Solitude at Sea

Solitude at Sea

A brief compilation of the Non-Stop, Solo, Under Sail and Unassisted Circumnavigation of the World by Commander Abhilash Tomy of Indian Navy based on his blog Sagarparikrama 2; book 151 days at Sea and an interview.

Chapter I: Mountaineering in High Seas

The 25-meter-tall Mast never looked so ominously towering before. In an unsteady boat in the middle of the not so pacific, South Pacific Ocean to hoist oneself up the stick without a crew winching you is a task that most sailors would avoid.

A patch of blue was the only solace in the overcast morning of 11th January 2013.  As he woke up on board a rocking Mhadei, Commander Abhilash Tomy noticed that the easy stow was in an unusual position with one of its holding lines parted and trailing in water. Another look at the mast confirmed that it is going to be one of the most demanding days of his voyage. A voyage he started almost 71 days back from the shores of Mumbai, in an attempt to become the first Indian ever to circumnavigate the world on a sail boat, without a crew and without making a pit stop.

It was time to use the mountaineering equipment that was brought in from Europe to attempt this daring climb. The winds were light and not enough to hold the boat steady and a swell of 3-4 meters from the usual leftovers of a South Pacific gale added to its difficulty. It wasn’t the best day to go up the mast but when you do not have a choice, procrastination is automatically ruled out as an option. 

With just one earlier climb under his belt and that too on aharbor which was more of an apology than a practice, he started pulling himself up the mast. Rigging the lines took only ten minutes but it was only when he had pulled himself up a meter or so that he realized that it wasn’t going to be as easy as depicted in the video advertising the climbing gear.  

Entangled in the tail line, tossed and banged from one side to other, hanging desperately onto his climbing gear he invoked every god, deity and saint in his prayers as he climbed his way up the mast. The fear was not only hurting himself in the middle of the ocean with no one to help and rescue, it was also for the mast. Any crack on the mast would have made the sail boat - Mhadei useless leading to failure of the mission. 

Hardly able to climb a stationary rope or swim across the width of a 25 m swimming pool before joining the Navy, Commanded Abhilash remembered his entire Naval training as he perched atop the mast after an hour long ordeal. In his mind reverberated the message from Chief of Naval Staff, Indian Navy -

“Your mission continues to be perilous, requiring both physical vigor and resilience. There will be situations which will demand meeting challenges head on and calculated risks to an extent, beyond what one encounters in normal life. It is under these circumstances that your years of training and maturity will stand you in good stead and drive you forth to success.” 

Chapter II: The Plunge

It was during Sagar Parikrama -1, circumnavigation by Captain Dilip Donde around the world where the seeds of this voyage were sown. Mentor to Commander Abhilash Tomy, he was on a mission to complete a solo, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe under sail on the very same boat - Mhadei. Although it was a mission with stops in between, it was a first of its kind for any Indian and took around 273 days. 

Captain Donde was on the second leg of his journey and was travelling from Fremantle to Lyttelton when Vice Admiral Manohar Prahlad Awati came up with the idea. Condemned to volunteer, Commander Abhilash was the natural choice owing to his training and vast experience of sailing close to 3500 miles on it. 

Christened after the Mandovi River of Goa, Indian Navy’s Mhadei was built to a stock design by Van De Stadt called Tonga 56. The cruising sloop built by Ratnakar Dandekar at his boat yard Aquarius Shipyard Pvt. Ltd in Divar, measured 56 feet in length. Built on wood-core and fiberglass sandwich hull it gave better performance than its counterparts made with steel or aluminum. 

Built for circumnavigation, this was not the first voyage for this 23-ton white wonder. An experienced campaigner, Mhadei has done the feat once before and made many sorties in the Indian Ocean.

On 1st November 2010, Mhadei with all its custom retrofits by Ratnakar and his team under the supervision of Captain Donde was ready to hit the waves. 

The Sunday afternoon indolence was visible on the streets leading to the Gateway of India. Apart from the turnout of eager shutterbugs, there was an unusual gathering who had come up with the latest issue of National Geographic Traveler India featuring Mhadei. They had come to get an exclusive autograph of Commander Abhilash Tomy who was about to embark on a voyage that would etch India’s name on the maritime history of the world. 

