind of endurance that has been built into her provided nothing breaks.

While the boat’s preparation goes on at her usual mooring, we had a progress meeting at Delhi and it is heartening to note that things are going well and as per schedule. Plans for installing a system of some very expensive cameras went through a rough patch of weather and had to be scuttled. Nevertheless, like a true Naval officer, there is a plan B and I am in no mood to disappoint people back home by returning empty handed in that department.

Delhi was an opportune time for the defence PRO to catch hold of the “master and his prodigy” (as one news channel put it) and expose us to the media. His plan seems to have worked out well and in that department the project is in safe hands. Consequently, we established this blog as the official blog for the project (this was a private blog earlier) and www.facebook.com/www.mhadei.co.in as the Facebook page.

I got back to living in the boat now. The hammock is well pretty well set between the galley and skipper’s bunk. Work goes on by day but it is very pleasant in the evenings- a time that I keep to gather my thoughts and spend time in the company of books.

Rounding Cabo Raj Nivas

The long awaited halt in kochi was well worth it. I finally managed to call on the C in C and meet Cmde G P. The press too gave us enough coverage.

There was still time to get used to land before we cast off again. Sleep pattern was almost non existent as were a whole lot of other body cycles. Yet five days were long enough to count for a halt and I was in a hurry to get back to Goa- not for fear of monsoons but the surf and rollers at the mouth of Aguada Bay that worsens from Jun onwards. I have twice entered the channel in two successive monsoons, first out of ignorance and then a second time out of lack of choices. Believe me when I say that it turned out to be a whole lot more exiting than rounding the Cape of Good Hope twice under sail - a perfect reason to break even an unbreakable boat.

That said, I decided to cast off by the 30th of May. Under the influence of the prevailing high in the Arabian Sea, weather predictions began with twenty knots of head winds for the first day trailing off to a ten knot breeze before becoming almost non existent on the third day. So it was to be a lot of slam bang followed by a lot of motoring..and no down wind sailing at all.

The cast off was at 10 in the morning. We were seen off by the officer in charge of the Seamanship School, my father who had come to drop me off and four sailors who had been assigned for unmooring us. Our driver too stayed back out of curiosity.

As soon as we left the channel we got the main up on two reefs (I could not repair the torn sail) and set on a west south westerly course to gain distance from shore in a squall that discharged gale force winds. It showed that the crew had not had enough rest for they soon showed signs of sea sickness. With one man less and despite their condition, they still decided to keep watches on their own keeping me out of the roster.

Things had calmed by the night of the second day when we crossed Mt Dilli after two attempts. One of the crew was still on shaky legs. The rest of the voyage was sailed on motor and sail and then on motor alone. It was my intention to enter Goa on the same day as I had entered last year after a solo passage non stop  from Cape Town.

We were alongside by 1630 hrs yesterday on the jetty by the river and were received by the Commanding Officer of INS Mandovi, Capt Bapna and his staff and a horde of journalists.

Unplugged and Recharging

Unplugged and Recharging
------------------------------

Ever since our arrival at Kochi on the 24th after the 18 day voyage from Phuket, that is what we have been doing- unplugged and recharging.

We cast off from Phuket on the 7th of May after a fruitful short stop. The engine's fuel leak was fixed well, and so were some other minor defects. The crew too rested thanks to the comfortable arrangements made by the Indian Mission. One of the days I called on the local naval head, pictures of which promptly appeared in Thai Blogs.

By the time we cast off, it was time for monsoon wind pattern to set in in south Bay of Bengal and wind predictions confirmed head winds right up to Dondra Head. My plan was to sail as far south as possible, perhaps to 3-4deg North Latitude looking for wind shift and then track a straight course to Dondra Head. But as luck would have it, predictions showed an increasingly disappearing wind shift and I abandoned the idea soon after crossing the 6 degree channel. Instead we decided to stick to a direct course taking each wind shift as it came. To sail conservative was priority.


I don't think we could have sailed better in those conditions which varied from moderate to rough. There were gale force winds for almost 30 percent of the time which the boat took in its characteristic stride. Despite the fact that it was their first offshore sailing experience, the crew took it well without displaying any outward signs of sickness.


