In the autumn of 1979 I travelled overland to India and in November I agreed to buy an old Indian fishing boat called Ramprasad which was in the ex-Portuguese enclave of Diu. The name means "Offering to or from the Hindu god Lord Ram". It is not an uncommon name among Indian communities both in India and elsewhere - both for boats and people. There is a famous Bengali poet of that name as well as several cricketers. In March 1980 I sailed single-handed to Chapora in Goa - a passage of about 348 miles which I completed in just under 11 days; Click here to read an account of the passage. I then had the boat hauled out for the monsoon and completion.

Ramprasad after being hauled out in the village of Chapora in Goa - March 1980

I spent a year there. I completed the deck, did quite a lot of work to the engine - a handle start 15HP Bukh dating from about 1962, did quite a lot of repairs and maintenance to the hull, and built a canoe as a tender.

December 1980 - the refit is progressing well - in the right of the picture is one of the wooden trawlers built there and covered with coconut thatch - skilled shipwrights were easy to find there

In March 1981 I relaunch, then sail to Panjim, then  make an 11 day passage to Munambam in Kerala. For an account of the voyage please click here. From there I motor through the backwater to Cochin, from where I leave India on 24th April to arrive in Ko Terutao (SW Thailand) on 15th June, a distance of about 1800 miles in 52 days. This was a slow passage on account of 2 extensive calm periods - both South of India and North of Sumatra - and rigging damage sustained in a squally period a few days after the onset of the SW monsoon. From there I sail to Langkawi where I repair the mast, Penang, Port Kelang, and then on to Singapore which I reach on 19th September.

On the beach at Pasir Panjang, Singapore

I leave there  on 19th December and after a few days anchored on the equator on the East coast of Sumatra where I repair my rot-damaged Indian cotton sail,  I sail through the rest of Indonesia to arrive in Darwin, Australia on 29th January 1982, a passage of about 1760 miles in 36 days.

At Dinah beach in Darwin - February 1982 - the white hull behind (Crash's boat) is I believe a ferrocement Hartley Golden Cowrie

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