Around The World on a Solo Boat

After a nerve testing and a physically challenging circumnavigation around the world on a solo boat most people would never want to even look back at the waters of the sea but here is what Lt commander Abhilash Tomy, the first Indian do so has to say, “Once during the voyage, I felt like not returning to the shore. I thought about doing it all over again...never ever did I think about giving up.”Here is what the 34-year-old naval officer from Tripunithura said that it was a fulfilment of a long cherished dream and the voyage had instilled a lot of patience and humility in him.  Only 79 sailors have been successful to complete the solo voyage so far. The officer’s voyage was named mission Sagarika II and was flagged off the Mumbai coast on November 2012. Lt Abhilash completed the voyage of 23, 100 nautical miles in a span of over 150 days returning back on the march 31st of 2013.According to him the scariest moment of the voyage came on February 19th when he said to have encountered a rough sea around the “Cape of Good Hope”. He said, “The winds were too strong and the waves were more than 10 ft high. The sail tore and managing the boat was a difficult task.” He said that in the piracy prone areas he was escorted by the navy though.He said that the first work for the day was weather planning and he strict schedule during the voyage. The weather and the speed of the wind decided how he moved into the day’s plan. Meditation was a major part of his schedule and he said that he followed the polyphasic sleep cycle.The only means of communication of the officer with the outside world was a satellite phone and his popular blog sagarparikrama2.blogspot.com. The only time he called his family was on the occasion of his parent’s wedding anniversary.Lt. Abilash advised the youngsters that the best investment was the investment in oneself and encouraged them to take up sailing too.