A memorial plinth to commemorate the transpacific rowing is erected in Mooloolaba, Australia

13 May 2015

Last week Fedor Konyukhov arrived in the City of Mooloolaba, Australia where almost a year ago he finished his transpacific row on the city’s public beach.  Fedor Konyukhov was invited by the city council to attend the opening ceremony of a commemorative plinth dedicated to his 2014 solo trip from Chile to Australia on the 9 meter long ocean rowboat “Tourgoyak”.

 

The idea was proposed by the city council back in 2014 and was supported by the public. Less than a year later a descriptive memorial plinth was erected at the city park overlooking the public beach.  On May 31, 2014 Fedor Konyukhov drove his rowboat into the welcoming beach which completed the 159 day and 9,400 nautical mile odyssey from Chile to Australia. The creator of the plinth, Adam Erbacher, did a fantastic job of capturing the essence and enormity of the expedition and chiseling a summary of the trip into bronze.

 

At the opening ceremony, the mayor of Sunshine Coast Mark Jamieson greeted a crowd of people who came to support the occasion. Many of them were at the beach greeting Fedor Konyukhov just a year ago. The Consul-General of the Russian Federation in Sydney, Sergey Shipilov, was at the ceremony as well, along with the two main sponsors of the transpacific expedition Oleg Sirotin and Sergey Eremenko.

 

In his opening speech Mr. Jamieson stressed the importance of this day not only for the history of Mooloolaba but for the relationship between Australia and Russia as well.  Despite the political friction between the two countries, occasions such as this promote positive relations between the two nations.  The opening of the plinth was the final touch in the transpacific expedition and Fedor Konyukhov is grateful for the honor and warm welcome from the City of Mooloolaba.

 

After the opening ceremony Fedor Konyukhov met with the owner of Australia Zoo, Terri Irwin.  At the meeting he was given the opportunity to become a Global Ambassador of Australia Zoo, which would involve promoting the mission and vision of the zoo across the globe. Fedor Konyukhov agreed to this new and exciting role.  He will participate in an expedition that will track the migration of crocodiles in the Northern Territory of Australia.  In turn, the Irwin family will visit Primorsky Territory in Russia to study the population of Amur Tigers and share their expertise on how to promote the life and survival of an endangered species. 

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