Chennai: The Indian Army may have scheduled it three seas sailing expedition to perfection, but nature had the final say, as rough winds and turbulent sea forced the Army's adventure wing team to reach for cover at Karaikal.
Shantha Ravikumar, the lone woman member and civilian sailor of the team, said the 3 metre waves threw everything down on board and so they had to seek the help of fishermen in six fishing vessels at sea to reach the coast safely on Monday.
A senior officer at area headquarters in Chennai said the team now wait for calm to return before continuing the journey to the Malabar Coast.-
Narrating the adventure, Major Kishore Kunal, who leads the expedition team of 17, including two from Tamil Nadu Sailing Association, said his team became a little concerned when they did not see any fishing vessel or ship en route.
“It was about 2 am on Monday and we got worried. Luckily, we saw some fishing vessels after we crossed Nagapattinam. At the time, the rudder came off. The keels were also different and so it was not favourable to enter Nagapattinam port, whose channel entrance has a lot of stones. Meanwhile, the motor also developed a snag. With the help of the fishermen, who towed our boats and reached Karaikal at 6.30 pm,” he added.
Major Kunal was not overly bothered about missing the schedule. “We need to be adventurous but not at the cost of human lives. So, we will leave Karaikal whÂen the sea gets calmer and the Gulf of Mannar gets freed from cyclonic weather conditions,” he said. He was sure his sailors would make up for the lost time as they covered 320 km in just one-and-a-half days.
He recalled a seagull sitting on his head during the rough ride. As the bird was also tired, they gave her something to eat.
“She staÂyed with us till we reached Karaikal,” he said. Shantha Ravikumar said the sea couldn't be taken for granted.
On the food intake, she said the sailors managed with apples and cup noodles as they were busy manning the boat.
