BEYOND THE HORIZON : ADVENTURE UNLMITED

COLIN ANGUS left Vancouver, Canada in 2004 on an ambitious expedition: to circumnavigate the planet by human power alone. Halfway through, his fiancée joined him, and they months rowing across the Atlantic. It was a voyage that tested their physical and seafaring skills- and the bonds of their relationship.

SEPTEMBER 2001- VANCOUVER
Could someone circumnavigate the globe entirely by human power? Here Colin has proved it is very possible to do that. He wanted to explore the remotest corners of the planet, from deepest Siberia to mid-ocean. He started organizing an expedition that would take almost two years to complete.

It was easy for him to convince his mother since his mother herself liked hiking and trekking. It was easy for him to go on the expedition but not until he met JULIE WAFAEI. Their relationship blossomed over small adventures. As they both got closer he began to face difficulties in his expedition. He has to leave Julie for at least 2 years to be successful in this leg of his life.

JUNE 2004- JULY 2005- VANCOUVER TO MOSCOW
His first partner was Tim Harvey. They both rowed 1000 kilometers across the frigid, stormy waters of the Bering Sea to Siberia. After 3000 kilometers of trekking, skiing and cycling on frozen rivers, they reached the first roads. Eventually his relationship with Tim started to deteriorate. He needed to find a new partner in order to carry on.

JULY 2005-MOSCOW
Julie quit and joined Colin for the second and even more dangerous expedition of life time. It took 49 days for them to cycle from Moscow to Lisbon Going at the speed of human power it allowed them to better observe and enjoy their surroundings.


SEPTEMBER 2005- LISBON
After reaching Portuguese they had only two weeks to start their next lap of expedition which mainly had rowing. The weather was best off the European during summer which coincided with the hurricane season in south Atlantic. After deep analysis they decided to depart between September 15 and September 30. They had to visualize every step that was ahead of them in the sea voyage. They needed to be completely self-sufficient. Health was an especially pressing concern. A relatively minor illness such as appendicitis or a kidney infection could quickly lead to the death on high seas.

They had to choose their food carefully, as space and weights were critical. Dried foods were selected as they are compact and relatively light for their caloric return. Portable water was the most complicated aspect to prepare for. The most frightening aspect of their journey was that there was no turning back.

SEPTMEBER 22, 2005- DEPARTURE
JULIE and COLIN rowed from Lisbon harbor into the large Atlantic Ocean. All they had for few months was themselves and the supplies that would allow them to survive even if they are caught by the storm. A storm can last for weeks leaving a sailor in exhausted state. To traverse an entire ocean, without seeing each other humans, without days off, without having a hot shower, was more than their sleep-deprived brains could comprehend .

OCTOBER 6, 2005-400 KILOMETERS WEST OF THE STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR
They encountered extremely rough conditions as they crossed the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, with 3 1/2 meters waves making it too turbulent to row. As they progressed a terrible thing occurred. A freighter was heading towards their rowing boat. They were lucky for the waves generated by the freighter itself. They were really blessed by God. This experience highlighted their vulnerability and made the months ahead seem even more frightening.

OCTOBER 10, 2005- 410 KILOMETERS WEST OF THE STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR
The storm continued to slow their progress. But there was a hurricane towards them. It was impossible to ravel quickly enough in a row boat to avoid a hurricane; instead they readied the vessel for the worst. There was nothing more that they could do than to sit in the cabin and pray.

OCTOBER 20- NOVEMBER 10, 2005 –PARALLELING THE WET CAOST OF AFRICA
Eventually, life on the ocean took on a sense of normality. Whales, dolphins and multitude of fish passed fearlessly near their boat, and a school of small, trout size, polka-dot fish began following them and stayed for thousands of kilometers.

NOVEMBER 11, 2005-JANUARY 2006-MID-ATLANTIC
Then there was an encounter with shark and there was no damage. This was another test set by the Mother Nature. As months wore on, they weathered another hurricane and two tropical cyclones. Each tropical cyclone altered the ocean currents and prevailing winds, which resulted in their being pushed much further than they wad planned. They planned to land in Miami and continue cycling to Vancouver. But they were drifted towards south due to northeasterly winds. So they had to land in Limon.

JANUARY 19, 2006 – LAND HO!!!!!
After four months finally a speck of green across the monotony of blue was seen. It was St.Lucia. After they landed a crowd of 50 people laughed at them as they tried to walk. After so long without being on solid ground, their legs felt like rubber, and they staggered around like a couple of drunks.

FEBRAURY 1, 2006-DEPARTURE FOR COASTA RICA
Their final leg through Caribbean was much tougher than they had anticipated. Adverse winds and currents almost prevented landfall again, and they had row with seemingly superhuman strength for three days. When they reached port of Limon they were the first people to row from Mainland Europe to Mainland North America. From there they would ride their bicycles 8400 kilometers through Central America, Mexico, the United States and finally into Canada.

In 2006, “National Geographic Adventure” magazine named Colin and Julie Adventurers of the Year. Colin Angus’s book about his human-powered circumnavigation of the planet, “Beyond the Horizon”, was published in March 2007. For more thrilling experience refer to that book and also the May 2008 Edition of Reader’s Digest.

