Day 107
Fedor via the Iridium satellite phone: “April 8th, early morning. The ocean is calm and a light wind is blowing from the east and south-east direction. No more bouncing from wave to wave. Last night was peaceful. I purposefully did not set the alarm: I wanted to let myself sleep as much as needed. My morning routine is back to normal: a morning prayer, a fresh cup of coffee, a bowl of hot oatmeal and a phone call to my office in Moscow. It’s going to be a great day. I’m determined to reach 25° south latitude. The deck is covered with morning dew. I judge that it’s going to be a sunny day, which is very much needed here. The boat has got to dry off inside and out. The wet clothes, sleeping bag and I are in dire need of direct sunshine. You would expect that a person rowing across the Pacific Ocean in these latitudes would be as tan as can be, but it’s not so in my case. I haven’t seen the sun in the last few weeks. Today I will turn on the water maker to get at least 20 liters of fresh water. I even plan to wash my hair with some fresh water. Last week was extremely difficult and I’m going to use this break from the stormy weather to take care of myself and the boat.
Last night I almost caught a fish. The wind died down and I released the fishing line. It’s been months since I caught anything, but I always keep my hopes up and the fishing gear ready. At last, I heard the sound of a spinning fishing reel. It was a dolphinfish of about 1.5 meters long. I was excited and ready to tackle this sporty looking fish, but unfortunately, in the most critical moment, the reel got stuck and stopped releasing the line. The fish jumped a few more times until she finally got away. That’s just bad luck. I took apart the reel only to learn that the entire mechanism has rusted. I’ve got the best fishing gear here, but without being properly stored and maintained I can’t expect much from it. The rust and mold get into everything here. Even my driver knife is rusted. So, no fish for me today, as usual. I’m with you. Fedor.”
The map of the Tourgoyak’s course: http://yb.tl/konyukhov2
The detailed map of the course: www.oceanrowing.com/Konyukhov/Pacific2013/dist_map.htm
Translated by Tatiana Koreski