AFVOA Newsletters of Year 2012

Page 72 of 80 Thank you very much. We had a great time. Regards Vasundhara The members and families from AFVOA, Chennai had started arriving at the Naval Officers’ Mess well before the appointed time. Cdr Prasad arrived sharp at 0700 hrs and started distributing the passes, meals coupons and the indemnity bond. Those who collected the papers were asked to board the mini buses. Major and Mrs Rangarajan, Major and Mrs Chitrapu and I boarded one bus which left for the port soon. By the time we reached the destination the bus was packed with civilians. Thanks to the relentless efforts of Maj Chitrapu, we were accommodated with the OTA contingent on the front deck. From there we watched the anchor of the ship being lifted. But Maj Chitrapu would not give up that easily. Soon he managed to put us back on the same seats from where we were dislodged earlier. By that time it was well past 1000 hrs. We then went down and collected our breakfast packet from the flight deck as told by the guides. Ocean Melody and Ocean Fame, two of the pilot ships, started pulling the ship from the starboard side around 1020 hrs. Soon our ship was put on her course. INS Kulish and INS Krich sailed past our ship from the portside saluting the Governor by firing flares at 1115hrs, followed by a Naval chopper flying past with a sailor coming down on a rope and saluting the Governor at 1130 hrs. Snacks were served at 1140 hrs. Thereafter, INS Rana came from the rear and started sailing parallel to the portside of our ship. The ships were maintaining a distance of 42 to 48 meters. Then a marker rope was passed between the ships which had coloured flags indicating the distance of every 6 metres. This was to ensure that the ships did not collide. Two other ropes and a rope with a pulley attached to one of the ropes were also passed between the ships. A heavy load was attached to the pulley and it was sent from INS Rana to our ship and retrieved back. Later a lady, named Ms Shanta Ravikumar from the Tamil Nadu Sailing Association, was holding on to a rope from the same pulley with her feet and hands and was pulled across from our ship to INS Rana and back, successfully in that suspended position. Thereafter, the other ships moved away and our ship sailed back to the port. This time the ship started rocking a bit and we all enjoyed it thoroughly. Lunch was also served during the return voyage. Together we came out of the ship and boarded a waiting mini bus and headed for the Naval Officers’ Mess. We reached the Mess by 1400hrs and dispersed from there. K Balakrishnan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My wife and my guests join me in thanking u and AFVOA for all the efforts. The event went on well. Lt Cdr Vijay Kumar Thanks a lot for a fine co-ordination by AFVOA. The members and their families had an enjoyable trip at sea. Very fine co-ordination, in that Cdr Prasad was very punctual (though retired) and got all particulars from the veterans and distributed the necessary forms and the