As the rising sun turns the waters of the Bay of Bengal orange-pink, a speedboat cuts across the glistening sea looking for prey. Onboard are adventure seekers on a deep sea fishing tour organized by Blue Waters, a Chennai-based water sports company.
Founded in 2010 by two brothers Sangeeth Jagadeesh, 39, and Santhosh Jagadeesh, 35, Blue Waters offers a host of other services such as surprise mid ocean birthday parties, sunrise and sun set joy rides, dolphin watching during seasons, wind sailing on sail yachts (called sea birds) and J 80 (a classified sailing boat).
A deep love for the sea and fishing got the Jagadeesh brothers to start Blue Waters. “Sport-fishing is a great stress buster. It’s also very motivating as it’s not just one man’s job with people having to take up multiple tasks while aboard a ship. A lot of our customers are IT professionals but our primary clientele consists mostly of corporate employees, anglers (fishermen who use the fishing technique of angling) and expats. Senior citizens, too, find this relaxing,” he says.
Santhosh adds, “Even families with children as old as eight or twelve have come on these rides.” And in case your next thought veers towards sea sickness, brush it off. Santhosh explains how the chances of becoming sick on boats that are constantly in motion are slim. “Only once the boat stops does one get sea sick. Of course, there are motion sickness pills which people can always take,” he adds.
You can book either a two-hour ride for Rs 7,200 or a four-hour one for Rs 12,400 and then set out for Chennai Harbour. “You reach the Chennai harbor by 6.45 am, register yourself at the Madras Royal Yacht Club, get into your life jackets and get flagged off for your ride,” says Santhosh.
“Before the guests arrive, we fill up fuel, get the fishing gear, icebox, beverages and sandwiches in place. All guests are required to sign the indemnity form and then we give them a quick briefing about the dos and donts while at sea,” he explains.
The itinerary once you’re aboard Sea Hawk includes a visual tour of Chennai Harbour. “We take the guests first to the sunken ship (a Bangladeshi ship that was wrecked in 1982), then we proceed to the natural reef. Here we have a marking on our GPS, from 70 feet deep there is a sudden dip of 230 feet depth and it is here that we find most of our catches. All guests get an experience to reel the fish in once we have had a strike. We then take some photographs and release the fish back into the ocean.” says Santhosh.
And lending able support to Blue Waters are the Sea Hawk, an 8-seater, 40HP engine, 27-footer speedboat and the Sea Rocket, a 24-footer, 100HP imported boat. Sea Hawk can carry six passengers on one trip while Sea Rocket can take maximum four to five. “We reduce the numbers as we need space onboard to land the fish. For safety purposes, we avoid over-crowding the boats,” says Santhosh.
Santhosh says the catch mostly includes Giant Trevally, King Mackerel, Blue Fin Tuna, Yellow Fin Tuna, Mahi Mahi and a lot of Barracuda.
January to August is the peak season for sport-fishing. But a sea adventure comes with its own dangers and hence Madras Royal Yacht Club allows sailing only at certain timings. The rides at Blue Waters are from 6 am to 6 pm.
With enquiries pouring in from Pondicherry Tourism and Kerala Tourism Department Corporation, Blue Waters is in the expansion mode. The next time you want some high-octane fun fishing, you know where your port of call is.