Amongst gifts from relatives and friends, talisman for good luck from a stranger, pizza from the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and hundreds of cheering fans, he was strangely calm and was at peace as he sought permission from the Flag Officer. 

Flanked by an anxious father and an excited Mentor, Admiral Awati, the Commander-in-Chief, Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy, Admiral Sinha acceded to his request and gifted him a binocular and some last minute advice. 

After four years of hard work in preparation for this dream, as he sailed out of cell phone range, he made one last call, “Am off, Mom, it’s a beautiful day and I am happy”. 

Chapter III: Across the Indian Ocean

Hoisting 100 kilograms over the equivalent of a seven-storey building on a hot day with bare hands without a crew helping, can leave you terribly exhausted and the skipper has been doing it quite a few times to catch up any wind that the Arabian Sea offered. 

The first week offered decent speed as the Mhadei and its skipper Commander Abhilash made good progress hugging the western coastline of India. Experiencing some gorgeous views of star filled nights that echoed on the calm ocean, with a sparrow, a grasshopper, two dragonflies and a curious yet fearful bird that changed its perch every time Abhilash moved on the deck to give company. It was quite a decent uneventful start to the journey. 

A tea and a honey drenched sunset welcomed the skipper and his boat on the 16th day as they crossed the equator and entered the lower hemisphere where there is more sea than land, less wars and even less politics; where the wind blows the right way for all the wrong reasons, contorting the worst oceans of the world as it blasts its way confident and relentless. The equator brought pleasant memories of the first crossing which the Captain encountered more than a decade back. 

“As cadets on-board the Krishna on our way to Madagascar, we indulged in a ceremony where the Commanding Officer was arrested, presented at the court of Lord Varuna, judged and meted out with punishments that ranged from lifting 27-Kilo shells to a generous swig of “SomRas”. In return we were gifted a certificate that I preserved to this day.” Recounts Abhilash in his book 151 Days at Sea. 

The sailors are superstitious bunch of people. They believe that taking a bath can sometime bring your boat out of sluggishness and pick up speed. But Commander Abhilash believed in the ideology of the Mongol Warriors who never bathed. According to them the grime that settled on their skin would protect them from the biting cold of Mongol region. 

The Mongolian theory can be put to test later as the biting cold was still at bay. The sun has been working up its intensity on the Indian Ocean and the rays were so scorching that it felt as if they were piercing through the body. The sea has calmed up considerably giving an opportunity to take a bath. It was then that he realized that his skin has not turned “Sexy golden brown” due to a tan but because of the grime which has settled on it. Ahoy! the superstition came true as the boat came out of sluggish sloshing and gathered speed with determination. No wonder the sailors are a superstitious lot!

The memories of the last human face have started to fade. The chill came in to give company along with flying fish. Unlike shown in the movie Life of Pi, they didn’t come in sprays and banged on the boat from all directions but showed up in bunch of 4-5 a day. But what did come in sprays and barged the boat, were gigantic waves from sailing upwind 20 knots. The calm blue seas had turned hostile and looked ominously gray with streaks of silver around the rim. 

The silver lining, however, was that the diesel generator, which is usually run for about four hours a day to charge the service batteries, needs to run just half as the wind generators were running full throttle taking care of the entire load. “Less is more, as we do our little bit to preserve the planet.”, says Abhilash. Sitting in a 23 Ton home that was being tossed like a roller coaster, devoid of a heater in the biting cold and an air condition in scorching heat, celebrating life with boiled potatoes, popcorn and rare preserved delicacies from DFRL, Abhilash stresses the fact that we often confuse luxuries with necessities. When cornered with a situation where we have bare minimum to our disposal, our instincts more often than not find a way to bring happiness in even those little things we can afford. 

As the first of the three Capes, Cape Leeuwin of Australia approached in the middle of December, the skipper decided to stick to lighter winds. 

