How It Started: A Solo Round-The-World Voyage
Book Extract
“Dilip, are you in some sort of trouble with the Navy?” asked my mother one evening as we finished dinner at home in Port Blair. I had pushed away the empty dinner plate absentmindedly and was back to working on my laptop.
“What makes you think so?” I asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible while my brain was busy trying to word a suitable reply. The moment I had been apprehensive about for the past two months seemed to have arrived.
“Why have you suddenly started getting so many calls from Naval Headquarters, including the office of the Naval Chief? I think it is all very unusual so will you please tell me?” She had been staying with me for the past nine years and must have noticed the change in my routine since I got back from a sailing trip to Mumbai two months back. Through the years I had made it a point never to take any work home, howsoever busy the schedule. Since my return, however, I had been sitting almost every evening with a laptop borrowed from the office, reading up and writing well past midnight.
“I won’t call it trouble but, yes, there is something I got myself into when I visited Mumbai for the sailing trip. I didn’t tell you earlier as the whole thing still appears a bit harebrained and unrealistic to me,” I mumbled, trying to find the right words to break the news and minimise any possible resistance.
“You can tell me whatever it is,” persisted my mother.
“The Navy has been looking for someone to undertake a solo circumnavigation in a sailboat and I volunteered, though I am not exactly sure what it involves.” I decided to play it straight, acutely aware of my terrible diplomatic skills, and waited for her reaction. The reaction was surprisingly positive, though not too unexpected. “That is very good. Give it your best shot, opportunities like this don’t come every day, but remember it is a one-way street!” she responded after a pause. “Don’t ever think of backing out.”
I decided to test her further by telling her that there was a good possibility that I may not come back alive from the trip. No Indian had undertaken such a trip, less than 200 in the world had been successful, and no one kept count of the unsuccessful attempts. That didn’t deter her much as she calmly replied that I had to go some day like everyone else and it would be far better if I went trying to do something worthwhile! All she asked, in return of her full support, was to be able to read up as much as she could on the subject.
With her full support assured, I decided to fill her in on the events so far...
On 27 Apr 2006, before the start of the Mumbai to Kochi J 24 sailing rally that I was participating in, I met Capt Dhankhar, the Navy’s Principal Director of Sports and Adventure Activities. Since he had flown down to flag off the rally along with the Chief of the Naval Staff, or CNS, the conversation was about ocean sailing in the Navy. As I escorted him to the Sailing Club moorings, he almost casually mentioned that the Navy was toying with the idea of sponsoring a solo circumnavigation by a naval officer.
“Can I be a part of it in some way?” I blurted out, stopping him in midsentence, throwing naval protocol to the winds. I just couldn’t help it, the whole idea sounded so exciting though I had no clue what exactly was involved.
“Would you like to take it on? Should I tell the CNS that you have volunteered or do you need a little time to think about it?” he asked in his characteristic measured tone, with a hint of scepticism.
“Yes sir, please do tell the CNS that I want to volunteer, I don’t need any time to think!” I replied, my brain in overdrive. Less than a minute back I was ready to play any part, howsoever small, in this unknown project because it sounded interesting and suddenly the entire project seemed to be falling in my lap. I didn’t bother to ask what exactly the Navy had in mind, all my fuzzy brain could sense was that this was something exciting and I shouldn’t let go of the opportunity.
“Okay, now that you have volunteered, can you make a project report and send it to me by next month?”
In less than five minutes of what seemed like casual talk, I had gotten myself into the biggest soup in my life with a very vague idea about what exactly it was!
The Captain had been my instructor during my Clearance Diving course and had observed me closely during those stressful days. That, along with my declared enthusiasm for ocean sailing and my past experience as the Executive Officer of INS Tarangini during her first round the world voyage in 2002-2003, probably prompted him to check if I was interested in this project. Apparently I wasn’t the first person he had asked but was definitely the first to fall for the idea, thus ending his search.
Later in the day, the CNS, Adm Arun Prakash, flagged off the rally. In his speech he declared that the Navy was ready to sponsor a solo circumnavigation under sail provided someone volunteered to take on the challenge. As we lined up for a group photograph, he approached and said, “Dilip, I heard you have volunteered!” I just nodded my head and murmured,“Yes sir. Let us see.”
“So that is the story so far. Now I am required to make a detailed project report and send it to Naval Headquarters as of last month, which explains the frequent calls from Delhi. Honestly, I don’t have a clue about the subject and have been trying to read about it on the Internet, which seems to be the only source of information here.” I promised my mother that I would pass on whatever I read on the subject to her and got back to finalising my report. Her unstinting support was a burden off my head. I didn’t realise it then, but I had just conscripted the first member of the team for ‘Sagar Parikrama’, as the project would be called.
More than a month went by and I still hadn’t submitted my project report. One reason was a fairly busy work schedule that allowed me to read up on the subject only after dinner at home; the other, a total lack of knowledge about the subject. It would be an understatement to say that I was groping in the dark. The more I started reading, the more I started realising that this was not something romantic and poetic as I had initially thought but would involve a lot of hard work and would be far more difficult than what I had imagined. Surprisingly, though, that increased my excitement and determination to make it happen.
By Jul 2006, I managed to submit my project report to Naval Headquarters (NHQ) and decided that if I had to do a circumnavigation it had to be a proper circumnavigation under sail, going through the Southern Ocean, round the three Great Capes, Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. I could have proposed following the route taken by the previous Indian sailing expeditions in Trishna, Samudra and INS Tarangini through the Suez and Panama canals, called it a circumnavigation and no one would have been wiser, in the country at least! In fact, on hindsight, things would have turned out to be much simpler as I could always have pointed at ‘precedence’, something that opens many a door when dealing with the bureaucracy. I could have had a whale of a time stopping at 40 to 50 ports over a period of a year or two with a smooth sail through the Trade Winds! But then that wouldn’t have been the real thing. Even if the Navy, and the taxpayer who was essentially funding my trip, didn’t realise it, I would, and it just would not be right!
