Missing in Action...
Calling all adventurers, explorers, sailors!
The weather has been sail worthy all through this season. The winds just right, the waters, inviting. The blue seas doused the scorching sun, ensuring cool, breezy days. And yet, we were unable to sail. A much planned and prepped for sail to Oman had to be sacrificed at the altar of insurance. An inexplicable insistence on annual cover for a single trip, and for twice the required coverage priced the trip out of reach.
The Serenity of Sailing
Instead, we refocused on the West coast with a different format for our sail trips. Sail charters that start from and come back to Goa, with an overnighter on anchor, in an interesting location.
Sailing into Panaji with the Sun
The first sail was to Devgad; with a former course mate of Dilip’s uncle, and Dilip’s nephew, Neel. Both were sailing overnight for the first time in their lives. The winds were kind and we made good progress, reaching Devgad at sunrise. On exploring ashore, the crew gave full marks to the lighthouse and the local cuisine. After a night at anchor the crew relaxed on board, while Dilip and I dinghied around the river a bit, came back for lunch and set sail for Goa.
We quickly followed that up with another sail to Devgad, with an intrepid duo, Dolly and Suvir along with our first Clipper Round-the-Worlder, Savio. This time we hired a local motor boat to take us further up river, to the Devgad Riviera! Serene homes lined the banks, small motor boats bobbing at their private jetties. The breeze ruffled the palm tops as children skipped to school watching the gulls dive for fish and the herons dig for crabs.
A friend from Gujarat had mentioned an island resort on Kurumgad island near Karwar when he sailed into Goa last year. Using that as an excuse, I got Dilip to take me out for a lovely drive on Valentine’s. The resort proved to be the cherry on top! Beautiful, self sustained with a jetty and a beach and an infinity pool…we couldn’t have asked for more.
Another sail was promptly scheduled and off we went, this time with Suren and Jane; our trustworthy crew from last year’s sail between Male and Kochi. The one where we were becalmed for almost 5 days. This time around we had champagne sailing, with Jane regaling us about sailing in 35kt winds in Newcastle, Australia. The resort was duly approved; so we have added one more destination to our repertoire.
The Coastal Karnataka Sailing Club saw us at anchor in their ‘territory’ and sent out their redoubtable kayaker, Dinesh, for an initial sortie. We hope to take their members sailing with us soon.
We believe there’s so much to explore out here. I resist the temptation to say ‘still’ so much to explore…since we’re just getting started. Our prep work for next season has already commenced and we hope to include Oman, Lakshadweep, Maldives, Kurmagudda, Devgad, Jaigad, Vijaydurg and Bombay in our schedule!
This year we launched a WhatApp group, The Antara Tribe, to keep our crew connected. This is a small group of keen sailors and we want to keep adding to those numbers. The only criteria is that you must have sailed on Antara!
.As we begin our countdown to this season pencil in your dates to sail with us next season.
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