Alone at sea, one needs to be a sailor, a navigator, an engineer, a doctor, a mathematician, a technician, a cook and a janitor. The rigors of training at Naval Academy teaches you to be a jack of all trades, expert enough to survive alone. Abhilash took advantage of the lull Australia offered as he carried out a premature 300 hours servicing of the diesel generator on board, which was giving trouble for quite some time now and cleaned the boat which looked like a cadet’s mess right before the Divisional Officer’s inspection. 

Chapter IV: Into the Pacific

With Christmas came the Pacific. When one straddles past the crowded grey of Indian Ocean to the desolate blue of Pacific it often seems like end of the world. For the solitude loving Abhilash, it was a welcome change as the Pacific greeted Mhadei with good speed and a clear sky. The Captain celebrated the festival with freeze-dried vegetables washed down with soda and half a slab of Bournville he had saved up for this occasion basking on the deck of Mhadei soaking in the rare generous sunshine.

A peculiar thing happened as Mhadei bid farewell to New Zealand. It was 31st December 2012 and Abhilash celebrated the coming of New Year with a packet of Halwaand the left over Bournville bar from Christmas. 

Crossing into the Western Hemisphere from the west, as Mhadei sailed across the international date line, it caused a confusion of dates. After six hours of celebrating the new year Abhilash was again in 2012. 

The resurrected 2012 did cause some discomfort to the boat and the skipper. The boat’s bilge pump and raw water pump gave up which had to be replaced and Abhilash found himself scalding with boiling water as the sea tossed the boat sideways when he was preparing dinner. 

But it did prove to set a new record. He became the first Indian to welcome the new year before crossing over to the other side and also became the last Indian to see off the old year; and have two successive new year celebrations. 

The second new year was received with 50 Knots gale force winds which jettisoned Mhadei into 4000 miles of landless ocean, into the Pacific. 

Chapter V: Rounding the Horn

“…Dreams were the key to the picture, permitting a boy to enter it, to stand at the crest of the windswept ridge, to climb toward the summit, now no longer far above… This was one of those uninhibited dreams that come free with growing up. I was sure that mine about the Everest was not mine alone; the highest point on earth, unattainable, foreign to all experience, was there for many boys and grown men to aspire around…”

                                                        - Thomas F Hornbein

                                                           Everest: The West Ridge

It was the 64th Anniversary of India’s Republic Day. As the nation was busy hoisting the tricolor and celebrating the country’s transition of becoming an Independent Republic with coming into force of India’s Constitution on 26th January 1950, Commander Abhilash was busy writing his own history. 

It was a usual overcast morning with the invisible but omnipresent sun. Left with just 300 liters of drinking water, Commander Abhilash in his peach colored wind cheater which was warm enough to ward off the biting cold of South Pacific prepared his beloved Mhadei to round the Everest of Capes - Cape Horn.

Even though the strong winds, large waves, strong currents and icebergs make rounding the Cape a hazardous adventure, the real reason for it being termed the Everest of Capes is different. Like the Everest stands as the highest feat of mountaineering, rounding the Cape celebrates the arduous toil, patience and daredevilry of a sailor for reaching the southern zenith of sailing and crossing past the Drake passage. 

Situated just 800 kms from Antarctica it provides the shortest crossing from Antarctica to any other landmass. Even though on the morning of 18th January 2013, the Skipper and his boat passed the geographical mid-point of their voyage, crossing 108 deg west longitude, the ante median of Mumbai, crossing the Horn will be the true mid-point in every other sense. 

After completing 86 days at sea in complete solitude with only Albatross, Cormorants, Dolphins, Sea Gulls and other creatures of the ocean to give him company, he was about to complete his journey of two oceans, south of equator and begin climbing north to his port of departure. 

At 1:45 PM IST and 0315 hrs. deck time on 26th January 2013, he crossed the longitude of Cape twenty miles to its south and crossed over to Atlantic bidding adieu to Pacific. A moment later he hoisted the national flag on the backstay which was followed by a fly-past of albatrosses and cormorants and a steam-past of smiling dolphins. 

The flag was a happy flag to be fluttering free in fresh breeze so far away from mainland India and its colorscontrasted well with the dark shades of the sea and sky. The waves literally chanted lines from the national anthem- उच्छल जलधि तरंग (chanted by the waves of the Ocean). 

