I hope everyone reading this blog knows about Lt . Cdr . Abhilash Tomy. If not let me say that Abhilash Tomy (born 5 Feb 1979) is a Lieutenant commander of the Indian Navy, and the first Indian, second Asian, and seventy-ninth person to complete a solo, unassisted, non-stop circumnavigation under sail.And the journey is called SAGAR PARIKRAMA II.

The Expedition

1. The aim of this expedition is to sail solo around the world; non -stop in a yacht . The Sagar Parikrama II sail began in Mumbai on November 1 . It covered almost 21,600 nautical miles (about 40;000 km). Depended on weather conditions ; the trip took 151 days .

The Boat

The INSV Mhadei is a 56-foot boat named after the goddess of River Mandovi. It is first-of-its-kind

yacht made entirely in the country ; and costs nearly Rs 4.25 crore .

The Start

During the first two weeks of this journey ; Abhilash had his fair share of ups and downs . For close to a week ; the Mhadei was stuck in a 'windless hole ' ; barely moving a few miles a day . Abhilash wrote in his blog : the sea was so calm in the evening that ther were stars in the ocean ; and you couldn't tell which way was up and which was down . Making most of the opportunity ; he caught up on lost sleep ; the last few days on land had been hectic with preparations ; people to meet ; and interviews to give . Once he was well-rested ; he organized the boat to minimize surprises on bad weather days ; and to make certain everything was safe .

Sailing In The Seas

Abhilash Tomy set sail from Gateway of India ; crossed the International Date Line on New Year ; rounded the Cape Horn on 26 January flying the Indian Flag and crossed the Prime Meridian on Valentine 's Day .

The sea was calm ; the sun warm and the sight of a empty ; steep slopes of the largely uninhabited which he spotted ; made him want to anchor the boat and go hiking .He spent his time in his boat by reading 'One Hundred Years Of Solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez . Despite Tomy 's 'One Hundred Days Of Solitude' ; with only dolphines and whales for company ; he says he is emotionally upbeat and happy.

He meditated and did yoga on the boat nearly every day ; except during the roughest weather. 

Problems Faced At Sea

One night ; he woke up to find the boat heading on a completely wrong course and discoveres that the autopilot had given up and ;rather worryingly ; the watermaker that makes seawater drinkable ; was broken.  He is rationing his 200 litres of bottled water so that it lasts him for two months for both ; drinking and cooking purposes until he reaches a tropical area where he must hope for rainwater that he can harvest . However ; he is unfazed by these problems ; since they are things he can fix or work around . Far worse is the continuous lack of sleep ; never more than a hour a time ; the extreme cold so close to the Antarctic and the annoying tendency for objects in the boat to fly around in a swell and other such problems . He also had to face the treacherous Cape of Good Hope ; known as the graveyard of ships . This area sometimes have waves as high as 100 feet . And when he enters the Indian Ocean ; Abhilash will have to look out for cyclones ; strong headwinds and even doldrums where he could be stuck for days .

The End Of The Voyage

On March 31 ;  Lt . Cdr . Abhilash Tomy successfully completed his record voyage around the globe . He was received by the President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee ; family members ; well wishers etc .He was  awarded the Kirti Chakra (second highest peacetime gallantry award in India) and the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for his feat .