Traversing the Atlantic is a sport for this man

 

Publication:TOI_Delhi;
Date:Jun 27, 2007;
Section:Times Sport;
Page Number:30

Traversing the Atlantic is a sport for this man

Mandakini Raina | TNN
    There’s only so much a trans-Atlantic call can tell you about ocean rower Bhavik Gandhi. While one might only briefly react to a record he has just achieved — he became the first Asian to row across the Atlantic Ocean unassisted, making it from Spain to Antigua in 106 days and 9 hours — it’s only when your mailbox receives pictures of him, undertaking the very same journey that explorer Christopher Columbus once had, does the jaw drop.
    Traversing the ocean, over 5000 kilometres of it, that can be macabre, serene and picturesque at the same time or within minutes of each other, is possibly the toughest challenge for a human muscle to endure. Bhavik survived it, and is only among 32 people in the world to have achieved such a feat solo.
    “Ocean rowing is the toughest sport to indulge in, it becomes that much more difficult because the water is not our natural habitat. Your life depends on you, and there is no other sport which takes so many days of consistent effort,” Bhavik said of his oneof-a-kind experience. “You are out there alone and making decisions by the minute about tackling waves and staying on course. You are battling skin diseases and physical discomfort. Your legs go to waste,” he elucidated. He is recovering currently from exhaustion and a 25kg weight loss in Antigua.
    Not much, however, can be done in preparation.”You can physically train in the gym but you don’t know what lies ahead. So it’s all survival instinct,” he said. He modified his boat, Miss Olive, to ease some of the anxiety at high sea. He chose to take the risk of travelling without a light craft, though. The boat was made self-righting, more air-tight compartments were added and radar reflectors were fitted. But when things have to go wrong, they do. Miss Olive had rudder problems, a broken steering, missed colliding into a tanker and capsized once before making it to its destination — which it almost missed due to the gushing winds.
    “I lost water and food during the capsize, but you have to be self-sufficient. There is no business to be in such a position if you cannot deal with it yourself,” said the Mumbaiborn 30-year-old, a resident of Stockholm, Sweden.
    Explaining the psychological aspect of it, he said: “It is a matter of positivity. You have to learn to turn your problems around, see them as just tasks you have to do. You have to tell yourself that you could be learning something new that day.”
    “It was demoralising to know at the end of most of my meals that the winds were steering the boat the wrong direction. It used to be that much more work for the day. When the wind is behind you, you could be doing up to 40-50 kms in a day and when it’s towards you, you could be doing only about 10 kms for the same amount of effort put in. Plus, it’s a different challenge to row and keep on course in the dark,” he said of his daily laborious 12-14 hours toil.
    The back-breaking work apart, it was the marine life that lifted Bhavik’s spirit. Curious onlookers would swim by, much to the rower’s delight. “The eye level contact with the fish was exalting,” he recounted his meeting with dolphins, humpback whales, sea turtles and flying fish. “The boat didn’t have a motor and moves slow so they would come by the boat unthreatened.”
    Bhavik intended to complete the route in 70 days minimum and 90 days maximum on his fourth attempt, but, with the start of the hurricane season it took a month extra.
    Funnily, had Bhavik he made it in the stipulated time, he could have caught cricket action at the World Cup! “But the home team had packed up and left by then!” he chuckled.

WHAT A ROW! Bhavik Gandhi during his trans-Atlantic haul

Traversing the Atlantic is a sport for this man