An Indian Legend Talks of a Circumambulation

I had a mail today from Admiral Awati  gently reminding me of an Indian legend that speaks of a circumambulation. And it did come on an opportune date. Here is what he wrote.

"Shiva ( Shankar ) and Parvati ( Gauri ) have two sons, Kartikeya, the Commander in Chief  of the Heavenly Hosts and Ganapati,  popular among the commoners as the harbinger of good things. When they were young and impressionable, there was a competition between the siblings for the affection of their father. Shiva called them together and told them, proceed on a circumambulation of the earth, the one who finishes first will claim my affection. No sooner he heard this filial injunction than the energetic Kartikeya launched himself on his exertions. He came home, panting, from his exertions only to find the languid Ganapati placidly sitting with a wry smile on his face. Kartikeya was amazed to see his brother there before him. Ganapati explained that while brother Kartikeya was rushing about like someone possessed, he, Ganapati, went round their mother, Gauri. Their mother was his world,. his earth. He had, therefore, completed the circumambulation of the earth long before Kartikeya did !

That is the story. The dictum, *AASAMUDRAPARYANTA PRITHVIH, though, is the reality.The earth can be circumambulated  ( circumnavigated ) only by sea."

* Citation needed. Will be glad if anyone can provide me with further details on this. A transliteration in Devnagri will be very much appreciated

Why We Call Her What We Call Her

Someone recently posed a question, “What does the term “Mhadei” mean?”
I knew the answer but then I thought I would leave it to someone who could explain it better.
Here is what Adm Awati had to say about it, in his own words. Read on…
 

“In late 2008 as the boat was nearing completion, I looked, searched for a suitable name for her. Many names suggested themselves to me. I rejected them all as common or garden, not suitable for  a potential circumnavigator. I was looking for something really evocative. Then in August that year, as the Monsoon raged in Goa and Ratnakar busied himself painting the finished hull in the covered hangar where the boat was under construction, I was invited to Goa by my friend, Professor Pratima Kamat, who heads the department of history at the University of Goa. She had just then completed a book on the Kadamba rule in Gomantak, a thousand years earlier. She took me to theSattari region of Goa at the base of the Ghats in adjoining Karnataka where the Mandovi has her source. The infant stream descends into the Goa plains where the locals worship the river goddess. Here there are numerous temples to the goddess built out of the local black, basalt rock. In those temples there is that icon of the river goddess, also carved out of volcanic basalt, sitting cross legged in a boat which is carved in great detail, showing mast and sails, crew and sukkani with the disha-kak, the land finding birds, caged at the top of the mast ( hence the term crow's nest ), ready to be released on the approach of land. ' Admiral `, says, Pratima to me, ' here is Mhadei, the river goddess,the patron deity of the locals. Interestingly a similar cult of the river goddess exists at the other end of the country, in Odhisha `. I knew at once that my search for a name for our circumnavigator boat was at an end. She would be named MHADEI ! I told Dilip and Ratnakar of my decision and thanked Pratima for guiding me to her, here in Sattari.
Incidentally, the infant Mandovi, too is here called Mhadei. Her festival lasts ten days, annually, during the Navaratri, ends on the tenth day, Dashahara, Dassera in the common language. That is the story behind the name of the Indian circumnavigator boat built by Ratnakar Dandekar at his small, unassuming boat yard on the island of Divadi on the Mandovi river, off Goa Velha”

Want more? View this ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTx9ilU4Y5c&feature=youtube_gdata

The Courses Offshore- Explained

“What route would you be following?” is one of the most often asked questions and ideally I should have it included in the FAQs. But there was so much of writing to be done that I thought it needed an entire post to itself.
Whenever I have provided an explanation to the route most of the responses I got went something like this:-
- you don’t seem to be touching all the oceans
- but you are not going anywhere along the northern hemisphere
- you  are just going around the Antarctic and that looks like a very quick way of circumnavigating
Let me explain.
Circumnavigation of the globe simply means to go around the globe. Since this one is under sail, I am not allowed to use engine except in case of emergency. The canals are, therefore, out. So is the northern hemisphere because it is landlocked, in a manner of speaking.
In the south though, there is a continuous linkage between the oceans, which is navigable round the year. Due to its being unprotected, the sea continuously builds up and has given rise to the famous sailor’s adage- there are no rules south of 40 S, no laws south of 50 S and no god south of 60 S.
Sailors have generally agreed set of rules for a nautical circumnavigation. To paraphrase some of the important points include:-
- Start and finish in the same port
- Cross all longitudes in the same direction
- No use of propulsion other than wind and sea
- Cover a distance equal to 21600 miles (length of the Equator)
- Take no assistance enroute (sea can be harvested though)
- Cross the equator twice
- Start from a point no further south of 40 deg S lat
- Sail south of all the Great Capes: Leeuwin, Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope

That doesn’t leave me with much choice and automatically excludes a lot of possible (and easy) routes, chief among them being a circumnavigation along the equator and through canals.
Possibly the only choice I have is to head East or West once I am out of doldrums. That isn’t really a choice if you were familiar with the weather systems in that area.