But it was not just the weather that kept us on our toes. I have heard of pilots calculating fuel in liters and filling in pounds. We had a similar situation with bottled water on board. With two contaminated tanks and an RO plant that refused to start, we were pushed to rationing. But then by the third day the crew was already  meeting most of their requirements with water drawn from sea and the inconvenience was much less that what it could have been. Fortunately, after a lot of coaxing, the water maker worked and things looked much better. The RO plants manual, which seems to be a literal translation from Italian, was cause of enough humour which more than mitigated the frustration that accompanied.


South of the Nicobar Islands, an old friend came calling in his brand new command and it was catch up time. He wished us well before sailing away.


Our westward progress finally got us on the east coast of Sri Lanka and we were shaping a southward course when the toilet pump decided to act up. It was a shitty affair but within a couple of hours it was repaired and functioning better than before.

We rounded Dondra Head after two attempts sighting it at a distance of 5 miles and were hoping to clear Cape Comorin on the same tack. But then they say, boats have minds of their own. Like our return passage from Colombo in 2009 with Cdr Donde at the helm, she decided to have a dekko at the Cape and we had no choice but to conform to her plans. Rounding the Cape took another couple of attempts and in the strong norther westerly breeze we tore our main sail between the first and second reef. Now, I do sail conservatively and there was nothing wrong with the sail configuration, but then this particular main is more than 27000 miles old and it has has its fair share of the southern oceans. We took another reef and continued our passage at reduced speeds.

By the 23rd, winds had eased and by evening I had to take a call on  motoring the remaining hundred odd miles to Kochi. This was the first time in this voyage that I motored. If the last bit was excluded, we had consumed only 30 litres of diesel for a voyage of more than 2000 miles- a fact that I forgot to recount to the reporters that had gathered on our arrival (price hike of petrol had become a raging issue and various political organisations had called for a strike on the day of our arrival). Like the previous halt, Cdr Francis seemed to have worked overtime in ensuring we had a more than fare share of coverage.


We were progressing well with our rest and repairs when one of my crew received news that required his immediate presence at home. Though it was sad to see him go, we quickly made arrangements for him to depart. I  heard things have been improving for him and I wish him well. He could not have performed better for a first timer and I do hope the 20 odd days he has spent on the boat will hold in good stead for the rest of his naval career and life afterwards.

Tomorrow we will head out, as usual, into head winds. I hope to make it to Goa in time and secure the boat for another round of refits. We have achieved what we wanted from this halt- to unplug and recharge!

Thank you all for keeping company.

Langkawi and Phuket

It is the time to sail again. Tomorrow we will begin our next passage and there will be nothing in the ocean to tell us which era we are sailing in.
After the brief stay in Langkawi and a change of crew we sailed out on the 29th of Apr heading out to a destination where we should have stopped first. But bureaucracy being what it is the ports and timings assembled in a manner that would make sense to bureaucratic logic but would not appeal to the reason of a sailor.
We headed into the night and squally weather which dispersed 20 knot winds. The boat heeled, first on starboard tack and then on port,  and as the wind died the following day she sauntered a slow passage to Phuket. We passed magnificent phallic rock crops enroute and never left sight of shore to the east.
By 0100 on 01 May we were knocking on the gates of Phuket. I had planned to arrive early so that i could kick start work on the same day and make best use of the short stop. But there was a minor glitch- I had not accounted for the fact that it was May Day. We delayed arrival to later in the day and were greeted by the DA, the agent and a beaming shore support who had already spent a couple of days preparing Phuket for out arrival.
Ottavio threw in a surprise with his wife and k1ds  visit the day we arrived. He is here for his Yatchmasters certification. To quote his wife, it was an "emotional experience ".
Work began in earnest soon enough though. The leak in the engine fuel pump and spurious alarms were looked into by the local Volvo Engineers. Muzza of Canvas Creations redid our rope bags and the stack pack while Rolly Tasker mended the A4.
The support crew did well to absent themselves from the boat for all but one day, which too was a glancing visit. I am glad the Mhadei has a high freeboard and all but the most determined make their way into her.
It has been more than a year since I took over as the skipper and did the treacherous South Atlantic crossing where we faced headwinds for the first 15 days. I had sworn then never to plan a sail into head winds but as luck would have it I am staring at another passage of 1500 miles bang into the South Westerlies that have already set it. As per the proposed plan we should have completed the voyage two months ago when the north easterlies were still blowing. Remind me not to accede to such plans ever.

