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Sher Singh Dhillon paddles To Glory
WSN Network
Doing his country and community proud,
just like his late grandfather Major General Narinder Singh is his
34-year-old software engineer from Chandigarh, Sher Singh Dhillon,
who has paddled his way into the record books by becoming the first
Indian to cross the Indian Ocean on “human power”.
Sher Singh Dhillon, now settled in San Jose and working with Hewitt
Packard San Jose, California, traversed the high seas as part of a
global circumnavigation mission called Expedition 360. He used a
paddle boat along with team leader Jason Lewis.
The boat had left the shores of Mumbai on January 29 and reached
Djibouti on the eastern shores of Africa on March 18 after battling
winds, waves, ocean currents and other challenges over a 1,835-mile
expanse of unpredictable waters for 49 days and nights.
Expedition 360 is described as an attempt at one of the last great
firsts for circumnavigation -- to circle the globe using only human
power through bicycle, pedal boat, rollerblades, kayaks, swimming
and walking, with no motors, sails or any other powered transport.
Three-quarters of the journey, totalling about 35,000 miles, has so
far been completed. The expedition had started from Greenwich in
Britain 13 years ago and is expected to culminate this year at the
same place. Jason is the only person to have remained with the team
since its inception in 1994, while different persons have
participated in different legs.
“According to records held by the UK-based Ocean Rowing Society,
Sher Singh is the first Indian in history to cross an ocean by human
power,” Jason said. His father, Air Cmde R.P.S. Dhillon, is a
retired Air Force pilot. Sher Singh is soon expected to visit India.
The 26-foot wooden boat is powered only by pedals and named Moksha,
which in Sanskrit means salvation. Specially designed for the
expedition, it has ferried members 15,000 nautical miles of the
ocean and carries the names on her hull of about 4,000 people who
have helped the expedition across the world.
Jason and Sher Singh encountered a number of challenges while
traversing the Indian ocean. “On our first day out from Mumbai, we
crashed into the unmarked wreckage of a sunken ship, damaging the
underside of the boat and destroying the rudder,” Sher Singh said
speaking to the media on a satellite phone. They limped back to port
to replace the rudder.
A week later, their water desalinater conked out and the coast guard
arranged to have a passing ship drop off 180 litres drinking water,
allowing them to just survive the rest of the voyage. There were two
instances when they almost collided with big ships, including a
tanker.
“The ocean can be very discerning and unpredictable. Heavy winds
threw us off-course several times,” Sher Singh said. “Upon the final
approach to the Gulf of Aden, a fierce current pushed us south
toward the island of Soqotra, one of the world’s most-feared areas
for pirate attacks. Days earlier, a UN cargo vessel was hijacked in
the area and the crew kidnapped for ransom,” he added.
21 March, 2007
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