What Could be Worse than a Storm and Why SBI Might Never Sponsor Me

Curious? Read on…

Men’s Health

Men’s Health finally ran a four page article that came out of the voyage that Bobby John Varkey did with us on our way to participate in the President’s Fleet Review last December. Along with him was his photographer Vivek Singh.

 

 

 

Some FAQs Seriously Answered

I have been asked many questions about the voyage and I have been hearing the same ones ever since Cdr Donde began his. I can make out a lack of awareness of the oceans but it is more than compensated by the inquisitiveness of our people. Here goes…

 

Q- Are you doing this solo alone?

A- Yes. (I am not sure if it is so that people do not get the “solo” part or if they cannot bring themselves to believe that it is going to be a solo)

 

Q- How many people are going with you in the boat?

A- That depends on the skipper. Cdr Donde liked to believe that there were three people in the boat (I, me, myself). I will be going alone though.

 

Q- How much money are you carrying with you for the voyage?

A- We have an ATM onboard. Seriously? When am I going to need money in the middle of the sea?

 

Q- How will you carry food for the voyage?

A- Food preservation technology has progressed considerably since the first circumnavigation by Joshua Slocum. I will be carrying a mix of fresh food (which will last for about a month), tinned food and ready to eat food (which will last about six months) and freeze dry food (which can last upto 5 years). There is no refrigeration onboard due to electricity issues. And then is rice and dal and dry fish and pickles and all that which can almost last indefinitely.

The planning is for half a kilo of food a day which makes it 100 kilos for 200 days and we have more than enough space in the boat for that.

 

Q- How do you cook?

A- We have cooking gas onboard. Two gas cylinders are more than enough for a circumnavigation. In case that doesn't work, I will use the engine to heat water.

 

Q- What is the easiest dish to cook?

A- Boiled potatoes in sea water. Its simple. Try it. Remember not to add salt.

 

Q- What is comfort food?

A- Popcorn

 

Q- What about water?

A- Water will be carried in tanks (600 litres) and about 200 bottles of fresh water (my consumption on an average is 1 litre per day). In addition we have an RO plan that converts sea water into fresh water. Other than cooking and drinking, all water requirements will be met with sea water. That includes bathing, brushing, doing the dishes, washing clothes etc.

 

Q- How do  you wash clothes?

A- Soak in sea water and detergent for a day. Tie the clothes to the end of a line and stream it behind the boat. Sail fast. Its a natural washing machine

 

Q- Are you scared?

A- For whatever reason, the answer is a “No”. And I don’t know why. I am looking forward to the voyage. What bothers me is what will I do when I get back.

 

Q- How do you mentally prepare yourself?

A- I meditate everyday. That helps. Besides, I have faith in the boat. So that is a lot of strain taken off your mind.

 

Q- Why do you need electricity? How do you generate electricity?

A- We need electricity for running the navigation and communications equipment onboard. Electricity is generated through the main engine (very rarely because it is least efficient for generating electricity), a 3.5KVA generator, solar panels and wind generator. These sources charge the service battery bank which comprises 4 Northstar batteries.

 

Q- How fuel efficient is the boat?

A- It is as green as it can get. We did a voyage from Thailand to Kochi and the fuel consumption was only 30litres. Ironically, when I reached Kochi there was a statewide shut down protesting hike in fuel prices. The boat is currently set up so that it can be at sea for 600 days or more without touching port. Of course it is a theoretical figure and we consider that all equipment keeps working as good as new.

 

Q- How do you arrive at the date of departure?

A- We aim to follow the sun, spending all the southern hemisphere legs in southern summers. Therefore, a November departure appears to be the best, to make good Horn by Jan and Indian Ocean by April.

 

Q- How much is the project going to cost?

A- I am not in a position to comment on the exact figures but we are trying to keep it as low as possible. From the time she has been conceived, all projects pertaining to the boat has been completed well within budget.

 

Q- How insane is it?

A- To quote Yossarian’s doctor, its more insane on land.

 

Q- What is the point you are trying to prove by doing this?

A- “To be secure on land, we must be supreme at sea,”- Jawaharlal Nehru.

The project aims to draw the attention of our people to the oceans and encourage our youth to look oceanward for inspiration.

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.