Call her Lady Sindbad and she would laugh. Because Amrutha Jayachandran has an unending affair with the sea. When the 28-year-old sailor married her boyfriend Sreenath four years ago, little did she know that much of their lives would be spent romancing the waves.
“Before I met Sreenath, I didn’t know how much I loved the sea. He sailed on merchant navy ships and I used to join him. Then I started sailing alone since 2021. I am an architect but I left my office job to freelance because I want to spend more time on my sailing adventures,” says Jayachandran.
Born and raised in Kerala’s Kannur, Jayachandran is also a trained surfer and has been into adventure sports. “Sreenath and I tried an adventure sport up in the air. But we realised we always love coming back to the sea,” she adds
The couple loves the mountains but the sea undoubtedly has their hearts.
A research paper titled Indian Women Seafarers On Board Merchant Ships says that women’s entry into sailing was given a green signal only three decades ago. However, Indian women sailors are still only 1 per cent of the total number of sailors on merchant ships.
But this gender disparity on the sea didn’t stop Jayachandran from pursuing her passion. “I am not a professional sailor. It started as a recreational sport for me. Because I have given up my job and become an entrepreneur to keep sailing. I started a company called Mountain Meets Sea. It gives me a chance to take people on offbeat trails and sailing adventures and also do what I enjoy doing the most,” she says.
Teaming up with her cousin Nishtha Chandran, who mostly takes groups to mountains, Jayachandran prefers taking them out on the sea. “We are different from other travel companies. We make our own rules, prioritise pure, unfiltered fun, take off on unplanned routes, often surprising those who sign up with us,” she adds.
All of this began with her interest not so much for the big ships but the tiny sailboats when she used to accompany Sreenath.
“My husband used to talk about tiny sailboats even though he would be on bigger ships. That stuck with me and I thought of experimenting with those boats. In India, we hardly have sailors on smaller boats. You will find women on bigger ships, but for me, sailing means getting on a smaller boat and be closer to the sea. I am licensed to sail yachts within 24 metres. And the number of women doing that is extremely less,” she said.
Jayachandran’s adventures came with their own hiccups. “We never had a laid-out path. Honestly, people might be aware of the complexities of getting a visa to fly from one country to another but travelling on a sailboat and figuring out the visa process is more complex. You can read all the travel books by foreigners but that is not going to help in sailing across India at all,” she says.
Jayachandran took her basic sailing lessons from Mumbai harbour. India has only a few sailing schools where one can learn on tiny boats how to sail with the wind. “Once I learnt my basics, I went to Thailand. But I never thought I would take up sailing full time. The first time I started sailing on my own, a family member called to ask me to promise her I would never do this again,” she laughs.
The more she got into it, the more Jayachandran realised the lack of opportunities, equipment and guidance made sailing difficult in India.
Jayachandran’s recent adventure from India to Africa reminded her yet again how tough things can get. “When I chose the India to Africa route, putting everything in place took time. We don’t have enough boats here and owning a boat is rather expensive. More practice is needed to cross oceans. So, we tried being part of a crew to understand the dos and don’ts. I joined a crew that was circumnavigating India, on their way to Europe,” she adds.
It was a good opportunity for Jayachandran. Most sailors prefer people from their own ethnicity to avoid language barriers. “It is very rare for sailors to get people on board from India. Also, they usually prefer stopping in Maldives or Sri Lanka. So, when somebody was flexible about taking Indians on board, I immediately jumped in. Then there was the fear of pirates. Even though there’s no record of smaller boats getting attacked, the anxiety never leaves you. It was very scary to cross Somalia. But we finally made it to our destination,” she says.
Jayachandran intends to share her sea of stories and inspire more women to explore the waves. “The sea taught me to value life on land a lot more. I want to bring more women on my boat for future adventures,” she adds.