Solo Sailors and they trouble they get into - India's Dilip Donde

by Taschica Pillay, Times Live/Sail-World Cruising on 8 Mar 2010 The sailor setting out to be the first Indian solo sailor to circumnavigate the world has reached Capetown after one of the last legs in voyage. In this account Commander Dilip Donde tells of his ups and downs during the journey.

Donde sailed into Cape Town this week on his 56 ft yacht Mhadei. He had set off from Mumbai on August 19 2009, and has travelled eastward via the Southern Ocean, passing Cape Horn with good conditions, to reach this next milestone of Cape Agulhas.

Donde volunteered to undertake the Indian navy project Sagar Parikrama, which in Hindi means 'circumnavigation by sea' - the first attempt by an Indian.

The 42-year-old sailor, who has spent 20 years with the navy, said sailing around the world had been 'good fun'.

After setting off from Mumbai, Cape Town was Donde's fourth port of call after Fremantle in Australia, Christ-church in New Zealand and Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, and will leave Cape Town at the beginning of April.

As with all the other circumnavigators, circling the world conventionally entails going around the globe, starting and ending in the same port, and crossing all the meridians at least once and the equator at least twice.

The Mhadei, which was built in Goa, has modern navigation, communication and pilotage equipment, all prepared with the help of the Indian Navy.

He said the main difficulties he had encountered during the voyage were machinery or equipment failures, stormy weather and running out of coffee.

'It depends on how you pursue a difficulty, whether you take it in your stride as just another day's work. I managed to get here in one piece and without any support.

'There were times when my steering almost broke and my auto-pilot gave way.

'I enjoy sailing and therefore volunteered to do this project. I had no idea what I was in for. I had never read about solo sailing and didn't know such a thing existed.

'I started reading about it and realised it was something far bigger than what I thought it would be, not as fancy or romantic as I thought. The excitement grew with that.'

Donde said that in spite of the problems encountered, it had been wonderful sailing solo. 'There's no one to yell at you, and you can make mistakes and get away with them. While at sea, there was enough work to do on the boat,' he said.

'You are always busy or just catching up on sleep. I have with me books and movies and music on my laptop to keep me entertained. There is no time to be bored or feel lonely.'

He said that while he was in Cape Town he would work on the boat. 'There is not much time for anything else, and that is most important if I want to reach my next stop in one piece.'

He said there wasn't anything that he missed from home. 'I cook my own food on board, like I do at home, so it is still home-cooked meals.'