INSV Tarini crew one journey away from history

Panaji: A distance of 5,000 nautical miles or 40 days is all that separates six intrepid women officers of the Indian Navy from history. The women, who sailed out on INSV Tarini on September 10, arrived at Cape Town, South Africa, on Saturday as expert mariners, and are now on the last leg of the first ever circumnavigation attempt by Indian women.
The crew is expected to reach Goa on April 10.

The INSV Tarini on Friday sailed into Royal Cape Yacht Club at Cape Town, its last port of call before returning to INS Mandovi Goa. As the INSV Tarini docked at Cape Town, Indian high commissioner to South Africa and Lesotho Ruchira Kambhoj was on hand to welcome the crew. “Today Holi colours were brighter with the Tarini girls,” Kambhoj tweeted.

At the Royal Cape Yacht Club, the officers interacted with 80 members of the sailing community of Western Cape.

The crew also got a warm welcome from students, Indian diplomats, Indian diaspora members and Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille. “Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi and her crew are truly remarkable women. These young women are not only an inspiration to women from India but to thousands of Capetonians and women across the world,” Lille said.

The 17m yacht and her crew have braved storms, frigid weather, choppy seas on their journey. They made their first port of call at Fremantle, Australia followed by Lyttelton, New Zealand and Port Stanley, Falklands, as they etched their name into the history books.

Navika Sagar Parikrama is a project wherein a team of women officers of the Indian Navy is circumnavigating the globe on a Goan-built sail boat INSV Tarini. The project is considered essential towards promoting ocean sailing activities in the Navy while depicting government of India’s thrust for ‘Nari Shakti’.

Lt Commander Joshi is the skipper of the first all-woman Navy team which has been handpicked and trained at the Indian Navy’s ocean sailing node set up at INS Mandovi, Verem, under the guidance of Captain Atool Sinha, an Asian Games sailing silver medalist.

The crew comprises Lt Commanders Pratibha Jamwal, P Swathi, and Lieutenants S Vijaya Devi, B Aishwarya and Payal Gupta. The crew has survived on dry rations except for the limited fresh food supplied at ports during planned halts. A reverse osmosis water plant onboard can give 30 litres of water per hour.