A different Flavour...
Konkan Explorers has the privilege to enjoy the prodigal land of Goa. A land of freedom, a land of discovery, where nature, at its best, offers opportunities of mind-boggling adventures.
As a matter of fact, it is rare to find such a wide range of different landscapes packed so tightly. In this closely integrated ecosystem, sustained by rivers meandering up to the Arabian Sea, the wilderness is all around. Elephants, tigers, leopards, royal cobras, crocodiles, dolphins, black eagles, monkeys… are not exceptionally spotted in the wild.
Known before all as the land of sand, sea, and sun, it is sometimes forgotten that, behind the highly enjoyable beaches of the coast, Goa through its mountains, tropical rain-forests and rivers is registered as an UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been defined as one the eight “hottest hot-spots” of biological diversity in the world.
In order to satisfy an increasing curiosity about our environment, Konkan Explorers has developed a set of ecological and performing marine solutions.
From December 2017, our flagship cruisers are two Sea Master of 34 feet, a modern and highly versatile seaworthy vessel conceived in New Zealand.
Along with the two main Excursion Yachts, our originality is to propose a fleet of modern sit-on-top kayaks, Stand-Up Paddles (SUP), Sailing dinghies and two small 6/8 seater motorized boats.
All these boats have been selected, with expertise, for their ratio of safety and performance.
Experience has confirmed that it is an ideal fleet for going off the beaten tracks whether in the sea or far upstream in the narrow rivers.
This is for the adventurous face, which is the trademark of Konkan Explorers. But we are well aware that the quest of each of us is diverse, and not everyone is in search of adrenaline rushes. After all “there’s something about Goa which makes you want to kick off your shoes and swing in a hammock with a good book and cool drink all that day”. So if you prefer to enjoy the life on board with your friends and exchange about all your moments, feel always free and just do it!
WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND IS THAT EACH PASSENGER LIVES AT ITS OWN PACE AND ENJOYS ITS OWN CHOICES.
The Idea of Konkan Explorers
“Konkan” is the topographical name of the strip of land between the mountains of the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. Running parallel to the coast the sheer mountains have for long imposed this land of Konkan to turn its back on the rest of the peninsula. The main horizon would appear westwards in the undecipherable glints of the Arabian Sea.
As a matter of fact, at the nexus of what would become Asia’s most prosperous maritime trade routes, the situation of Goa aroused keen interest.
It was the moment wherein a remote world a few major innovations in naval construction were on the point to seal the fate of Goa for long.
With their remarkable Caravels, the Portuguese took the edge in oceanic explorations and managed to discover the way to India.
Soon, more than a thousand ships laden with goods and adventurers would drop their anchors in the ports of the coast during a single year. And Old Goa, as astounding as it sounds, would once become bigger than either Lisbon or London. This was the time coined Goa Dourada (Golden Goa), the golden age of seaworthy elegant ships.
I am not sure this engraving of the beginning of the 16th century renders the scale of the activity of the harbor. This is a Portuguese representation which is unsurprisingly not showing the fleet of small local boats, cargo, fishermen, which alongside the overseas vessels surely made the waters of Goa at that epoch rather congested.
Most of these native crafts were however built according to a remarkable method known as sewn boats. It is perhaps the earliest and simplest technique for building wooden boats consisting of more than one type of timber.
In the course of time, Goan society navigated with flexibility in between the reefs of history, freeing almost without fights from Portuguese rules, and then avoiding to merge with India embodied as a potential threat for its cultural identity.
When I came for the first time on this coast, the industry of tourism was booming and undoubtedly participating to transform for long the face of the place.
The mighty Portuguese ships had long disappeared, their promoters as well. The rivers and the sea had been rightly reclaimed by these eternally simple boats that natives had never stopped to sew on the shores.
Carrying coconuts, sand, wood,… Sometimes equipped of a small sail, they were the only boats I could spot on the horizon.
That is how I came up with the idea of Konkan Explorers. At a time where the industry of leisure booms in India, it seemed to me, decisive to promote soft ecological impact nautical activities, to weave a more proper relation with our environment.
Before all because “We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children” (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry).