Riding on a Wave

As an Indian naval officer for over two decades,the closest Commander Dilip Donde came to experiencing adventure was skiing in Manali in 1995 at the National Winter Games.

As an Indian naval officer for over two decades,the closest Commander Dilip Donde came to experiencing adventure was skiing in Manali in 1995 at the National Winter Games. But Donde recently changed that by becoming the first Indian to circumnavigate the world solo on a sail boat. It is thrilling. As a naval officer you are posted on ships with a crew of more than 100 people to perform tasks. But on this boat,I had to do everything alone, says Donde,42,on phone from Mumbai,where his sail boat,the 17-metre fibre-glass coated Mhadei,is docked. On May 22,he finished a 21,600 nautical mile journey that had lasted 156 days.

It was in 2006 when Donde,then stationed at Port Blair,volunteered for the expedition by answering the call of former Naval Chief Arun Prakash for a navy man to navigate the world on a sail boat. Always up for challenges,Donde realised later what he had got himself into,but there was no backing out. I had never sailed long distance and did not know what it incorporated, he chuckles. On August 19,2009 Donde set sail from Mumbai for the coast of Freemantle in Perth,Australia. Though his professional expertise kicked with regards to navigation and collision avoidance,it was mainly a mental ballgame. It is not only the physical stamina that counts on such long journeys. My technical experience compensated for my age deficit, he explains.

Donde credits his success to the time he spent training under the legendary British sailor Robin Knox Johnson,who was the first sailor to solo circumnavigate around the world on a sail boat non-stop. Donde sailed with him for six weeks,accompanying him for a while on one of his expeditions in January 2007. I learnt from scratch how to construct a sail boat. Theory alone is not enough, he recalls.

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Having no fixed routine,days on board the Mhadei,recalls Donde,were spent mostly looking out for signs of impending calamity. From auto-pilot malfunctions to a loose sail anything could translate into a threat that could bring the journey to an end. During the first leg (from Mumbai to Australia) I ruptured a padeye (a kind of bolt that holds the sails in place). The boat went berserk and I spent the next 12 hours trying to fix the sail, he says. That apart,freak waves,sudden change in wind speed and no winds,were common on the ocean. My vessel was like a virtual workshop prepared for all eventualities, he adds. Every time he laid anchor at a harbour,there would be a crew waiting to replenish his supplies and check on the boat.

His schedule,too,had to be organised according to the sailing conditions. Days turned into nights and Donde had just enough time to catch a few quick winks and munch on ready-to-eat meals and fluids,before getting back to charting his course and ensuring the on-board equipment worked accurately. I would have sleepless nights when I was close to a harbour since I had to be alert to avoid collision with stationery vessels, he says.

His journey over,Donde has spent the last two days resting. When you are sailing,you dont have the creature comforts of home or the luxury to sleep for eight hours daily, he says,adding that he is still to come to terms with his achievement. His tour has found him a place in the exclusive club of sailors from the world who have completed a solo circumnavigation on their sail boats. I am the 147th sailor to undertake such a trip. The feeling is special since no Indian has attempted this before, he says.

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