Sailing with Antara

A drenched morning at Dona Paula After 10 days of stressing over the next thunderstorm, rushing to Antara and spending nights onboard chewing our nails about if the mooring will hold; we decided to speed up our plans for Bombay. On October 17 th  we set off on our first long sail on Antara. Casting off at 1030 that morning, we cruised our way to Ratnagiri, reaching there the next morning. We came alongside one of the tugs used by Finolex, in their beautiful anchorage at Pawas Bay.  The Patankars ensured a warm welcome  and Finolex followed suit. Casting off the next morning, Devdutt Patankar filmed our first video of Antara sailing with both sails up. We sailed right into a squall and the wet weather saw us all the way through to Bombay. Good morning Mumbai! The winds gave us speed though and we moved at a regular clip of 6kts. After spotting the skyline at 1530 the next day, we had Murphy ensure that the winds came at us from our destination. Sail boats can only

Dussehra morning Dussehra night had us scrambling again. Around midnight we had winds gusting to 37 knots and the boat had drifted towards the seabirds moored in the bay. We cranked up the engine and moved out of there as fast as we could. The winds were strong and the engine was barely able to move us. The next 3 hours has us parading up and down the river waiting for the squall to move on. Swifts at their morning toilette We went right back to sleep after that. It's amazing how quickly one adapts to circumstances and eventually find joy in the little things. A gorgeous sunset, birds on a wire, fried fish and wine dinners, scrabble by torchlight, a skyful of stars at 0300.  So we need to fix two things and quickly. One is the mooring and the other is hired help for the dinghy and other odd jobs. The mooring needs more weight and we have ordered for a cement packed truck tyre to supplement the car tyre we are using. That should be ready in a couple of days. 

Sunset at anchorage The retreating monsoon often offers a parting kick in the form of sudden thunderstorms called elephantas. One such thunderstorm caught us off guard on the night of the 5th. A local GYA assistant, Jaydas woke up for a pee at 4 in the morning and noticed a mast close to the jetty. A closer look shook the sleep from his eyes and he called Dilip. A look at the caller ID was enough for Dilip to surmise the worst and jump out of bed. We tore down to the jetty to find Antara just metres away. The strong winds and tousled seas had lifted the mooring and dragged both the boat and the mooring. Jaydas started up his dinghy and we clambered in. He dropped us to Antara and we promptly started up the engine. Yesterday's escapade and our subsequent gentle administrations saw the engine purr into prompt action. We cleared the mooring lines and motored away. The next few hours were spent parading up and down the river till morning broke. We came back to our original

Sailing to our anchorage at Dona Paula  The last 4 long, slow months were spent alongside accompanied by many sighs of boredom and repeated bouts of cleaning. Finally, on September 30th, we slipped the lines and sailed across to Dona Paula, our home for the season. The sail across, from the Mandovi to the Zuari was a lovely, uneventful one. We had put down the mooring lines the earlier day, so we simply sailed in, hooked the lines and voila, Antara was home. Itching with ennui, we promptly set off for an overnight sail to Bhogwe beach, near Vengurla. After leaving at 0630 on October 2nd we reached around 2000. The day was slow and easy, with a gentle breeze filling the sails. The winds picked up by evening and Dilip decided to turn around and sail back instead of getting bumped around at anchor. My first night sail in India, and with Dilip. The starry night and the Milky Way made for a memorable sail. Antara added the spice with a moody, on again off again auto pi

Cyclone station Antara had just completed a month on the seas and we were out sailing with friends. As we motored towards the sea, Dilip looked up at the sky and pointed out that the combination of sun and clouds augured bad weather ahead. As if in response, the waves were bigger than usual and the troughs deeper, creating a rollercoaster effect. No sooner were we beyond the lee of the land, the wind picked up to 30 knots, which is about 54 kmph. After attempting to sail for a bit, we realised it would be smart to return to shore. Two of our berthing lines broke while securing her, so as we watched Antara lurching on the pontoon, we decided to wait till the tide changed. While there, we noticed unusual activity by the other residents and asked why. That's when we first heard about Cyclone Vayu, and the penny dropped. After a quick meal and shower at home, we were right back on Antara, to spend the night on board. The high tide, incoming waves and winds gusting to 26 knot

Team Antara at Captain of Ports jetty A ntara made her way towards the seas on May 10, 2019, and it’s been a rollercoaster ride ever since.   Week 1 We motored her to the Captain of Ports jetty and put up her mast with the help of a crane and a dozen helping hands. Antara sailed to Dona Paula the next day. It was a bit tricky putting up the genoa near the casino boats on the Mandovi river, even with Chatty helming and Dilip and I managing the sail. The Genoa is two thirds the length of the boat and tends to get stuck in the stays. Eventually we made our way around the headland and into the Zuari river. Where we inadvertently rubbed noses with a submerged wreck! A dive late in the week showed no damage, so that was that. Office space As she was to be anchored offshore, our first task was to put in a sinker to which we could moor Antara. It took us, newbies, the better part of the afternoon to figure how to place the sinker, tie the anchor cables and float the marker.

Lubricating the propeller The drive from the Ribander ferry drop off is along wide open fields and water bodies. Birds that have wandered away from the neighbouring Chorao Bird Sanctuary yodel away on the power lines, while sundry bird watchers armed with their telephoto lens hide in the long grass. A few fishermen hang around knee deep in the random patches of water, shouldering rustic fishing rods. Even as you soak in these sights, you suddenly come up to a clump of trees and the raw sunshine is replaced by cool, sweet smelling shade and I feel like Alice crossing over into Wonderland. How to float a boat Keel Laying We had hoped to float Antara for Christmas as the feathering propeller and echo sounder had arrived in mid December and quickly put in place by Sachin and Siddhesh. The keel had been biding its time in the yard's locker area and all that remained was to place her on an even keel.  Meanwhile, the clouds cleared, the rainbow shone through and halleluj