'If you are caught in a violent storm at sea you have to deal with it and find a way out which Abhilash Tomy did.'
An Indian Navy commander, Dilip Donde, and his beloved boat Mhadei covered over 25,000 nautical miles (40,000 km) and crossed the Equator twice during their voyage.
Naval officer Dilip Donde, who became the first Indian ever to circumnavigate the globe solo on a sail boat, on Sunday said foreigners did not believe that he was the first citizen from the country to take up this task. The 42-year-old naval officer steered into the Mumbai harbour on Saturday and was received by Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma and his family members.
'When I crossed that point where I had the accident, I felt light and that was a very physical experience. I felt something leave me.' Shyam G Menon chronicles the voyages of that incredible Indian sailor, Abhilash Tomy.
According to rescue officer Phil Gaden in Australia, Tomy had a severely injured back.
The women officers are training to attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 2017.
Commander Abhilash Tomy of the Indian Navy will set sail from France on the 30,000-mile Golden Globe Race only with a compass, printed maps, star and planetary movements and 140 litres of fuel.
'Very thankful to #IndianNavy & all who rescued me,' Tomy was quoted as saying in the Indian Navy spokesman's tweet.
The naval officer's father said he was tensed in the last three days after hearing the news about the incident. He said the family members would go Australia to meet his son he was taken there.
It was the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew, the Navy said.
Five young women are getting ready to circumnavigate the world.
The International Fleet Review, conceived as a show of the country's naval might and readiness for battle, saw as many as 100 naval ships, including 70 from the Indian Navy, taking part in the second edition of the coveted event.
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