Many eyebrows were raised when an all-women crew set out on a sail boat to circumnavigate the globe. But the six undeterred women of the Indian Navy has successfully taken on the seas and completed the expedition, covering 21,600 nautical miles in 254 days, onboard INSV 'Tarini', a 55-foot sailing vessel built of wood and fibre. The expedition, the 'Navika Sagar Parikrama', was flagged off at the INS 'Mandovi' boat pool on September 10 last year, and the crew returned to the same spot 8 months later on May 21 this year, having sailed through four continents, three oceans and crossed the equator twice. A group of eminent personalities including India’s first woman defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba were present to welcome the brave women back at Goa.
Led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, the crew had Lieutenant Commanders Pratibha Jamwal, Swati P, and Lieutenants Aishwarya Boddapati, S Vijaya and Payal Gupta as other members.
Hard training
The six crew members underwent rigorous training for two-and-a-half months at the International Maritime Centre in Mumbai under Commander Abhimanyu Pathankar. Later the crew reached Kochi and Goa for further training sessions conducted by Commander Dilip Donde, the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe. They trained onboard the iconic INSV 'Mahdei', the indigenously built sail boat in which commander Donde and later commander Abhilash Tomy undertook the circumnavigation in 2010 and 2013 respectively.
The officers claim that these excellent training sessions gave them the confidence to face many unprecedented challenges at sea with incredible presence of mind. “In the beginning of our expedition, the machine which purifies sea water into drinking water had broken down. It took us a few days to figure out how to repair it. Until then we used the rainwater that we had harvested. When we face a block somewhere, we should immediately think of the next best option to overcome it. We acquired that skill without even realising it,” says Lt Cdr Swathi.
Together they set sail
The crew members spent almost three years together, knowing each other well and understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Lt Cdr Joshi, who skippered the expedition, is proud that her crew members have displayed excellent team spirit, and confidently overcame the stress of staying at a confined space leaving back their family and loved ones. “Nothing else mattered to us as all of us were focused on the sole aim of successfully completing our expedition,” says Vartika with the same determination.
Storehouse of wonders
Lt Cdr Vartika says that the ocean does not discriminate between genders, and anyone who set out into the seas is likely to face many dangers, and also the scintillating wonders that it has in store. A team of two always kept watch of the sea in eight-hour shifts. The crew members can’t hide their excitement when they recall the extraordinary and at times fearsome sights that the oceans have revealed to them. They even had the rare opportunity to witness the ‘Aurora’, a magnificent natural light display in the sky. These are also called the polar lights as they are predominantly seen at the Polar Regions like the Arctic or Antarctica. Besides, they were able to spot rare aquatic species, whales, dolphins and penguins in their natural habitat.
The crew witnessed the wrath of the ocean thrice when ‘Tarini’ was slammed by giant waves in the midst of storms. At the Cape Horn, which is known as the ‘Mount Everest of sailing’, they were welcomed by 30-feet-high giant waves. Wind was blowing at a frightening speed of 140 kilometers. Heavy rains too followed soon as if to test their resilience. However, the six women onboard ‘Tarini’ were determined to brave any storm. They immediately changed all the sails and then controlled their vessel manually for the next 17 hours. All the power systems, including the automatic steering, were detached. Three of them kept watch on the deck of the boat while the other three managed the rest. It was difficult for the crew to determine the direction in pitch darkness, but they still sailed on listening to the sounds of the waves. Many a times, their vessel got flooded with sea water and the crew had to swim around to control it. They even encountered an extremely scary situation when one of them almost fell into the sea. It was the great presence of mind and courage displayed by the team members which enabled them to overcome such situations.
Vartika says that the members had shown signs of flu as they did not have dry clothes to change on. A kitchen glove too had to be worn underneath the normal sailing glove to avoid slippery hands while holding the steering. It was only when they were heading to the Goan coast in the last leg of their voyage, that the gear system of the vessel got damaged. So they had to make an unexpected stop over at Mauritius to repair it.
