GOKARNA DIARIES: AUG'14 - Part VIII

THE FOLKS GO FISHING

On Sunday morning, we woke up minutes before the sunrise. Despite of the heavy showers and the insects making all kinds of noises through the night, we had good sleep. After being marooned in the rains on the previous day that cut short our walk to the Kudle Beach, we decided to play smart. We hired an auto, in fact the same chap who had dropped us to Om Beach the previous day. The plan was to vacate the room followed by quick visits to the other famous beaches around Gokarna, namely the Kudle Beach, the Half Moon Beach and the Paradise Beach before spending some time in the temple town.

By the time we hit the beach, the sun was up and the Om Beach was virtually empty. The skies were surprisingly clear; it seemed as if the Rain Gods would give us some respite after playing havoc the day before. The blue heavens, the vegetation, the vast sea and pristine sands with the majestic Western Ghats in the background was truly a sight to behold. The Arabian had 'mellowed' down and the rocks along the beach had survived the 'onslaught' of its waves on the previous day. We walked long the shore line seeping in the wonderful pictures unfolding before us. One quick point to add here is that the beach was very clean, much cleaner compared to the one at Murdeshwar.

About half an hour later, few fishermen appeared on the scene and what followed next was anybody's guess. They went to one of the boats, parked near the edge of the beach and started untangling the nets. Next, they dragged out the boats by pulling them over logs of wood, an ingenious method of reducing the effort required to pull things on sand. After getting the boat out, one of them got the engine and attached it to the vessel. The boat was dragged again into the water and the men set sail to catch fish. Although the waters were not as rough as the day before, the waves were still higher than normal. Kudos to these brave men who put their life in risk day in and day out. They returned back after about 30 minutes. We saw 6 boats venturing in the Arabian till the time we were there and sadly, none of them could get a good catch.

PS: The next four posts will only include pictures of the fishermen.

Getting Ready: Fishermen untying the knots 

An elderly man checks if everything is fine

The boat is pulled towards water

The Engine is attached to the boat

Some strategy before hitting the sea

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