Are we there yet!?

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 the 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 snug in the anchor cabin.

The glass panels to the cabin top were glued in place using stuff much stronger than the fevicol we're all used to. Fevicol may keep people glued to their seats in an overflowing Indian bus, but this glue ensures the glass stays on the boat, in wet weather and storms, in the heat and the cold.

Splicing the runners

Both of us are experts now at splicing and whipping. We managed to make rather neat soft eyes for both the runners, even if I say so myself! In English, soft eyes are loops at the ends of the rope. In this case they enclose a padeye each, a metal loop, that is bolted to the boat. Ropes lose over 50% of their strength if tied but only 10% if we use soft eyes. 

Tying the guard rails

Once Antara was placed in the water, Dilip was no longer worried about people falling off her while working. Its ok if people fall in the river. His logic...they wont' get hurt and can swim back to shore! It's a good thing the regulations require them, so the guard rails are up too.  

Back from a test sail in the river

After holding off as long as possible a pre-final coat of paint has been applied. Ratnakar checked and rejected the shade of white twice, then personally spray tested the last one supplied. Even the bits and bobs and boards have been given a fresh look. Antara's looking dandy.

And since we cannot take her out to sea yet, we're doing sorties in the river. These are helping sort out the rigging, the engine, the auto-pilot besides giving us a sense of how she rides.

How much longer do we have to wait!? Are we there yet!?

With Antara, you now have the opportunity to sail, safe in Covid times - on a large sailboat, along the coast, in the deep blue yonder! You decide and we'll design a sail just for you. 

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