Sailing with Antara

Antara, her Skipper and I, are all set. We're ready to go but have to stew in the sun till the paperwork is complete.  We've kept ourselves busy though. Mooring anchor The mooring anchor has been designed and is awaiting despatch to the depths of Dona Paula, where we plan to anchor. A large rubber tyre was filled with cement, with a semi circular metal rod placed in the middle as a handle. It weighs over 20kgs and we will probably take it along with us when we make the first and final crossing out of Divar to the seas.  Anchor cable Antara's mast is taller than most of t he bridges across the rivers Mandovi and Zuari. To take Antara to sea, we will have to take down her mast and motor her to the moorings and rejig the mast for the final time.   Antara gets her glasses 40 metres of anchor cable have been cleaned, painted green, and marked at every 10 metres: one white loop for every 10 metres. It's been looped through the windlass and sits snu

Ribander-Divar Ferry That's what Roy, my Skipper in the Clipper Race , called our 70 footer. And it seems an apt title for the various sailing vessels I have been watching on the River Mhadei since we started prepping Antara . River Ferry The first of the boaties we have the pleasure of meeting every morning is our ferry across to Divar . These are the sole public transport option across to the island.  We can either hop on to the one that leaves from Ribander or the one from Old Goa. The former costs an arm and a leg, at 10 rupees a ride! The latter is a princely sum of 7 rupees. And that's for 4-wheelers. 2-wheelers and walk on passengers ride free. So far Divar residents have resisted building a bridge across and even the trains that run across, do not have a stop on the island.  Fishing Trawler Trawler As we drive to Divar, from Panaji, we see a lot of fishing villages dotting the riverbanks. And whole droves of fishing boats that lol about all day after a lo