He emerged like a ghost out of the darkness of the night – a beacon of hope when all everything seemed lost . I had been desperately bailing out water from beneath the boards of the Boat, handing out containers filled with water to my fellow birders who were hauling it out of the boat! Tightening my life vest, my eyes went to the four lifebuoys that were ready and was wondering how we would share them when we were in the water and what drowning was going to feel like. That’s when I saw Ayyapan and his green boat, emerge from the starboard side, cross the stern and line up alongside our boat on the port side! Six of us out of a total of eighteen got into in it , performing the delicate and dangerous manoeuvre in our own unique ways. I was the last of the six, as I sat astride on the boats when they came together, one leg inside each boat before I hauled myself into the rescue boat. I landed on a wet fishing net and Ayyappan guided me to the rear of the boat where I sat between two of my friends, crouched almost in a foetal position, hanging on to whatever I could on the slushy floor of the boat, believing for the first time after the nightmare started that we might get out this alive !
How the heck did I got led into this position of contemplating the frightful prospect of a watery grave? I, along with a passionate group of Birders set out at around 8 am on the fateful morning of 17th September from the Pondy coast on my first Pelagic Birdwatching trip. I met several individuals many of whom had travelled from other cities, particularly Bangalore and Mumbai to make this trip. Even as we stepped onto the boat , named Pondynautic , some of the senior folks amongst us expressed apprehension about the size of the boat and its ability to weather the vagaries of the sea. We were assured by the Boat Maker that it was the most stable vessel and we need to have no fear . By noon we reached deep into sea close to the continental shelf and we saw , thanks to some wonderful spotting and identification, a number of birds particularly Wilsons Storm Petrels ,Swinhoe’s storm Petrels and Pomarine Skuas. One cannot but marvel at the ability of these birds to travel such distances from deep down the southern hemisphere to visit within striking distance of our lands. The sea was quite choppy and even keeping the cameras dry was a challenge, let alone the challenges of photographing fast flying birds from a wildly bobbing boat! Nevertheless, being the true lens warriors, we tried with whatever tricks and skills we could summon!
Our return started around 1.30 pm with many of us already seasick and throwing up thanks to the incessant rocking! Around 2.15 there was a burning smell and the main engine stalled. We were told it was thanks to the ignition key being in an ‘ON’ position continuously which resulted in the burning of the starter motor. Efforts to restart the Engine proved futile and at this stage, we were guessing at least 30 km into the sea. We asked the main crew member of the boat to make contact with his communication system to inform the coast guard. “Pondy Nautic calling Coast Guard, we need help “ repeated several times was met with just a hisss as a response from the other end. The crew switched over to the outboard motor which was the backup engine. It was considerably slower but we were at least moving. We would reach shore by 7.30 to 8 pm instead of the 4 pm originally estimated. We were still requesting the crew for a faster rescue boat and we were assured that it was on its way.
Around 4.15 pm the next disaster struck as we heard a loud noise and saw the outboard motor disengage from the boat, coming cleanly off its mount . Fortunately, the motor was tethered and the crew were able to pull it back into the boat. Engineless and drifting in the sea we could just sight land in the horizon which meant we were about 20 kms from the shore. The crew at this stage rushed onto the bow and desperately tried to drop anchor. Fortunately, we had just about enough rope to the anchor . Whew ! This meant the boat was a least secure and we won’t be adrift at sea. We realised we just had to wait for the rescue boat and we realised at this stage that the communication equipment on board was ineffective as it did not elicit any response from the other end. We were to learn later that the VHF radio was not functional. The biggest boon was that we had mobile signal at the location we were. Using the mobiles, the crew were calling their office on shore. We grew suspicious about the promises of rescue boat being on the way being empty and so we started calling our own sources and trying to arrange for a coastguard rescue around 6.30 pm. I called Gita and told her as calmly as I could about the situation and asked her to call our friend in the top echelons of the Police and request for help. As it got dark, the waves grew choppier and the boat was getting tossed around bringing in water from the flat stern side of the boat, bringing it along with it luminous creatures from the sea. The incessant noise of the waves and wind was our constant companion as we prepared for our wait, wondering how long it would be before rescue reached us. We had relayed our GPS coordinates to our multiple sources sincerely believing it would make things easy. Little did we realise how wrong we were. Around 7.30, we suddenly realised we were all standing in ankle deep water in the boat. This was the stage when the boat crew panicked and desperately started bailing out water using a bucket from under the floorboards on the stern side. They implored us to do the same on the front. To the huge credit of group, no one really showed signs of panic. Some of us engaged in bailing out water, while others were calling numbers, desperately urging for immediate help. The lights all around were disorientating and at least a dozen times our hopes were raised about seeing the lights of a rescue boat only to fade away minutes later. Our boat had no lights and desperate waving of our cell phones and a single torch on board and the whistles on our vest were all we had as signals. Tired of handing out water, I took a break as someone else took over. Standing up, I tightened my vest, making sure it was secured the right way. Flashes of my life and what I would be leaving behind went through and it all seemed inconsequential given that this moment was only about trying to survive. That’s when Ayyappan appeared magically out of the darkness of the night.
Through the 3 hour journey in Ayyappan’s boat, my head was filled with thoughts of the folks we had left behind on the boat, praying that they would make it and debate on the right and wrong of getting into this boat ahead of others. There was enough time to contemplate the bigger picture of one’s life and how everything one perceives to possess has very limited importance in the larger scheme of life.
Reaching shore around midnight, I hauled my cramped body out of the boat and guided through a series of parked boats by our saviour, we finally stepped on land. Drenched to the bone, the salt sticking to all parts of my body, the first thing was I did was to take a pee, symbolic of release in more ways than one. We were greeted warmly by the Police and Coast Guard officials, particularly Ms Rachna Singh, Superintendent of police Pondicherry who had been tirelessly directing operations for our rescue. She informed us, to our great relief that the coast guard boat had indeed located our boat and all our remaining friends including the crew were safe. The energy she showed at the end of her super long day was amazing and it surely cheered us up. She explained the difficulty of the operation like this involving a night rescue so deep into the ocean and only then did we realise the gravity of the task.
At 3.45 am the coastguard boat pulled in, tugging Pondy Nautic along and ensuring an emotional reunion with the rest of our friends.
We got into the vehicle needed back to home sweet home at around 4.15 in morning. As soon as I hit the seat, I collapsed into glorious sleep. When I woke up, we were just crossing Mahabalipuram and the sight of the sun rising over the multi coloured horizon was such a precious moment that I will never forget. Indeed I do have some more time left in this life!
NEWS of Planet Earth 