After an arduous voyage of eight months to circumnavigate the globe on a sailboat, with stop-overs at five ports, INSV Tarini with six women naval officers is set to be flagged in with fanfare in Goa on Monday.
The ¡°Navika Sagar Parikrama¡± expedition, led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew.
Covering over 21,600 nautical miles since she left Goa on September 10 last year, the Indian-built sailing vessel INSV Tarini visited five countries and crossed the Equator twice, sailed across four continents and three oceans, and ¡°passed south¡± of the three ¡°Great Capes¡± ¨C Leeuwin, Horn and Good Hope.
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¡°It was a gruelling test of human endurance, perseverance and sailing skills to battle the elements of sea and its wrath,¡± said Navy spokesperson Captain D K Sharma on Friday.
The crew, which also included Lt-Commanders Pratibha Jamwal and Swati P, and Lieutenants Aishwarya Boddapati, S Vijaya Devi and Payal Gupta, have certainly shown exemplary grit and determination.
They battled winds up to 60 knots in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. ¡°Moderate to rough sea conditions, with sea states up to five, winds gusting up to 35-30 knots and swells as high as six meters, was a matter of routine for the gutsy crew,¡± said Captain Sharma.
The expedition was sailed in six legs, with stopovers at the Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), Cape Town (South Africa) and Mauritius. ¡°The crew called on governors, high commissioners, mayors etc during their stopovers.
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They also interacted with the local populace, especially children, to promote ocean sailing and the spirit of adventure,¡± said the spokesperson.
The six women officers trained under Captain Dilip Donde, the first Indian to solo-circumnavigate the globe in 2009-2010, and Captain Atool Sinha, an Asian Games silver medallist, for almost three years to prepare for the voyage.