'I may go for another attempt,' Donde said, adding the task could not have been completed without the support of his family and the Navy.
Naval officer Dilip Donde, who became the first Indian ever to circumnavigate the globe solo on a sail boat, today gave entire credit to his "fine" vessel for realising his dream and said this is the biggest achievement of his life.
"I could not have done it without this fine boat.... I was quite convinced that anybody can do circumnavigation in a boat like this. I think entire credit goes to Mhadei that made my voyage successful and my dreams come true," Donde said.
Mumbai harbour wore a festive look with colourful sails fluttering from different types of sail boats as Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSL) Mhadei sailed by with Donde, who embarked on the voyage on August 19 last year and touched base back in India at the Sunk rock Light House.
The 42-year-old naval officer steered into the Mumbai harbour yesterday and was received by vice president Mohammed
Hamid Ansari, Naval chief Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma and his
family members.
"I would train others who are willing to go for solo sailing. But not to Chinese," he quipped, responding to a query. "This is biggest achievement. I don't think I will be having anything bigger than this," the naval officer told PTI.
"When I reached various ports in foreign countries during my solo sailing, many people had asked me how many from India had earlier done such individual sailing. I told them that I am the first one from India who is doing this. They did not believe it," Donde said while sharing his experience soon after he returned from 276 days of voyage.
"They expressed surprise that how come the country that has millions of people could not find one person for such task for so many years," said Donde on board INS Mysore.
"I may go for another attempt," Donde said, adding the task could not have been completed without the support of his family and the Navy.
Recounting the difficulties he faced during sailing, Donde said, "Once the steering of the boat had given some trouble. Sometimes, the sea remained rough. Several living creatures in the sea have surprisingly looked at me. Many a time, the temperature inside the boat refused to come down below 32 degree Celsius at any time."
"It gave me a big kick," said the officer, who covered 21,600 nautical miles sailing in the seas to achieve the milestone. He has not passed through any canals or straits where the use of engines/towing would be unavoidable and he along with his boat has halted at ports in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Donde, an NDA alumnus and a trained clearance diver in the Navy, took training from legendary Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo and non-stop round the world in 1968-69.
The world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation was set in January 2008 by a Frenchman Francis Joyon at 67 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 6 seconds.
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