New Delhi, Jan 17 (UNI) Charged with an indomitable spirit and undaunted by injuries, Indian Navy Commander Abhilash Tomy on Thursday expressed hope that he will be set sail again soon as he has recovered 80 per cent from the injuries that he suffered during global circumnavigation last year.
Sharing his experiences during his circumnavigation of the earth, Cdr Tomy, who was first Indian and Asian to be invited for Global Globe Race, involving a gruelling 30,000-mile solo circumnavigation of the globe in yachts similar to those used in the first race 50 years ago, with no modern technology allowed except the communications equipment, said,'I was stuck in the south Indian Ocean that is between Australia and South Africa, close to French sub-Antarctic territories. After then I was rescued to Amsterdam isle. I hope I will be going into sailing very soon. Right now, the Navy has given me six months time to get ready. I’ll be doing the desk job till then. In the meantime, I’ll get fit. Presently, I’m 80 per cent recovered.”
Asked about the weather condition when his boat was seriously damaged, he said, “The storm was not unexpected. We knew that there was a storm but the predictions kept changing. This was a very uncharacteristic storm. It was moving very fast, in fact so fast that the wind shifted very quickly and we had massive cross seas.”
“The storm started at night. But in the morning, it really started picking up. It was at 140 kmph speed. I was rescued on September 24,” the officer added.
The officer had suffered a back injury and was stranded some 1,900 nautical miles south-west of Perth on September 21.
Thanking the Indian Navy for the kind of training and survival skill imparted to him, Cdr Tomy said, “In Navy, we have been taught that only way to survive is by having a will to survive. If you lose the will to survive then even God can’t save you. My intention was to keep my mind blank and keep it with good thoughts that something I can look forward to.”
Asked about how he was able to manage for three days in storm, he said, “I did not have any food and water during that period. I could not get and cook myself. I couldn’t open any packet and eat. I only had iced tea for those three days.”
On competing in the Golden Globe Race (GGR) , the most challenging endurance race on the earth, the naval officer added, “It took me two years of preparations. First was to construct the boat… then I prepared myself, I had undergone a medicine course - a 10 days Master medical course… I had to get my radio license. It is thanks to the medicine course that I’m surviving today.”
For next six months, the officer will be contributing at the desk job in Goa.
“I’ll be based in Goa, will be contributing at the Ocean Sailing Node. We have got six big boats and will be training people in Ocean sailing and doing races, expedition and stuffs like that,” said Cdr Tomy.
UNI ASH AR 1943