Sailing with Antara

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.

Ready for inspection Tonnage Computation Sale deed Builders Certificate Allotment of Name, official number, call sign and MMSI Declaration of Ownership - Form 3 Passport copy Carving & Marking Note Watchkeeping certificate Drawings of the vessel Particulars of ship Certificate of Survey Certificate of class Owner undertaking to maintain class Owner undertaking of application as a commercial vessel Details of Life-saving, fire fighting, navigation & communication equipment Incline Test  Stability booklet That's the list of documents required to register a sailboat for commercial purposes, with the Director General of Shipping in India! We've spent a nerve-racking two weeks in the throes of the final registration process ensuring that Antara has all the mandated equipment, marked with her name, port of registry and official number. And this afternoon, finally, we have sign off on documents that assure us that our boat will be registered and

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