Surfboard Battle! (Day 3)

A beautiful morning, calm after the storm. Today was a day of sailing and surfboard battles.

We repaired the damage of the previous evening and rigged the sails and boats in the morning.

Kaizad and I decided that to truly be able to use the wind, we must understand how sailboats work. Thus, we hopped into a fast, low sailboat with a very vividly coloured sail, the "Topper".

Riding in the Topper is a charm. It just moves so effortlessly. Seen above is me leaning out to balance the boat against the wind. And it's so vibrant! Look at the reds and oranges and yellows of the sail!

We picked up the surfboards and sailed around a bit, but the main event of the day was... Surfboard Wars!

First we managed to get more than 1 person standing on the same board (Oh and the many times we fell into the water trying!). The next step? Battle! The first one to lose balance and fall into the water loses!


Surfboard Wars was incredible. Add to that the many variations of the fight and I must have fallen into the water atleast a hundred times!

In one battle of me versus Murtuza, we both valiantly refused to lose balance. At times the board was almost flipped, but we somehow kept upright. Eventually we had to revoke the 'non contact' clause and push each other off the board!

The blue sail boat (I think it's called the "Enterprise") looks beautiful. Big sails and a wide steady hull. I must try sailing this one next time.

On Day 3, we did quite a bit of windsurfing as well. By now all three of us had picked up the basics, but had difficulties sailing at angles against the wind.

A small physics discussion with Kaizad about wind and apparent wind led to new fundaes and on Day 4, we managed to sail properly. But here's the cool thing: Most often, a windsurfing board moves faster than the wind! For example, in a 7 knot wind, the surfer often travels at 11 to 12 knots and recollecting our vector mathematics from high school, this changes the apparent direction of the wind! Keeping track of all this and changing the sail direction to catch the wind was Day 4, which you shall read tomorrow. :)

EPIC Day 2

Day 2 of windsurfing. Today we learn to sail. Or atleast that's what the plan was. Nature, it seems, decided otherwise. We didn't learn sailing on Day 2, but it proved to be a more epic day than I've seen in ages.


It started very well. We got the sails going, learnt about how to steer (it involves turning the whole sail and shifting it's position!) and how to stand in a sailing position. It's amazing - turn the sail, force it into the wind and hold on - the wind carries you forward effortlessly!

The winds were really exciting on Day 2. Perfect sailing weather for quite a while. They got out the fancier sailboat and the 29er (a high performance skiff that tends to capsize rather easily!).

The 29er is bloody fast. Seen here overtaking the light blue sailboat whilst going upwind. The little Opti sailboats and the kayaks were all around, having a good time.

And then it hit.


A massive thunderstorm picked up while we were all out at sea.

I was out beyond the bend as the winds were picking up, unable to control the sail or the board. Kaizad and Parry came up in kayaks to rescue me. Kaizad tried for a bit, but could not hold the sail up either. We headed back in our kayaks and Parry took the sail.

Rowing back in waves bigger than most seas in dingy little boats was madness. Every moment we didn't row, the wind and current carried us away from our heading. But we reached shore eventually and by now the wind was really picking up.

Now there was a kid in one of those tiny opti sailboats out in the waves as well. His boat had not only capsized (turned over on the side) but actually overturned (upside down). It was impossible for him to upright it. At the edge of our visibility, a rescue party was launched.

A 2-man kayak headed towards him, battling high waves and impossible winds. We were scurrying around carrying the boats out of water, tying up the sails and what-not. It was hard work with the rain pelting down upon us.

The kayak eventually reached the opti, but the visibility was less than 150m and we had no idea what was happening to them. We launched our own land-rescue effort - carried a bunch of rope and traversed the shoreline towards them.

Eventually we could see the overturned opti sailboat, but there was no sign of the kayak or the 3 people who should have been there. One sailor planned to sail out to the opti whilst carrying rope and then we from the land would pull it in.

But alas, this is when the hail hit us. Yes, real hail. Stones of ice. Ouch, that hurts. And we crouched trying to protect our heads from the hail. Clearly now our rescue would be impossible as we sought shelter near a wall.

All the while we could (just about) see the sailboat, but no people, wondering where they were. Eventually we braved the hail and ran back to camp.


And there we waited for the storm to pass.

...

