Sailing with Antara

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