Yves Marre completes 1st voyage of “Sunflower kayak” amidst turbulent seas

Yves Marre completes 1st voyage of “Sunflower kayak” amidst turbulent seas

The first Kayak to be equipped with a Wingsail and solar power, “Sunflower Kayak”, had set sail on March 27 across Bangladesh from the Indian Border down south the Brahmaputra river towards the Bay of Bengal.

Manned by French/Bangladeshi sailor-extraordinaire Yves Marre and Darpan Chakma and a project of Maritime Search & Rescue Society (MSRS), they aim to sail the rivers Brahmaputra, Jamuna, the Ganges and the Meghna.

The first leg of the trip has covered over 100km in distance, which concluded near Dewanganj upazila in Jamalpur, more specifically near the “Char of Anger”.

Yves narrated their journey to Dhaka Courier, which he believed to be a terrifying experience. He mentioned that the inhabitants of those Char areas are afraid whenever it is time of the “Kalbaishakhi” storm, the tropical storms from the northwest.

“While sailing to the south we saw the sky darkening like at night fall on our north,” said Yves, “having sailed previously in these area, I knew these chilling signs and hurried up to the shore of the char closest to us; (we discovered later that its name was the char of anger.)”