Saturday, August 22, 2009

Post from Mhadei 22 Aug 09

      Its around 2130, the crew has been well fed on a diet of brown rice and dehydrated spinach while Mhadei is enjoying a cruise on a broad reach in over 20 kts of steady breeze with a following sea. Rain through the day has brought down the temperatures and the radio is still picking up songs. Almost perfect! Makes you wonder if last night actually happened!
      Last night soon after I wrote the blog, the wind died out making the sails flap around violently. Furled the headsail and lashed the boom and the wind picked up to 30 kts. Got up and set the sails and the wind decided to vanish again. The cycle of squalls with shifty winds continued through the night making me forget the number of jybes I made just to stay straight. In the middle of one such jybes the Raymarine auto pilot decided to strike work! Luckily the Jeffa autopilot held fort and we managed to come through. The extra winches fitted at the last minute came in handy. Looks like the trouble of clearing them from cutoms and fitting them was well worth the effort. As if the wind wasn't enough, the moths struck with a vengence. The constant shifting of sails must have disturbed them, so when I was not struggling with the sails and getting wet outside, I was honing my shooting skills with a can of insect repellant inside the boat. These shifty and light winds can drive one absolutely nuts. It also tends to damage things as I discovered in the morning. The mainsail clew shackle, and its a real heavy duty SS shackle, had come off. The siezing wire had broken off and the threads worn out probably due to the constant slatting of the mainsail. Luckily a pare was available. One lazy jack was off and entangled with the starboard runner; was lucky to catch it before it was too late. Will see whats wrong with the Raymarine auto pilot tomorrow.
   
     Morning was absolutely windless with some swell. In a way that was good as I could check out the damage of the night and replace the shackle etc. Been getting good winds since afternoon. Started with a squall but the wind has continued, from North West! And I thought it was the season for South West Monsoons. There are regular squalls passing over but they don't seem to go over 30 kts very often, well within the capabilities of my most important crew member, the Jeffa autopilot.
     Covered over 50 Nm in the last 6 hrs, crossed Mangalore about 65 Nm away from land and now passsing the Kerala coast 67 Nm to the East.

11 comments:

Sudhakar Tyagi said...

Hi Dilip,
We all wish you success during Voyage. You are doing fine and we are sure that you will accomplish the task. Your wait for safe arrival has already begun. We are proud of you.
----- Lt Col Sudhakar Tyagi

Abhilash Tomy said...

Watch out for fishing, the smaller unlit ones especially.

pracs said...

Hey buddy, thanks for updating photographs,i feel like am sailing with you, good feeling to be connected to te waters. take care and will be reading your blog daily...............
take care

Corrupt vs Perceive to be Corrupt said...

Hey Dilip

We are proud of you. Is is possible for us to see some more photographs of this epic journey. Do mention the Link.

Cheers and Good Luck

Jagjot Saini

Diptish Vartak said...

Hello Dilip,

Wish you the very best in your circumnavigation adventure. We are waiting to see you complete this voyage and get the well deserved recognition from around the globe.

your friend,
Diptish Vartak

Unknown said...

Dilip kaka,
I am very eager to read todays blog and am cheking it every hour. Ganapati bappa and Satyajeet dada have come. Last year you had come at Ganesh Chaturthi but this time we will miss you.
.......Manasi

Abhijeet Deolekar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Abhijeet Deolekar said...

Hey Dilip,

I am following your blog and loving it....

it won't be a bad idea to click pictures of yourself....

looking forward..

Abhijeet

DS Pathania said...

Dear Sir,
Indeed going through your blog fills our heart with pride. Certainly, we cannot match the feats of our senior divers. We pray for your health and success. Your success will be matter of pride for nation and particularly for diving farternity who can then boast that only a diver could do this. Yesterday there was a big article in Hindustan times on you and circumnavigation. All the best and do let me know incase on personal front there is anything that needs do be done at delhi.

Regards
Cdr. DS Pathania

chatty said...

donde , hope the auto pilot was a minor issue, good to see you blogging...an believe me there are people waiting to read your next blog..ted turner


chatty

SIMON said...

Dilip Sir,

Very closely following your write ups. I feel almost like in a virtual world sharing your experiences. While we speak from the comfort of our homes, for you it must be a tough and challenging call. But we also know that you are made of sterner stuff and will come up tops. Wish you fair winds and following seas. May the seas off Malabar be kind unto you

Regards
Simon