page_title: First Indian circumnavigation
section_title: Bombay to Trinidad
hierarchical_section_title: First Indian circumnavigation / Circumnavigation / Bombay to Trinidad
caption_attribution_description: English: Sailing through a storm
context_page_description: The first Indian circumnavigation in a sail boat was undertaken in 1985-1987 by a team comprising officers of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers on yacht Trishna, a 1970-vintage Swan 37 sloop.
  Trishna was given the singular honour thereafter of being transported to New Delhi and displayed on a tableau during the Republic Day Parade, 1987.
context_section_description: The sailing expedition commenced from Bombay, India on 28 Sept 1985. Right from the time Trishna left harbour, she ran into the low pressure weather system of the receding monsoons which accompanied her till her first port of call at Male and thereafter to Mauritius on 25 October 1985. The boat was hit by severe storms on several occasions which damaged the VHF and HF radio aerials and electrical systems on board. The crew resorted to makeshift repairs at sea to restore communication and navigation systems.
  After a brief halt, the boat set sail from Port Louis, Mauritius on 30 October 1985. The sail to Saint Helena, South Atlantic Ocean around the Cape of Good Hope was rough and the longest non-stop leg of the trip, taking 33 days. Trishna on one occasion was swamped by a rogue wave and lost most of her life-saving equipment in the incident. The radio set was damaged and the antenna on the masthead broke. Communication with Mumbai and other ports was cut off. The sail across the South Atlantic Ocean was peaceful and Trishna reached St Helena on 2 December 1985.
  The boat reached Ascension Island on 15 December 1985. Staying ashore or mooring on the island was not permitted and Trishna had to tie up alongside the oil tanker Maersk Ascension which is permanently anchored off the island.
  The sail thereafter till the Caribbean Sea was largely calm. The winds remained predominantly South-Easterly. The first port of call on the continent of South America was at the coastal town of Natal. The crew celebrated the New Year of 1986 there with their Brazilian Navy hosts. From there, the boat sailed along the coast and then up the Para River to the port of Belem. Trishna had to sail upstream on this tributary of the Amazon River for 70 nautical miles against strong currents and myriad dangers in the form of fishing nets, unlit fishing trawlers and huge log floating down. Most of this distance was completed at night.
  The next halt was at the port of Paramaribo, Suriname. The country has a large East Indian origin population and programs in Hindi were broadcast by the local radio station. It was a short hop from there to Georgetown, Guyana. The crew received an enthusiastic reception from the large Indian-origin population here. The Guyana Defence Force arranged a visit to the Kaieteur Falls by air during the short stay there. Trishna then proceeded to the Caribbean port of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago for the first crew change of the voyage. The first crew change took place here and Capt R. Bassi was replaced by Lt. Navin Ahuja.
caption: Trishna navigates the stormy seas off the Cape of Good Hope
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