Chapter VI: One Hundred Days of Solitude

Royal Air Force’s (RAF’s) C-130 has been nicknamed Hercules for a reason. The four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft is a massive airliner for carrying troops and prodigious amount of cargo. The versatile airframe because of its multifaceted usage in airborne assault, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refueling, maritime patrol, and aerial firefighting has found itself being the main tactical aircraft for many military forces worldwide. 

Sergeant Nik Howe of RAF was flying his Hercules on a mission when he noticed a white speck on the window shield against a teal Atlantic. Flying closer he recognized the blue ‘Ashok Chakra” of on the sails of a white boat. Inquisitively he buzzed the Radio of Mhadei. 

After exchanging pleasantries, impressed by the daring adventure the boat and her skipper were on, The Hercules gave three low level fly pasts impressing Commander Abhilash Tomy with its flying skills. In return, Mhadei bobbed about in free ocean merrily enjoying a gentle ocean after a tumultuous last night. 

A couple of days after hoisting the flag on Republic Day, Commander Abhilash experienced violent winds that suddenly shot up to 40 knots with gusts frequently touching 55 Knots forcing the boat to go out of control. It required the Captain to try a novel sail configuration. The configuration worked well as Mhadei made light of six and seven meters swell and generous breeze. 

This was the third year that the Commander was celebrating his birthday in Atlantic. On 5th February 2010, he celebrated his birthday at the house of Governor of Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic over tea. In 2011, he celebrated his birthday on board Mhadei on his way to Rio with a crew of four enjoying freeze dried ice cream dowsed with single malt followed by an excuse from middle watch. Two years later, on his 34th birthday he was again at South Atlantic at 34 degrees west with another packet of freeze dried strawberry ice cream. Greetings and wishes came from all time zones across the world between 4th and 5th of February 2013. 

On 9th February 2013, Commander Abhilash Tomy completed 100 days of Solitude at sea. He had sailed more than 15000 nautical miles by that day and rounded two of the three capes. 

On the 520th birth anniversary of Nicolas Copernicus, the Renaissance astronomer and mathematician who had formulated a heliocentric model of the universe, not only had Commander Abhilash and Mhadei rounded the final Cape, the Cape of Good Hope but also conclusively proved the rotundity of the earth.

Proving Nicolas’s theory yet again, on 19th February 2013, he had intersected his own track that had started as a solo voyage from Cape Town on the 31st of April 2011 and meandered onwards to India in May to reach Goa in the first days of June, and thereafter voyaged eastwards in 2012-13 to reach the same point on earth through west. he had thus, technically, become the second Indian to circumnavigate the globe solo and under sail.

Riding winds topping 70 Knots and swell of 8-10 meters, crossing the Cape, true to its nickname of Cape of Storms proved to be a tumultuous task. It felt as if a supremely powerful God was holding the tip of the mast and shaking it vigorously, using Mhadei to whisk the ocean. The storm took the genoa with it as Mhadei entered the Indian Ocean and started its way up to India.  

​

Chapter VII: The Reverse March

Mol Distinction- “Request next port of call.”

Mhadei- “Mumbai.”

Mol Distinction- “Request port of departure”

Mhadei- “Mumbai”

Mol Distinction- “No sir. That was your destination. Request port of departure.”

Mhadei- “I repeat; port of departure was Mumbai.”

Mol Distinction- “Sir, then what is your next port of call.”

Mhadei- “Next port of call is also Mumbai”

It took the Chinese Merchant vessel, Mol Distinction by awe as she understood the meaning of the conversation. The conversation she had might be one those rare conversation one has on sea as not everyday someone circumnavigates the world non-stop under sail unassisted and without a crew. Only 78 others have done this before. 

The requirements to qualify for solo circumnavigation include:

• Starting and finishing in the same Port

• Not passing through any Canals or Straits that would necessitate outside assistance or motoring

• Crossing all meridians at least once

• Crossing the Equator at least twice

• Traversing at least 21,600 NM

• Rounding the three great capes viz. Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope

Mhadei and its sole sailor were approaching the Mascarene Island from South. They had crossed the Topic of Capricorn for the second time in four months on International Women’s day and have started their ascent to their port of departure, Mumbai.

