1.    The Corps of Engineers has always been a fore runner in the sport of sailing.  The best sailors in the country  have  generally  been from  the three Services.  It is only lately  since around 1980 that the civilian sailing clubs have become prominent in the Sport.

2.     Apart from competitive sailing, the Corps of Engineers also sent sailing expeditions along the coast from Mumbai to Cochin in 1967 & then from Mumbai to Goa & back in 1968.  In these expeditions the sailors would move out in the morning, sail the whole day and then get back to shore to some port by the evening.  The night would be spent at the Port and replenishments taken.  Any repairs to the boats, if required, would be carried out.  The boats used were the  ‘Sea Bird’ class of boats.  These were manufactured by the College of Military Engineering, Pune.  They were 21 feet long and seven feet wide, and did not have any overhead cover.

3.    It was then decided by the Corps of Engineers to venture in deeper seas and do some ocean sailing.   The choice was either to cross the Arabian Sea and go to any Port in Africa  or the Middle East, or to go East and cross the Bay of Bengal and head for the Andaman Islands, or go still further to Sumatra and Singapore.  Considering various factors of weather, likelihood of storms and the direction & velocity of prevailing winds it was decided to have the expedition from Madras (Now Chennai) to Port Blair, in the Andaman & Nicobar chain of Islands.  Also keeping the above factors in mind, middle of February was considered suitable for start of the Expedition.  The Expedition was expected to be completed in 12 days, but could last for 18 days depending on the wind & weather conditions.  Two boats were to take part in the expedition, having a crew of four officers in each boat.

4.    Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had liberated the Andaman Islands and called them Swaraj Dveep   The words Swaraj Dveep not only connect the historical figure, but also mean the era of liberation.  Hence, the expedition was aptly named  THE SWARAJ DVEEP SAILING EXPEDITION, and the expedition members called THE JALDOOTS.

5.    A circular was sent to all units of the Engineers for volunteers for the expedition.  Names of around 50 officers were received.  The team was then selected based on experience of officers in sailing, & also their availability.  Since the expedition was very RISKY,  married officers were excluded from the team.  A total of 10 officers were selected, which included two officers as reserve.

6.    All the selected officers assembled in the College of Military Engineering, Pune in end of Jan 1970.  They were first trained in the Air Force Station, Pune on Emergency Rescue.   Then the whole team went to Cochin, to learn navigation and survival on the Sea’ from the Navy. There after all assembled at Madras, four days prior to departure,  to sort out all the administrative issues.  Precooked tinned food had been taken for a period of 18 days,  and adequate water was stored on the boats in containers.

7.    The Governor of Tamil Nadu, Sardar Ujjal Singh, came to see off the expedition.  After the customary Pooja at the Jetty,  the Governor fired a ‘green flair’ and the Expedition was off at 1140 hrs on 15 Feb 1970, for their epic journey to Port Blair, 758 Nautical Miles from Madras.  Mrs Indira Gandhi, the PM, had also sent  a message on the occasion “ all power to your shoulders”.

8.    The Expedition took much longer than was expected.  After six days they were no where near the midway meridian.  Hence, food & water was rationed.  Only four glasses of water per individual per day was permitted.   There were days of heavy storms and some days of no winds at all.  The sun was extremely hot & the crew felt exasperated.  Mental & psychological factors had also crept in.  There was tendency to quarrel. Damages to the boats had occurred due to the storm, which had to be set right.  One of the boats developed a continuous leak and water had to be bailed out continuously.  Sails got torn & wire ropes snapped.  After lots of problems & harrowing experiences the Expedition finally hit land on the 19th day.  It was the North sentinel Island.  Thereafter, it took another 3 days to go around the various small islands & finally the boats reached  Port Blair at 5 PM on 08 Mar, 22 days since leaving Madras.  The crew had a very close encounter with a whale on the night when they hit land & also the next day. Many sharks followed their boats while negotiating the islands. They came across lots of flying fish during the journey.

9.    The citizens of Port Blair were eagerly awaiting the expedition members arrival and gave a warm and rousing reception at the jetty.  The Commissioner of Port Blair Mr. Butalia with his staff,  and all the senior Naval and Army Officers were there to receive the crew.  Girls from the University brought special garlands made of wooden chips to greet them.  They were then put in open jeeps & taken in procession through the streets of Port Blair, ultimately ending  the procession at the Cellular Jail by laying wreaths at the Memorial for the Martyars.

10.    After spending a week on the Islands the Expedition Members returned to the main land at  Mumbai on INS Delhi.  It took six days for the ship to come around Sri Lanka to reach Mumbai.  The team then went to Pune, had a reception at CME, & also by the Army Commander, Lt Gen Bewoor.  The team then went to Delhi to meet the E-in-C, had a session with the press,  and met all the civilian dignitaries.

11.      It was a very RISKY expedition.  The boats were too small for sailing across the ocean.  There being no overhead cover on the boats, the sun was very hot and scorching.  The free board of the boat was so little that one could bend down  on the side and touch the ocean.   Even with a slightly rough sea, the waves would hit the front of the boat and enter inside.  The members would then have to bail out water constantly & quickly before another wave came in.  The magnetic compass was the only means of keeping the direction.  Finding their position was done by the age old method of taking bearings of the sun & the stars with a sextant.  There were no Global Positioning Systems then.  The boats were a tiny spec in the ocean and could not be spotted by air at all.  Their ownly reassuring safety was the other boat.  There was no other land between Madras & the Andamans to check their location, and hence their navigation had to be correct, otherwise they would miss the Islands & carry on beyond to Sumatra and Singapore.   It was under these trying & difficult conditions that the expedition had set out.

12.   From all counts the Expedition was a success.  Most of the members fell sea sick in the initial stages, but managed to recover soon. The Psychological effects and set backs were overcome due to Army training & discipline.   The navigation was reasonably good & the team hit land at the correct place.   Strict discipline in consumption of food & water enabled  the crew to last for 22 days with still some food and water to spare.  There were days when the team was in real danger, but managed to pull out safely.