THE ROLLAND GARROS (a) THE FRENCH OPEN 2008

The much awaited grand slam of the year. Will it be another year for Roger to prove that he is only a king of grass court or will he be able to break through Rafael’s record.

This year’s clay court competition began with great expectations from Roger eventually it was Rafael who is coming out with colours. Will he be able to maintain it or will Roger put a stop for his wining streak? Here goes what happened in the clay court this year for the past few months. Will this help the two top seeded to break each others nerves?

THE ATP SERIES: A GLIMPSE
ROGER VS RAFAEL:
ESTORIL OPEN - Top-ranked Roger Federer won the Estoril Open and his first title of the season. This was the wining start for Roger Federer in clay court. Every Roger fan (including myself) expected him to continue the wining streak. But everything turned upside down.

BARCELONA OPEN TITLES - Rafael Nadal held off a stirring fight back from David Ferrer to beat his fellow Spaniard 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 on Sunday and become the first man to win four consecutive Barcelona Open titles. This was the starting of the race between the two top seeded players.

PACIFIC LIFE OPEN TENNIS TOURNAMENT – Both top seeded players didn’t qualify for the finals. They both were out in Semi Finals. (Coincidence?)

SONY ERICCSON OPEN - Rafael Progressed to finals and lost where as Roger lost to Roddick in quarters itself. Since August 2003 Roddick was waiting for this opportunity to break Roger and he succeeded in this tournament.

MONTE CARLO SERIES – Both the players cruised to the finals. It was an awesome nail biting finals where Rafael dominated the World No.1. He won the title by defeating in straight sets (7-5, 7-5). The second set was a crucial one. Roger was leading the Spaniard by 4-0. The Expectation by everyone was that the match would go for the deciding set. But Roger made consecutive mistakes which paved way for Rafael to level the score (4-4). It was two consecutive mistakes by Roger which made the Spaniard to clinch the title. There was a glimpse of chance for Federer but he wasn’t capable to do it. This proved that Roger had no opportunity to stop Rafael’s wining streak.

ROME MASTER SERIES – Both the players didn’t go for the finals. Rafael lost in the 2nd round. Roger didn’t progress ahead without Rafael. He lost in the very next round (Quarter Finals). Are the players determined to go together?

HAMBURG MASTERS - Rafael Nadal clinched his first Hamburg Masters title with a hard-fought 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 win over the defending champion and top seed Roger Federer. Another crucial match between the top seeded players. Both the First sets were in the hand of Roger but he was able to hold only the second set for himself. In the first Roger was leading the game by 5-1. But the Spaniard proved how talented he is. He won all the 6 consecutive games to hold the set for himself. In the second set it was again Roger leading the game by 5-2. Again Rafael progressed to level the score (5-5). Eventually the set was finished in a tie break which was won by the swiss wiz. Here comes the final set. Rafael became dominant. Every shot he played yelled that “I am the king of clay court.”. Roger was clueless about the happening. Finally Nadal won his first Hamburg masters.

ROAD TO FRENCH OPEN:
With much expectation the French open starts from 25th may (today). Will the players proceed to prove their dominance or will they drop out earlier. This years French Open will be very different since many top seeded players pulled themselves out from the tournament. The list goes like this:
Andy Roddick
Lindsay Davenport
Leyton Hewitt (Doubtful)
Jo-Wilfred-Tsonga

Without the top seeded players will it be an eventful one? Another unexpected decision came from Justine Henin. Her retirement was a shock (especially for me) for all the fans. She has never won a French Open Title and was expected to win this year. But the retirement came for her.

Without Henin it is Maria Sharapova who will be fighting alone in the French Open for the title.

Will Sharapova clinch the title to take away the first position from Henin?
The Spaniard has now beaten Federer on eight of the pair's previous nine meetings on clay. Will Nadal continues his record?

LETS NOT MISS THIS YEARS NAIL BITING FRENCH OPEN

What is in a name?

hey folks...

at last i have decided to start my blog..

What is in a name? i have had this feeling when I was in my school about the names.. Especially people with different name n in that case I think I too belong to that category. When ever I utter my name I get only one question from the other side “can u repeat it?”. Almost in all places I recite my name in individual alphabet and taught more than half of my classmates to pronounce it correctly. I have felt whirlwind when they call me wrongly.

During my school days I was very proud because there was only one Dharini and that was me. But that was also a terrible thing coz I could not play any pranks. When I entered into first year of my college I thought here also I will be the queen for that name... but horror struck when my seniors started calling sum other girl by that name… I thought that they were mocking at me but understood it was another person’s name too… for one semester I felt a bit difficult coz I used to turn n see when my name was called eventually it would be the other person.

After this I realized how difficult it is to have some common names like Ashwin , Arjun, Preethi, Prasanna, Divya, Krithika n many more. People keep sum nick name to recognize between the duos r trios having the same name. In the end the nick names becomes their identity. In that case I feel I m a bit lucky to have a different name.

On the other side I have not had any nick name in my life time (till now). I wish I had one nick name in my life time.

Thanks to my Grand Ma for giving me that name.