“It was in fact a good thing that we were an all-women crew. We understood and helped each other during the times when we had periods. So the mood swings or menstrual cramps did not bother us much. During those days, we focused more on our jobs,” says Vartika.
Varied diet
The crew followed three different diets during their journey. When the climate was pleasant, they were free to cook anything they liked. They usually celebrated the clear skies by making piping hot rice and spicy dal. When the climate begins to change, they resorted to food like instant noodles which is easy to make. Pre-cooked food which requires only heating up were eaten by the crew when they had to survive the worst weather.
Famed route
A sailing crew is required to adhere to the four main rules of circumnavigation. They have to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, Cape of Luvin and the Cape of Horn. The sailors should start and end their trip at the same point; they must cross all the meridians, and also cross the international time zone.
On the 43rd day, ‘Tarini’ docked at Freemantle, a major Australian port, and the crew spent 12 days there. The second leg of the expedition began after the maintenance and refuelling of the vessel. On November 29, 2017, they reached Lyttleton, New Zealand, crossing the cape of Luvin. The Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands was their next stop. They crossed the Cape of Horn, where the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans meet, by braving the extremely chilly weather in the Pacific.
Cape Town in South Africa was the last stop in their itinerary. The crew reached the beautiful coastal city on the day of Holi. The members celebrated the festival of colours at Cape Town, while ‘Tarini’ underwent some maintenance works. On March 14, on their journey back home, the six women of the Indian Navy created history when they crossed the Cape of Good Hope.
However, the majestic sea had an ‘ultimate challenge’ in store for them. Suddenly the weather turned so bad that it became extremely difficult for ‘Tarini’ to sail through the monster waves. When the crew members realided that it was impossible for them to proceed without rectifying the damages of the vessel, they took a detour to Port Louis in Mauritius. After repairing the sail boat, on April 26, they began their final lap from Mauritius toward the Indian coast.
Finally on May 21, when they set their foot at the INS 'Mandovi' in Goa, the six Indian women had created history. They saluted the Indian tricolour before they immersed themselves in the overwhelming celebration of their family and friends at the coast.
“We just have one thing to say to the women in India - do not doubt your own abilities. Your deeds should be your reply to those who discourage you. Women too shouldn’t demand that they ought to be given special considerations because of their gender. Victory goes with those who strive forward despite failures. This light that we have ignited should be passed on to the coming generations as well. Your dreams should exceed the depths of the sea or the vastness of the skies. But your roots should still remain strong on the earth,” say the crew members in unison.
Total days in sea
Though others from the navy have already circumnavigated the globe, this was for the first time that the Indian Navy has set out on an historical expedition with an all-women crew. The team for the ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’ was set up from the applicants who expressed their wish to be part of it. Joshi, Jamwal and Swathi were the first recruits and were later joined by Lieutenants Aiswarya, Payal and Vijaya Devi.
After successfully completing the official training sessions, the crew members practised sailing on their own without the accompaniment of a trainer. In their expedition, the Indian women spent 199 days onboard INSV 'Tarini' sailing through different oceans.
The INSV 'Tarini' team which successfully circumnavigated the globe was presented with the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2017, a national award to honour women of excellence.
The ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’ team
Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi, a native of Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, is a BTech degree holder. She joined the Indian Nay in 2010. She was the captain of the six-member team which circumnavigated the globe.
Lt Cdr P Swathi, hailing from Visakhapatnam, has been in the navy since 2011.
Lt Cdr Pratibha Jamwal is a native of Kulu in Himachal Pradesh. She joined the navy in 2011.
Lt Aiswarya Boddapati from Hyderabad has been serving the Indian Navy from 2011 onwards.
Lt Payal Gupta, a native of Dehradun, became a naval officer in 2013.
Lt S Vijaya Devi hails from Bishnupur in Mnaipur. It was in 2012 that the young officer joined the IndianNavy.
