Hello folks, how have you all been? Did you miss being out on Antara in the last season? We did! Keeping one foot on board, so to say, we designed and launched www.sailingresourcesindia.com. This is meant to be a resource for all sailing related matters in India: sailing for leisure, learning to sail, buying, fixing, maintaining a sailboat, sailing events and more. Have look, share your feedback!
Our new mast from Sparcraft, is finally on its way from South Africa (no, they are not available in India, yet). As planned, that was our trigger to recommence work on Antara. The mast will take about 6 weeks to reach us in Goa, which gives us ample time to complete the rest of jobs. It’s a long checklist and includes getting Antara out of the water to paint her bottom. We’re also thinking of repainting her completely. What do you suggest?
We started with baby steps, at the Hodi (original Aquarius) shipyard. First, the dinghy was hauled out of storage, inflated and checked to ensure its unholiness. We left her overnight and she was right and tight the next morning. Next on the list was the outboard motor (OBM). It had been sitting in storage gathering dust and Dilip was certain it would be a tough nut to crack. We put the OBM in a drum of fresh water, put in a bit of petrol and it came to life almost immediately. Check out his delight on this momentous occasion!
Then we took a scenic drive to Vasco to deposit our life rafts and fire extinguishers for servicing at the House of Safety They will have to be inspected and signed off by the MMD Surveyor before we refit them on Antara.
We are also putting our sailing schedule in place and have tentatively scheduled our first blue ocean sail around the second week of November. The Maldives Yacht Rally organisers have shared their plans too. Here’s what they have on offer.
Looking forward to seeing you folks aboard this season. Reach out on sailonantara@gmail.com to schedule your sail. Do share this with friends and family and help us grow the tribe of sailors.
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