Visakhapatnam: Commander Dilip Donde’s best friend was his yacht as he circumnavigated the globe in the Indian Navy Sailing Vessel (INSV) Mhadei.

He joked, had conversations, argued and fought with INSV Mhadei during his tremendous journey and took catnaps in between.

“I never had any schedules and had food whenever I could and slept whenever I could. I did not need to be behind the wheel all the time as the boat had an autopilot. The boat was my only companion,” Commander Donde said in Vizag.

Commander Donde completed the solo circumnavigation between August 19, 2009 and May 19, 2010, thus becoming the first Indian to complete this feat christened “Sagar Parikrama”.

He stopped at four places en route and was at sea for 157 days and sailed around 45,000 nautical miles. During his 157 days on board INSV Mhadei, his living space was 150sft, where he cooked, ate and slept.

Within six months of completing the circumnavigation, the yacht was put to sea again to participate in a trans-Atlantic race from Cape Town, South Africa to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The yacht, which has almost sailed 1 lakh nautical miles in six years, is currently on a voyage and reached Vizag two days ago.

While it proved very difficult in the beginning to not be in touch with any humans, Commander Donde said that he slowly started enjoying the solitude.

“For a week, I struggled with cutting ties with land. I never felt loneliness as such. It gave an opportunity to explore myself within. It helped me learn many things. Where else do you get to breathe unpolluted fresh breeze?” he asked.