Go East
when the monsoons grounds you in the West
When it comes to sailing, it seems we just cannot take no for an answer! With Antara packed away for the rains we thought we were beached. The RMYC’s invitation to sail with them helped quell our homesickness right away.
Dilip and I sailed one of three J80s as part of a rally that took us from Chennai to Pondicherry to Karaikal, back to Chennai via Pondicherry. Capt Shanbag and Chinna joined us on the first leg, with Chinna as Skipper for the duration of the rally.
Assembling early on the morning of June 14th, we set sail for Pondicherry along with two other J80s. It was an upwind sail all the way, with the sun beating down on us for the better part of the trip. On the east coast, the sun rises really early and its hot by 1000 hrs and scorching from then to almost 1700 hrs. So naturally there was a squall brewing as we approached Pondicherry. We were treated to a glorious sunset, then a lightening show and some fireworks thrown in for good measure.
We were greeted in Pondicherry by a rambunctious group of young sailors who stayed up to guide us in through the tricky entrance to the harbour. They revived our tired spirits with gusty cheering and chilled beers!
The tight schedule didn’t allow for much sightseeing even though we were in the French Quarter; and, we were back on the boats early next morning.
We set off for Karaikal, in what we thought was the shorter leg. A strong current however, slowed us down and we could not beat the gathering clouds. A squall at the mouth of the harbour had us arrive alert and soaking wet at a surprisingly busy port.
A flag off by the Coast Guard, who were with us every step of the way on this rally, and we were on our return leg. Aurofilio (Filio) and Anjali, our warm hosts from Pondicherry, joined us on this leg.
The return trip was all downwind so off of course we had our gennekers up in no time!
Reaching Pondicherry late that evening our tiredness vanished at the sight of the warm glow from Anjali and Filio’s club.
A short sleepover, as we stayed up comparing notes and sharing sail stories; and we were ready for the final leg. We had some crew changes here again, with Abhimanyu, Filio and Anjali being replaced by Atul, Avinash and Kapil.
Leaving in good time that morning, we used a smaller asymmetric sail to quick march home. Reaching first, we were quickly joined by the other two teams for a Club meal of omelette pav and biryani.
Capt Shanbag hosted a celebratory dinner the next evening and that wrapped up the rally. Until the next sail then…
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