The Fearless Life of Amrutha Jayachandran includes Romancing the Waves & Conquering the Peaks

It all started four years ago when Amrutha Jayachandran married Sreenath, a merchant navy sailor. Back then, she was an architect working in a regular office job. But love has its ways. While joining Sreenath on his merchant navy voyages, she slowly discovered her wild passion for the Sea. In 2021, Amrutha started sailing solo. It wasn’t about big ships or titles. It was about feeling the wind, the water, and her heartbeat in sync with nature.

She bravely decided to leave her stable job and begin freelancing so she could spend more time chasing the sea breeze on a sailboat. This is the untamed journey of a sailor, mountaineer, architect, and entrepreneur who calls both the Sea and the mountains her home.

The Women Behind Mountain Meeting Sea

The adventure didn’t stop with just sailing. Amrutha’s journey took a bold entrepreneurial turn when she started Mountain Meets Sea, a unique travel company that promises offbeat trails, sailing expeditions, and unfiltered, rule-free experiences. She co-founded it with her cousin Nishtha Chandran, who leads mountain expeditions, while Amrutha takes the sea route.

They are not your average travel planners. Their trips aren’t tightly scheduled or luxury-styled. Instead, they create journeys full of spontaneity, surprises, and soulful joy. It’s not about reaching a destination, it’s about living the adventure. They break the pattern of commercial travel and focus on connecting deeply with nature, even if that means taking detours and discovering hidden paths.

Tiny Boats Holding Big Dreams

While most sailors in India stick to big ships, Amrutha’s heart belongs to tiny sailboats. The ones closer to the water demand more effort and offer more intimacy. Her inspiration came from listening to Sreenath talk about these boats even while working on giant vessels. That seed stayed in her mind, and she began training to sail yachts under 24 metres, a rare license for Indian women.

There are very few women in this space. According to research, only 1% of Indian sailors on merchant ships are women. But Amrutha didn’t let that number define her. She carved her path. She took her first sailing lessons at the Mumbai harbour, then headed to Thailand to refine her skills. But her real lessons came from the Sea itself, from its silence, from the wind’s push, and from calmly handling the unknown.

Her Toughest Voyage: India to Africa

One of the most celebrated series on her social media, this gripping journey captures raw moments from her daring sail across pirate zones, unpredictable waters, and chaos, proving her spirit as a true sea soul who refuses to be anchored.

Sailing isn’t all sunsets and breezes. Amrutha’s journey from India to Africa showed her the other side: the uncertain, the dangerous, and the complicated. Every step was challenging, from getting the right boat (because owning one in India is incredibly expensive) to navigating foreign visa rules for sea routes.

She joined a crew that was circumnavigating India, heading towards Europe. Being an Indian on an international sailing crew is rare. Most foreign sailors prefer crewmates from their own culture to avoid language barriers. But Amrutha got lucky and brave. She sailed past the Somali region, where fears of pirates still linger. Even though smaller boats are rarely targeted, the anxiety stays. But she made it, crossing oceans and fears, one wave at a time.

When Amrutha made Sea Meet the Mountains

If the Sea taught her freedom, the mountains taught her strength. Amrutha is now also a certified mountaineer from the prestigious Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI). Her training was intense: 27 days of living in tough terrains, including 13 days at high altitude, learning techniques like snow craft, ice climbing, rappelling, jumaring, and more.

With an 18–20 kg backpack, she trekked over 140 km and survived freezing nights, snowstorms, open washrooms, and zero network.

The trek was a mental and physical endurance on a whole different level. But she didn’t just survive, she came out of it stronger, with a glowing tan and a sense of achievement that words can’t describe. During her graduation ceremony, hearing her name announced among army officers and defence trainees as a “Private Candidate” filled her with pride. She had earned it, every bit of it.

Why Does She Want More Indian Women on Board?

Amrutha believes that her stories shouldn’t just be stories. They should be invitations to Indian women, especially, to step into a world they’ve never imagined for themselves. She wants more women to set sail, climb mountains, and push limits. She wants to build spaces where fear replaces freedom and nature becomes your real teacher.

The sailing community in India is still small, especially for women in smaller yachts. There’s a need for more schools, better guidance, affordable equipment, and, most importantly, encouragement. Amrutha’s efforts with Mountain Meets Sea are her way of opening these doors.

What the Sea Taught Her?

The Sea, with all its beauty and unpredictability, gave her something more valuable than just adventure: perspective. It taught her to value land more, embrace discomfort, and live fully. Now, she dreams of bringing more women on her boat, telling more stories through waves and trails, and creating a future where young girls grow up believing that they, too, can sail across oceans and climb frozen peaks.

Amrutha Jayachandran isn’t just a Sailor or a Mountaineer.

Amrutha Jayachandran reminds us that life is bigger than our desks, that dreams are louder than doubts, and that sometimes, all you need is to take the first step, whether on land, on water, or up a snow-covered slope. She’s not Lady Sindbad. She’s much more than that. She made the mountain meet the Sea and created a magic and history.

Stay tuned to The Reelstars for many such Real Stories. For The Reelstars, Amrutha Jayachandran is the Real Hero.