Eventually (hours later actually), all the boats and people were rescued. The kid in the opti really played it well. He didn't freak out, just held on to the boat for his life. One windsurfing board had been lost, but everyone was alive and kicking. In retrospect, the storm was an amazing experience. It really showed us how vulnerable we are to the winds and the surf.

Our first first-hand experience at disaster rescue. Sigh. I want to go back to Khadakvasla now.

Wipeout! (Windsurfing Day 1)

Abhiroop, Kaizad and I went windsurfing last week. It was a 4-day sailing camp at Kharagvasla Lake and we had an absolutely incredible time.

Our first look at the lake. Breathtakingly beautiful, calm with a little breeze. Colourful toppers and white sailboats and green shade. We just handed out high fives 'cuz this was going to be awesome!

We soon jumped into the lake with our surfboards. Within 10 seconds of trying to climb on the board, everyone had fallen off! WIPEOUT! Here are some epic Wipeouts:

Board-balancing is one tough step. It takes a lot of quick reflexes and fear of falling into water to succeed. But wiping out is fun too.

Here is me doing some surfboard acrobatics:

By the evening, we had gotten the hang of balancing on them boards. Drenched but still alive, it was time to learn to lift the sail out of the water:

That sail is huge, and even though it's quite light once it's in the air, lifting it is quite difficult with all that water on it. Lifting it whilst ensuring that you don't fall off is... well it takes a few tries.

We felt quite like trapeze artists, balancing on surfboards while juggling sails etcetra. Our arms also felt quite dead from all the kayaking and paddling. For you see, since we cannot sail yet, we tend to drift along the water. The only way to get back is to tow the damn thing back. Ever tried rowing? It's a lot of effort. Now think of that with a a giant sail dragging in the water!

Here's our coach-person, Parry, showing us how it's done. Effortless for him. Parry is a really nice guy and was always looking out for us. He also hangs his mobilephone around his neck while surfing. Pure badass.


Oh, and look: Cute little sailboats! (called "Optees")


And now we head to Pune to meet Krishna, party and watch a movie ("Hot Tub Time Machine"). Unfortunately we only managed to get dinner and fall asleep. Ah how tired we were. Ah how happy we were.

Brit Rock. Not Stonehenge.

I went for a concert. I (well technically Grishma) was on the list. We went there and said, "Grishma Rao + 2. We're on the list." And we were given instant access, no entry fee or anything.

I've always wanted to be one of those listey people. It feels nice. And it saves a buttload of cash too. Here are some photos.


Note: I was drinking Coke. Not Old Monk + Coke.

IPL Madness

Live IPL matches are amazing fun. We were 4 rows from the pitch and I danced and shouted all night long. Here is me (carrying sign). MI lost in the end, but by then I had switched loyalties :D ... also RC had better cheerleaders.

Harishchandragad – The First Trek

Harishchandragad. The very very first trek we did. Certainly it was one of the more difficult treks I've done (perhaps only Kulang was more rigorous), it was not particularly green either. And we were lost and sans-water "almost-dead" too. But if this trek had not been so amazing, so much fun, then I would never have gone on those hundreds of other ones.

Now I wonder if I would ever have got to know Krishna and KP so well, and Ankoor Das at all, had we not gone on this trek.

Junta. (L to R):

Jerome, PD, Me, Das, (who is that?), KP, Krishna (photographer)

Ummmmm... Yeah. We're lost.

Konkankada. What an Insane drop!

Ah Waters! We have waters again!

The valley as we crossed hills

KP's bullock cart. :)

It would have been so cool to write down those "Trek Diaries" we always said we would but never got around to doing. Maybe I should do it for real this time.

Naneghat

Krishna, KP and I had trekked to Naneghat sometime this August.

Splash!

Experiments with Gelusil and Mixed Fruit Juice

[And ice tea and potatoes]





... and the trusty camera that shot them:

Muhahahahhahahahah.

OMGX AWESOMENESS!

CHDK.

Made.

This.

Possible.





Taken using a Canon Powershot SD1000 (a point-and-shoot camera about the size of a credit card) and an exposure time of 1/10000 secs, and very wierd ISO and flash settings.

It took 2 hours to hack the firmware and then an hour to get it to take pics! Grishma was constantly moving her hand at high speeds to check whether the camera was working!

Finally, experimenting with flash sync and ISO settings, we managed to get a non-black and non-white picture. Then we moved on to taking these pics. It was totally awesome fun.