“When you are alone, you can be yourself. You need not opinionate and no one can form an opinion about you. Away from the society, its expectations and its regulations are also away. Basically you may not bathe for 50 days and there is no one to judge you!” Laughs off the Commander in a casual meeting over lunch on a mildly sunny afternoon at Goa. 

The feeling of again mingling with Humanity was bearing down on Abhilash. All his life, solitude has been a close friend. An avid reader from an early age, he has often found peace and happiness in his books. Even in this voyage, the world of words is keeping him company, seldom giving a need to be with another human. 

Following the tune of the reverse march, the sun shone brighter and deeper though days have shortened causing oils, chocolate, butter and dates to thaw and honey to flow more freely. Twilights were no longer the lingering inky blue affair they used to be in the Southern Ocean and the last of the albatross too stopped following the wake of the boat. The invisible hands of drizzle, fog and dew which would incessantly clean the deck have gone making everything powdery and sticky to the touch. Regular cleaning has become a mandate as a white armor of salt started encasing the hull. 

Chapter VIII: The Homecoming

As if the crisis in south Pacific was not enough to make him race against time, that he had to encounter another one in the Indian Ocean. It was somewhere in South Pacific that Abhilash discovered something very disturbing.  

In the South Pacific, the essential supply of his beloved popcorn had quickly diminished, threatening to make the second half of the voyage quite unpleasant. However, Mhadei understood her skipper’s emergency and had clocked good speed after that, thanks to the wind Gods,touching an average of 180 nautical miles a day.  

On 17th of March in the Indian Ocean he encountered a hurdle which could have possibly ended up his dream of sailing unassisted across the world. The water in the water tank that held fresh water has turned murky dark. It was so severely contaminated that had he discharged it in the ocean, it could have triggered a marine tragedy. 

“Water, water everywhere but a not a drop of water to drink!”. The heat was on the rise and all he had left was a few bottles of packaged drinking water. With some fresh water harvesting technique he acquired when Mhadei was moored in Goa last monsoon, he was able to preserve 10-12 liters of water from passing squalls. Now it was upto his water conservation technique that will decide which one will win the race to Mumbai, fresh water or voyage. 

By the time he was on the throes of crossing the Equator for the second time the sea had undergone a metamorphosis: the youthful, inquisitive and godless ocean of the south had grown older, wiser and bored in these latitudes, its faith reaffirmed by the repetitive act of washing the shores of the land of a million deities.

With the setting sun of 31st March, they crossed the first set of buoys while entering the harbor of Mumbai. A cruise ship was heading out with the promise of dolphin sightseeing and naval helicopter buzzed about to take pictures of the last moments of the historic voyage of Mhadei and its Skipper, Commander Abhilash Tomy. 

The prospect of registering your names in the history books will make anyone excited. But Abhilash was different. If the Navy would have ordered him to turn his ship and go for another circumnavigation, he would have gleefully accepted. The prospect of leaving Mhadei and the sea and mingle with land lubbers was washing away the excitement as he had not sailed for the laurels but for the love for sailing. The only resorts were the waiting MacBook he had ordered from US and cycle he had ordered from South Africa while on the voyage, which he was genuinely excited about. 

The sight of popcorn and chilled drink in the hands of one of the colleagues who had come to greet him at the harbor of Mumbai along with Commander Donde and Ratnakar was overwhelming. He couldn’t contain his wide smile as he disembarked from Mhadei on 31st March 2013. The cannonading gun salutes and parading military columns will have to wait till 6th of April 2013 when he was formally welcomed by the supreme commander of Indian Armed Forces, the then President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. 

The 151 days at sea has left him with many unforgettable experiences. Death and resurrection of dragonflies, suicidal flying fish, bone chilling cold, ghost icebergs, skin penetrating heat, foggy sunless months, loyal albatrosses, inquisitive whales and smiling dolphins to count a few. But yearning to find again what he missed the most, solitude at sea, he began to plan his next adventure soon.