Sorry folks, I took a day off to travel from Bombay to Goa. The Covid test on arrival was negative so all good on that front.
On Antara, now that we have figured the sails and the rigging, let’s go sailing! A fun way to start is with some of our favorite movies, documentaries and books.
And what better to begin with than this documentary about Dilip’s mentor, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston: A Force of Nature. BBC broadcast it in June 2018 to mark 50 years since Sir Robin Knox-Johnston set sail from Falmouth and won the original Golden Globe Race. He thus became the first person to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world! With interviews and original footage, this a fabulous documentary about the most legendary sailor of our times. His latest book and biography, Running Free is unputdownable.
Another perspective on that first round the world race is that of Donald Crowhurst’s journey of sailing a trimaran, to his doom. Deep Water, a documentary and The Mercy, a movie, both recount the story of Donald Crowhurst and his fatal attempt to win the first Golden Globe Race in 1968. A day sailor, Crowhurst entered the race intending to use the prize money to support his failing business. Weeks into the race he began reporting false positions to race organisers, leading everyone to believe he was winning the race, even as he dawdled in the Atlantic Ocean. His yacht was later found drifting and recovered logbooks indicate that he had suffered a mental breakdown and jumped overboard. Robin Knox-Johnston who won the race, donated the prize money to Crowhurst’s widow.
Two books that offer gripping accounts of this race are A Voyage for Madmen and The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst
On his own circumnavigation, Dilip made a stopover in Lyttleton, New Zealand closely associated with the saga of Shackleton. Chasing Shackleton is a PBS Miniseries that follows a modern expedition that re-creates Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic Expedition, launched in 1914. The series joins a crew of five intrepid explorers, led by renowned adventurer, scientist, and author Tim Jarvis, as they duplicate Shackleton’s epic sea-and-land voyage in a replica of the original explorer’s lifeboat. The Endurance is a documentary, named after Shackleton’s ship, that recounts the ill-fated expedition to Antarctica from 1914-1916. It has original footage of the voyage as well as interviews with surviving crew members.
Some consider the America’s Cup the Formula 1 of sail boat racing; others, the Volvo Ocean Race. Since we prefer cruising and its leisurely pace, we prefer to watch racing from the comforts of the couch! And we have 2 we would recommend:
Wind is the story of Will Parker, a sailor who tragically loses the America’s Cup race in 1995. The race is considered the world’s biggest sailing prize. “Wind” is the dramatic, fictional story of a group of American challengers with a drive to win back sailing's top prize.
The Weekend Sailor, Mexico native Ramon Carlín entered his yacht Sayula II into the first crewed around the world sailing race, then called the Whitbread Round the World sailing race. With little experience and a crew comprised of his family and friends, Carlín beat all odds and won this prestigious race, today known as The Volvo Ocean Race
Dilip was a clearance diver in the Navy, so Jacques Yves Cousteau’s book The Silent World finds pride of place in our home collection. There is also the movie, The Odyssey which chronicles the life of one of the pioneers in scuba diving, underwater exploration and film-making. He introduced a whole generation to the wonders of reef and marine life in the ocean.
While in the Navy, Dilip’s last task was to mentor the six brave women Naval officers who successfully completed a circumnavigation in 2018. White Squall, about a skipper and his bunch of intrepid school boy sailors has special appeal. Based on a true story, this movie follows a group of school boys, who are educated on discipline and a hard work ethic aboard a ship by a strong-willed skipper. The ship eventually sets sail, but things take a violent turn when they encounter a storm.
Which also reminds us of 2 other movies based on stories of women skippers:
Maidentrip tells the story of New Zealand-born Dutch teen Laura Dekker, who set out to become the youngest person to sail around the world single-handedly. She fought a Dutch court to be allowed to pursue her dream. She was only 16 years and four months of age when she completed her circumnavigation.
And Maiden, a feature length documentary on 24 year-old Edwards, a cook on charter boats, who became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989. She put together an all – and first – female crew and entered the race. The crew went on to win two of the Whitbread legs and came second in class overall.
We’re partial to good animation films. And, top of that list is Hook, in which Captain Hook kidnaps adult Peter Pan’s children, so Peter must return to Neverland and reclaim his youthful spirit in order to challenge his old enemy.
Also Disney’s, Moana who sets sail on a daring mission bestowed upon her by the ocean itself, to save her Polynesian village. Along the way, she meets the once mighty demigod Maui. Together they cross the ocean on a fun-filled, action-packed voyage.
To complete the list there’s the classic, In the Heart of the Sea based on Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick, in which Captain Ahab seeks revenge on a great white whale that once maimed him. It’s also the name bequeathed to me, by a friend, after my encounter with a whale when sailing the Atlantic leg of the 2017-18 Clipper Round the World Race.
And the adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novella, The Old Man and the Sea about The Old Man, a Cuban fisherman whose luck changes on the 85th day out fishing, when he hooks a huge marlin, which he then battles with for three days to bring back to shore.
This list should see you through the rains and all set to sail when we get Antara out, come September!
We hope this has you all excited about sailing with us on Antara soon! Meanwhile, visit us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and our website