We need coloured lights. And coloured water. And thicker, more viscous fluids. Any ideas?

<menacing_voice>... This is only the beginning. Muahhahahahhhah.</menacing_voice>

PS: Please view hi-res by clicking on the pics! :)

Oh, For A Cake!

This is a story. A true story indeed. It took place almost 1 year-and-a-half ago, in Goa. It's the story of a bike ride. The task - to fetch a cake.

You see, Chaitrali had just celebrated her birthday and Krishna had got her a most excellent cake and wine as well. Now, it was KP's turn and we decided to awesomeofy his day. This involved: (a) Wishing him. (We always forget 'coz his b'day lies in the middle of Summer. To be honest, it was a fair exchange since he never got birthday bumps either). (b) Getting him a cake! (c) Letting him cut his cake in the hotel pool-side bar while sitting inside the pool lounging like a king.

KP arrived in Goa in his own unique true trailblazing style, albeit a whole 2 days late. He hitchhiked "all the way" there. Now while hitchhiking, travel is only possible till about 5 PM, post which a place to put up for the night needs to be sought. For a person who can only get up at 11, this posed a problem. So, after getting only about 200 Km in 3 days (already 1 day late), he simply hopped on a train heading in the right direction and got there.

Upon arrival, he was promptly mistaken for a ragpicker (it was the stench). Jigisha also burned him pretty bad by shaving off the stubble on only half his face. See the pic. It was quite funny :-)

In the meantime, we were up to buying lots of beer. 4 crates of Kings beer at Rs. 12 a pint! This was supposed to be my "getting-into-IIM" gift. Only, the results had been delayed. I bought the beer anyway. Then, we proceeded to close-pack them. What you see here in only HALF of the bottles. The rest are in the other fridge. As you can see, lots of chemistry fundae have been applied to fit them in. This was Joydeep's work. He is clearly destined for great things.

Now, about the bike ride, here we all are pretending that we've forgotten KP's birthday. Already 9 hours into the day (counting from midnight ofcourse) and no one's wished him. I'm sure he must have been debating, "Should I tell them? Will that appear too needy? Ah screw it! I AM needy. I should tell them. But nooo... they'll make fun it it. Hmm. This is difficult."

On the next pic, before you judge us, we were pretending to be a boy band posing a cover photo. Look at the blank stares and the random directions we're looking in. We hate boy bands.

Joydeep and I picked up our dinky little bike and set off like true macho men (ie: Without sunblock). Yes, that is the yardstick of machoness of our generation. No more playing with knives, wrestling or juggling chainsaws.

So we headed all the way to the next town, which we were told, had a bakery! And since we were going, we were also asked to pick up a *few* other things - Carnations for Krishna, Goa-sausages for cooking junta, Prawns pickle, Bibinca and what not.

We reached and purchased stuff without incident. But now, we were faced with the daunting task of carrying a flimsy cake box and 25 Kgs of other associated luggage 13 Km back to hotel on a bloody bike!

And as we set off, we took a U-turn just outside the city, on the highway and this idiot of a bike rider comes and for some reason doesn't *see* us turning (though we had been turning for a good 30 seconds. It was a big turn). Comes and dashes straight into us and goes careening off into the side of the road. Somehow we hold on. The bike falls, but thanks to elite balancing skills, the cake is unharmed. Phew!

The food on this whole trip was just something incredible. Here above is probably the most epic meal we had. Scrumptious lobster, wine, hookahs, fish and a lot more, by the beach. Just. Simply. Fantastic.

Now, after having risked our lives and skins (accident and no-sunblock respectively), we finally reached the hotel, got KP to close his eyes for a while and had a cake in front of him, candles and all! They were playing mafia in the pool and KP got to drink a beer and cut his cake while sitting on the underwater chairs. Success! :-)

The above picture is of a candle-lit dinner that Rylan, Joy and I shared. We cooked ourselves. Fried eggs, Goa sausages, boiled potatoes and bread. Coffee and beer. Bibinca for dessert. Deelicious. As I said before, the food on this entire trip was a mini-trip in itself.

Ofcourse the vegetarians. They ate from subway. Hahahhahahahaha! (Just being a little mean. But yeah. They did loose out big-time on the food bit). We also ate bacon-and-ham sandwiches. I remember getting to a shack and ordering one. Others took a bite and were like "Waiter! One more what-he's-having!" :-)