A boat tour off the Versova-Madh jetty is offering Mumbai’s foodies a chance at sun, sand and surmai.Sometimes, just sometimes, Mumbai strives to make you fall in love with her - chaos and all - again. On our day of rediscovery, the sun was shining and the weather was blue. In fact, we wouldn’t be a smidge bit surprised if it was probably on a day quite like this that video journalist-turned-entrepreneur Sapna Shahani decided to “do a little something more” by launching a city-centric tour firm, with the idea of capturing some of Mumbai’s vibrancy and ample charm, one neighbourhood at a time.“The idea behind Groupies stemmed from the reality that there isn’t enough positive entertainment in the city,” says the San Franciscoreturned, Andheri born lady.“Surely there’s more to Mumbai’s social life than eating, drinking and dancing. Repeat…” she adds, speaking nostalgically about Golden Gate city rife with its food festivals and open-air gigs to walking tours.We heard about Shahani’s Versova Village Boat Tour via social media, and so, before the print day was out, Mirror had two spots blocked (out of 30).The cynic in you might ask, what’s new? The same motor launch we sailed out in on a Saturday afternoon is regularly hired by schools for day trips. Besides, this fishing village already hosts two festivals a year: a raucous holi party and the Versova Seafood Festival. Yet, this excursion was a shade different, besides all-year-round.After driving past the stout, brightly painted Koli homes, we arrived at the Versova-Madh Island Jetty - our meeting point. The scenes that greet you here are of the manic ferry rush and excited boys doing flips on floating debris, in a bid to stay cool in the September sun.Once onboard, the 360 degree view includes fisherfolk bringing in the day’s catch and flags flying in the fresh sea breeze (three minutes out, albeit). After a little chugging, it’s Juhu, the Sealink, Worli and South Mumbai on your left, swaying palm trees and the dilapidated Madh Fort on the right.As for the company, expect to meet a trendy urban lot dressed smartly in hats, hipster shades and well-ventilated pants. Our cruise time conversation spanned Mumbai’s construction mafia, gardening on a balcony and the quest for efficient house help.The actual ride is only an hour long, making it perfect even for the Avamin poppers among you. Once out on the Arabian Sea, our cruiser took a left and ended up skirting the picturesque Madh Fort, in the ‘closed to public’ INS Hamla. But don’t go expecting the same vista as us, thanks to a cautious boat master (Captain), who will navigate these rides according to time and tide.After an easy docking, chances are you will disembark ravenous. First up is a palate teaser. Whet your sea-salted tongue at the jingling sugarcane juicewalla, right at the dock. After that, Groupies will be divided into two; the veggies and meat lovers. The veggie luncher savoured a typical Koli meal of stuffed khasta kachori, misal pav and slightly crisp puri with aloo bhaji at a local shack.Meat eaters were escorted to a lunch home, where we sampled a thali which carried a plump black baby pomfret dressed in a fiery tambda rassa (red curry). Once there and eating, we suggest you order a plate of rava/batter fried bombil and mandeli (a type of anchovy with a pinkish hue). Koli food, unlike the generic Malwani cuisine Mumbaikars are used to, doesn’t use all that much coconut (except perhaps as seafood stuffing) and hinges largely on ginger-garlic, chilli and pepper.Post the long luncheon, Shahani sums up with, “Things are slowly picking up but there is always room for more… especially in Mumbai’s countless hamlets,” but not before telling us what she plans to cover on the next Groupies journeys. Think walks in little South India, haunted house tours and dance bar hops.