A month went by after I submitted the report. I was still clueless about what exactly to do. While I continued reading on the subject and sending the odd email enquiring about suitable second-hand boats, the whole idea had started getting a bit fuzzy and unrealistic as I got caught up in day-to-day activities.
For probably the first time ever, I had planned a nice holiday in Aug 2006; I had invited a close friend to the Andamans to explore the islands, booked my tickets to go to the mainland after that, handed over my duties at work in time and was all set to have a good time! My friend arrived as planned – and so did the calls from NHQ and a certain Vice Admiral Manohar Awati (Retd)! I was told that I was to go and work with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who apparently was the first person to have sailed solo and non-stop around the world. I had no idea who he was or what his achievements were. I did download information about him from the Internet but didn’t get much time to read with a house full of guests. All I knew was that he was trying to get ready to take part in a solo round-the-world race called the Velux 5 Oceans Race and had resigned from the chairmanship of his company as the company was conducting the race. When asked for his advice on my project, his response had been simple and characteristic: “Send him to work with me and he will know all there is to learn!”
The frequency of calls and the things I was supposed to do ‘as of yesterday’ increased so much that I was sitting in my office almost as much as on any working day. I finally got myself recalled from leave, little realising that that was the last, albeit short, holiday I would get for the next five years!
I left the Andamans before my friend – still at my home and now exploring the islands alone – and headed for the mainland. I was to go and meet the ever enthusiastic Vice Admiral Awati before heading for Delhi to complete my deputation formalities. The 80-year-old admiral had been egging on the Navy for years to undertake a solo circumnavigation. He lives with his wife in a remote village called Vinchurni, about 320 km from Mumbai, which with a population of 500 is small even by Indian standards! I landed in Mumbai, borrowed a friend’s car and went searching for the village few had heard of, finally making it by afternoon. I had interacted with the Admiral in passing some 10 years ago and he obviously didn’t remember me. We talked about the project, which wasn’t much really as it was more of an idea at that stage. He and his gracious wife made me feel at home instantly and when they insisted I spend the night with them instead of heading back to Mumbai and driving past midnight, I agreed without much fuss. As I was to stay for the night, I went for a nice long walk with the Admiral in the evening and had a sundowner with his wife while he retired to bed at 1900 h. The conversation was both interesting and varied. I enjoyed their company and left for Mumbai early the next morning. Much later and I am not sure how, I started getting a feeling that I had been under some sort of a probation and under observation during my stay! Two years into the project, when I had developed a good rapport with him, I finally asked him if what I suspected was true. He very calmly told me that I was indeed under observation and that after I had gone to bed he woke up and discussed me with his wife! While he had formed a favourable opinion about me, he wanted to take a second opinion from his better half as he relies on her gut feeling more than his own. Apparently, she told him that I seemed alright and should be able to take on the project!
“What if either of you had thought that I was not the right person for the job?” I asked.
“I would have asked the Navy to send me another guy!”
The next day, I drove up to Mumbai and met Capt Soli Contractor (Retd), then Commodore of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. He had represented India at the Munich Olympics in 1972 and was to be the technical advisor for the project. While talking to him, I realised that not only was I to be the first Indian to undertake this project but that the trip was to be undertaken in an Indian built boat. Never mind that India has virtually no yacht building industry to speak of! The whole idea was sounding crazier by the day and thus more exciting.
The next stop on what was fast becoming a voyage of discovery was Delhi. I was quite unfamiliar with the city in general and NHQ in particular, having steered clear of any appointment there so far. It was a whirlwind visit getting the paperwork ready for my deputation and for the project that was to follow. The Chief of the Naval Staff wanted to meet me before I left.
The first question he asked me, in humour and with a smile on his face, when I walked into his office was, “Dilip, have you gone completely mad?” I grinned, “Looks like that, Sir!” I had served on his staff 11 years back when he was commanding the Eastern Fleet and he knew me well. He wanted to know if I was under any sort of pressure and understood what I was getting into. Once he was satisfied, we got talking about the project. He was retiring within a month and promised to get the ‘Approval in Principle’ from the Defence Minister before retiring. He also insisted that I draft out a letter giving an outline of the project, addressed to all the naval formations. I was a little sceptical; we knew what we wanted to achieve but had no firm idea as to how we were planning to achieve it. When I naively pointed this out to him, he explained that he wanted the project to happen and the best way to ensure that it did not get scuttled after he retired was to leave his successors no option! He had already thought of an appropriate name for the project, ‘Sagar Parikrama’, literally meaning circumnavigation of the oceans in Hindi. No other name could have summed up the nature of the project so well and in simpler words.
While doing the rounds of NHQ and within an hour of the government approving my deputation to go and work with Sir Robin, I landed up at the personnel directorate. The ‘Sea Board’ for my course to decide the list of eligible officers to go to sea had been held the previous day. Not making it in the Board means the end of your career as you have virtually no chance of making it to the next rank. I bumped into an old friend who worked there. “I have made it in the Board, but unfortunately you haven’t,” he informed me, pulling a long face. “Cheer up mate, I’m quite glad!” was my reply. “Now I can concentrate on my project full time!”
© Not to be reproduced without written permission from Fernhurst Books Limited.
The First Indian, written by solo circumnavigator Dilip Donde. Commander Dilip Donde graduated from the Indian National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 1st January 1990. He specialised as a Clearance Diver and held various command, staff and instructional appointments before volunteering to undertake a solo unassisted circumnavigation under sail in an Indian built boat in 2006.