Cruising World - November - December 2016

On Watch

34

B

y the time most American and

European circumnavigators stare

out across the Indian Ocean,

they’ve already transited the largest, wid-

est ocean in the world. They’ve also sailed

halfway around our watery planet. Even

more impressive, they’ve traveled down to

windy New Zealand, been blown through

the howling Torres Strait, and have

waved at the nearby Roaring 40s and the

Southern Ocean. Most have numerous

gales under their belts. Thus they’re sus-

ceptible to a bit of a swagger. They fi gure

they’re ready for anything.

They’re not.

The Indian, as we call it, is an ocean

unto its own. Nobody ever considered

calling it pacifi c. Sure, the Atlantic can

kick up a bit, but that’s in winter.

On some level, it’s always winter in the

Indian. It seems each time I’ve voyaged

through this patch of roiled water, things

have gotten weird. A number of times we’ve

been sailing along with moderate but blus-

tery conditions, a fi xed wind speed, a steady

barometer and a clear sky, and then all

hell has broken loose. It is hard to say why

conditions go from fresh to fearsome so

quickly. Some say the bottom topography

causes mysterious upwellings that dramati-

cally af ect the sea state. Others blame it on

colliding ocean currents, with stray mean-

ders of the Agulhas and East Equatorial

clashing unseen beneath you. I am not a

scientist. I cannot say. What I can tell you

is that the Indian gets angry. It is as if the

ocean itself becomes bulling and aggressive.

Yes, I have respect for the Atlantic.

Sure, I don’t take the Pacifi c lightly. But I

approach the Indian with true trepidation.

The closer you get to South Africa, the

more irritable she becomes. Most boats

lost in the Pacifi c are as a result of naviga-

tional laxness. They are sailing along and

Excessive? Perhaps. But, hey, just because I’m one of the lowest-cost vessels transiting the Indian

Ocean this year doesn’t mean I can’t be the best prepared.

BY CAP’N FATTY GOODLANDER

PREPARING for the INDIAN

On Watch

CAROLYN GOODLANDER

november/december 2016

cruisingworld.com

Fatty is fascinated with slowing drogues. Note the signed cone: All family

members and guests aboard Ganesh get to sign one — that way the Goodlanders

feel their whole tribe is rooting for them while the drogue is deployed.