News!

Another stopover

Another interesting stopover comes to an end. This time it will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

I never liked stepping ashore but this time I did and what followed should keep me away from land for a while.

We arrived on Saturday after scudding along the coast at 9 knots on an A3. On Monday the right tire of the car punctured on Kundanoor bridge. On Tuesday it was the the turn of the left tire. By Wednesday it was time to change both punctured tires and on Thursday I got a parking ticket. The only amusing part of the entire affair was that when I walked into the police station to pay the fine, I received salutes and apologies! I dont know what Friday and Saturday have in store.

One of these days I had a sailor visit me demanding that I take him out sailing and that it would make him "indebted". Coming from someone who had already logged 8000 miles on this boat, I was surprised.

The stopover was well spent. The boat has gotten a thorough lookover. Chiefly  the INMARSAT has been restored to S1A1 shape thanks to some quick help from the naval ship repair yard and the wind vane autopilot has gotten a quick calibration.

Most importantly, we have our team Tees in hand and that should make us all uniformly handsome. The logo has come out better than expected and I did not miss the loud "wows" of the crew when they wore it the first time.

As of now its two more days to pass on shore. The next voyage presents a particularly difficult sailing condition. Predicted winds are nowhere more than ten knots at best. Opposing currents make the news bleaker. It is going to be a test of my lightwind sailing skills and the very conservative 120 miles a day I had planned the voyage with will be difficult to achieve. Throw in the equatorial heat, traffic around Dondra head and a green crew, we seem to be in for another interesting voyage.

A Swift Passage

<p>At about ten in the morning of the 23rd we cast off from our spot under Mt Dilli. The crew was in by half past nine and all that stopped us from sailing out was the approval to sail which too came at the appointed hour.</p>
<p>About half an hour after leaving our berth I decided to check on the engine and realised that the leak at the flange of the sea water cooling pump had worsened warranting me to shut off the engine in almost nil winds to affect repairs. I used a sealant that would do the job in a couple of hours. In the meantime rather than drift aimlessly I decided to train the crew in rigging and handling the gennekar. </p>
<p>It turned out to be a wise decision. Not only did the crew put the gennekar up for the first time, the boat also picked up some unexpected speed. Soon sea breeze picked up and we forgot all about the engine. By noon we were pacing south easterly towards our destination at nothing less than eight knots. The crew too enjoyed the feel of speed and silence of a trailing propeller.</p>
<p>It had been an interesting stopover at INA. While I had planned the the stop with the aim of giving exposure to cadets by taking them out sailing the ground reality that I faced when i reached had been quite different.</p>
<p>The hexagonal meet was in full swing and those who were not busy competing were away on their mid term hike. I did nothing for the first two days other than go swimming and re anchor after the anchor dragged once. I did go out to meet Cdr Mahesh and witness the triangular regatta and ended up seeing a very impressively built Naval academy. I had hoped to call on the commandant but both he and his deputy had their hand's full and they did not give appointment.</p>
<p>There were a few known names in the base although I could not meet any. Cdr Bagchi and Kohli were among them. In turn I ran into Capt Patil who was Cdr Ops in Hansa and is now serving under Cmde Azad in Bangalore.</p>
<p>On the last day INA asked me to take the commandant of NDA out sailing to which I gladly agreed. He had in tow a Commodore, a Captain and a Colonel along with ladies. Lt General Jatinder singh seems to have thoroughly enjoyed the sail for I was later told that it took a lot if effort to pluck him out of the boat. He was replaced with 18 cadets of NDA, NEC and INA- a bunch that turned out to be inquisitive beyond any measure. They too enjoyed the sail- or so I could make out from their faces.